#30 - Our Most Embarrassing Acting Jobs

Summary

Podcast Summary: Smosh Mouth #30 - Our Most Embarrassing Acting Jobs

In episode #30 of Smosh Mouth, released on January 22, 2024, hosts Shayne Topp, Amanda Lehan-Canto, and special guest Arasha Lani delve into their most embarrassing acting jobs. The trio offers an engaging and candid discussion about the highs and lows of their acting careers, sharing personal anecdotes, challenges, and humorous mishaps that provide valuable insights for aspiring actors and longtime fans alike.

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1. Introduction and Setting the Stage [00:00 - 05:00]

The episode kicks off with Shayne welcoming listeners to Smosh Mouth and introducing special guest Arasha Lani. The primary topic revolves around unexpected and embarrassing acting roles that the hosts have encountered.

Shayne [00:11]: "We’re gonna be talking about something pretty cool. Well, I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s cool. It was revealed about a month ago at Anthony’s funeral that Arasha did a conservative dating app commercial. And so we thought we’d bring you on to talk about it and kind of talk about acting careers in general."

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2. The Importance of Image in Acting [05:00 - 15:00]

The conversation shifts to the significance of maintaining a consistent image in the acting industry. The hosts discuss the challenges of adhering to specific wardrobe and grooming standards required for various roles.

Arasha [08:03]: "I don't like to cut my hair a lot because then you have to get new headshots... Everybody’s like, those seem like pretty important guidelines that every actor hears with their headshots."

Amanda [03:07]: "I just can’t follow those rules anymore. When I go to auditions, they’re like, orange jumpsuit, 'cause you’re a worker. And I’m like, I don’t have that."

Shayne [07:03]: "They’re all wearing commercials. Nobody in commercials dresses like regular people. Yeah, they're always dressed just slightly not human."

The trio humorously critiques the often unrealistic and formulaic nature of actors' wardrobes in commercials and media portrayals.

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3. Embarking on Acting Careers [15:00 - 30:00]

Amanda and Arasha share their personal journeys into the acting world, detailing how they began pursuing their careers and the steps they took to establish themselves.

Amanda [15:30]: "I started acting in a musical when I was five years old. ... I've been actively pursuing acting for 12 years now."

Arasha [21:09]: "I was a stand-in for the movie 'Spirited' with Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell. It was truly life-changing and ignited my desire to be a professional actor."

Shayne adds his own story about joining acting workshops in Arizona at a young age, eventually moving to Los Angeles to further his career.

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4. Navigating the Challenges of Acting [30:00 - 42:00]

The hosts delve into the myriad challenges actors face, including the unpredictability of auditions, frequent rejections, and the mental strain of striving for success.

Shayne [42:01]: "It's a lot of, okay, that was great. Thanks. And I'm leaving, and I have to drive all the way back home, and I know I'm not gonna hear anything."

Arasha [43:34]: "You have to love it that you literally can't think of doing anything else."

They discuss the emotional resilience required to persevere in an industry known for its high turnover and competitive nature.

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5. Arasha’s Embarrassing Acting Job: The Conservative Dating App Commercial [55:38 - 64:08]

Arasha recounts her experience filming a commercial for a conservative dating app, which became a source of embarrassment and online backlash.

Arasha [57:00]: "I submitted myself for one. And then I remembered, like, hearing back, and they were like, 'We’d love you to audition.'"

She describes the initial creation of the commercial as innocuous but later realizing its political undertones sparked negative reactions online.

Shayne [56:18]: "I had seen it before the roast. I’d come across it and I laughed. But I knew about it. So when it got brought up in Anthony’s funeral, I was like, oh, I had."

The discussion highlights how actors can sometimes find themselves associated with projects that don't align with their personal beliefs or desired image.

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6. Jaw Drop Segment: Personal Embarrassing Stories [60:00 - 77:50]

In the final segment, the hosts engage in the "Jaw Drop" segment, where they share their most embarrassing moments in their acting careers.

Amanda [67:43]: "There was a guy who came up to me and I thought he was an old friend from Groundlings. I hugged him so hard, I was like, 'Hey, man, oh my God, how are you?' And then I found out he was a famous actor from 'Orange Is the New Black.'"

Arasha [73:21]: "When I went to India for the first time, some parts didn’t even have proper toilets. I held my poop in for seven days!"

The hosts laugh and empathize, sharing relatable moments that underscore the unpredictable nature of acting gigs.

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Notable Quotes

• Amanda [10:44]: "It's too much. I can't follow those rules anymore."

• Shayne [15:30]: "How long have we all been acting?"

• Arasha [25:04]: "I just started acting, but career-wise, professionally."

• Amanda [43:34]: "Don't be an actor to make money."

• Shayne [62:31]: "But the point is, like, it's."

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Conclusion

Episode #30 of Smosh Mouth offers a humorous yet insightful look into the acting world, highlighting the importance of image, the challenges of breaking into the industry, and the unpredictable nature of acting jobs. Through shared stories and honest reflections, Shayne, Amanda, and Arasha provide listeners with a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the often chaotic and hilariously embarrassing aspects of pursuing a career in acting.

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Note: Advertisements and promotional segments from the episode have been omitted to focus solely on the content discussed.

Transcript

[Shane]

Hi, welcome to Smosh Mouth. I'm Shane.

[Amanda]

And I'm Amanda. And we have a special guest here today, Arasha Lani. Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

Hey. Hey.

[Shane]

We're gonna be talking about something pretty cool. Well, I don't know. I don't know if it's cool. It was revealed about a month ago at Anthony's funeral that Arasha did a conservative dating app commercial. And so we thought we'd bring you on to talk about it and kind of talk about acting careers in general, because I don't feel like that's an uncommon thing to end up on a project that you're like, can't believe I did that one.

[Amanda]

Yeah. I feel like people don't realize that that's. Sometimes you end up on a project and you're like, oh, my God, what happened?

[Shane]

Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. I mean, you can definitely assume that the. The. Anybody who isn't in the industry is probably thinking, like, you see the job at full. And you're like, oh, I'd like to apply for this. Which normally in any other industry, you have all your responsibilities. Everything is completely clear. That's just not acting.

[Shane]

Yeah. So we'll get into that later. But, Arasha, it's great to have you here. It's been a minute.

[Arasha Lani]

Thank you. It has been. I mean, we just saw each other.

[Shane]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

We were at the same New Year's party.

[Shane]

New Year's Eve party.

[Amanda]

Oh, baby.

[Shane]

Yeah. We were invited. You weren't. It's not a big deal.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, you could have come with me. Amanda.

[Amanda]

No, it's okay.

[Shane]

Yeah, I guess I did have a plus one, but I just didn't.

[Arasha Lani]

That's crazy.

[Amanda]

I was roaming the streets all by myself.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, man.

[Amanda]

Watching the fireworks. Catching the fireworks.

[Arasha Lani]

Right, right. That's really fun. But it has been a while since I've seen you, so it is good to see you, too.

[Amanda]

It has.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

Hi.

[Arasha Lani]

Hi.

[Amanda]

Hey.

[Arasha Lani]

Happy New Year.

[Amanda]

Happy New Year. Your hair is getting so long.

[Arasha Lani]

It's. It's actually like.

[Amanda]

It's really long.

[Arasha Lani]

It's like, back to where it was.

[Shane]

For those of you listening, Rash's hair is really long.

[Amanda]

Yeah, well, she had cut her hair, and now it's just growing back.

[Arasha Lani]

I know you. There's a photo of me at VidCon that I just saw, and it's like, here. And that's like six, seven months ago. Remember?

[Shane]

Was your head really that short?

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Shane]

I'm so. When people are like, oh, yeah, my hair's gotten really long, I'm like, oh, has it? I don't pay attention.

[Amanda]

Right? God, I'm such a nice skirt. These are jeans. You know, my dad would always be like, great skirt. I'd be like, dad, I'm wearing overalls. I don't know what you're saying.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, my God.

[Amanda]

What is with dudes?

[Arasha Lani]

It's dads.

[Amanda]

They're like, what's eyeliner? And I'm like. Or your dad would be like, you have something on your face. You're like, I know. It's a pimple. Okay.

[Arasha Lani]

Or it's blush. I put it there for a reason.

[Amanda]

You have stuff all over your face, Amanda.

[Arasha Lani]

Dad.

[Shane]

But I feel like. Okay, what I'm saying is, I feel I see you guys so often that you don't notice that stuff as time goes on. True.

[Amanda]

It's true.

[Shane]

And also, I don't pay attention because I don't give a shit.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay.

[Amanda]

One thing I learned about Shane while doing this podcast is he's the meanest person on the planet. What is with this?

[Arasha Lani]

Damn. I'm just kidding.

[Amanda]

The kindest person.

[Arasha Lani]

Well, truthfully, the way that it really affects me, I'll say is with haircuts and stuff, is I don't like to cut my hair a lot because then you have to get new headshots. Oh, bringing it back round.

[Amanda]

Trust me. I had bangs like an inch long up to here, and my hair was above my shoulders.

[Arasha Lani]

Yep.

[Amanda]

And now it's just growing out, but it looks fantastic. Oh, thank you.

[Arasha Lani]

I am. I actually love it.

[Amanda]

It's growing out.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. I think it looks great. But every time you make a significant change to your look, like, you gotta take new headshots.

[Shane]

Cause cast directors won't recognize.

[Arasha Lani]

Right.

[Shane]

Who are you?

[Amanda]

Who is that? And if you're in a. Like, they won't recognize you. You gotta be in a leather jacket. So for them to know that you're a badass.

[Shane]

Yeah, exactly.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay.

[Amanda]

You have to be in a leather jacket.

[Shane]

It's a good callback.

[Amanda]

Otherwise, they won't know that you're gonna get on CSI or Criminal Minds. Leather jacket guys and commercials gotta have a fun pop collar with glasses that you never wear in real life.

[Shane]

These are all Amanda's referencing all of her. Her own headshots, literally.

[Arasha Lani]

But also, everybody's like, those seem like pretty important guidelines that every actor hears with their headshots. Like, of course the leather jackets look serious. The pop of color for commercials to look lively and fun and natural. And it's the mom.

[Amanda]

The mom with, like, the button down and an over sweater. I'm like, I don't know a single mom who wears that. They literally.

[Shane]

They're all wearing commercials. Nobody in commercials dresses like regular people. Yeah, they're always dressed just slightly not human.

[Arasha Lani]

Nice. Yeah. Yeah.

[Shane]

It's just not, it's like aliens trying. But I feel like marketing execs and stuff, they don't create actual people.

[Arasha Lani]

Yes. No, it's like a dystopian kind of. Yeah.

[Amanda]

Especially for women. Like, I feel like the young mom was the straight leg jeans that cut right above the ankle. And flats always button down and like a cardigan over with your hair half up.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, yeah.

[Amanda]

But like still really nice. And like very little earrings. I feel like that's.

[Arasha Lani]

No, it's, it's very, it gets very specific like that. And it, like the added complicated layer is when someone's like, oh, but change it up. Like, you know, you don't want to do just the basic stuff, but then you're like, okay, but then I don't want to not get the standard and just do something that's too bold and risky. So then it just ends up all getting like really messy.

[Amanda]

Yeah, it's too much. I can't follow those rules anymore. When I go to auditions, I'm just like, they're like, orange jumpsuit, cuz you're a worker. And I'm like, I don't have that.

[Arasha Lani]

Because I'm in prison.

[Shane]

What?

[Amanda]

I don't have that in my closet. Oh, yeah.

[Shane]

Oh, then you're fucked.

[Amanda]

I don't have any of those things in my closet. Let's be real.

[Arasha Lani]

No. And the truth is that you have to end up making so many more investments and you end up just not getting paid for any of that. You pay a significant amount for headshots, you pay a significant amount for the outfits, for the makeup, for the hair, like all of that added stuff. And then you might not even book a job.

[Shane]

Do you guys ever think much? Sort of change the subject. Do you ever think much about, like, what you're wearing here at Smosh? Because I, I, I try to not repeat outfits too often and I end up just doing it because I've run out of clothes.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Shane]

And I'm just like, oh, well. So I'm, I'm just gonna wear white T shirts in every video because it's just easier.

[Amanda]

I just wish I could do that.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

Why not?

[Amanda]

I don't know. I can't wear just a white T shirt. People are gonna be like, okay, what.

[Shane]

If everyone at Smosh just wore white T shirt and blue jeans? And that's Our thing.

[Arasha Lani]

If that was our thing.

[Amanda]

Hey, if that was our thing. I'm down.

[Arasha Lani]

I'm down.

[Shane]

It could be our thing.

[Arasha Lani]

That could be our thing.

[Amanda]

Okay, wait.

[Arasha Lani]

What if we just don't tell everybody?

[Amanda]

What are we in the first place?

[Shane]

Well, we just did just now.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay. No, we can tell everybody in this room is in on it, but the rest of the cast totally pranked.

[Shane]

Well, I guess we could start and. And if the rest of the cast doesn't go along with it, they don't listen to this podcast, and we're gonna know then.

[Amanda]

Yes.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay. So new uniform. Uniform. Just white T shirt, blue jeans. I'm kind of rocking that right now. But, like, plain white.

[Amanda]

Yeah, I'm not rocking that at all.

[Shane]

It's what I rock every day. I will say I am.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, yeah, you're rocking that too.

[Shane]

I have the huge advantage here.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Shane]

Because this is my standard outfit, so it is a little unfair for everyone else.

[Amanda]

I feel like people be like, is Amanda okay?

[Arasha Lani]

Like, oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Shane]

We're all gonna look like farmers.

[Amanda]

Wardrobe is hard. I would say wardrobe on smosh is hard. Like, also, it's very hard to not repeat outfits. And you do run out of clothes. You run out of clothes. It's really hard. And also, it might be freezing out there or hot in here or cold in here or hot out there.

[Shane]

No, this set, which is it? I think it's. This set gets freezing cold, and the smosh pit set for. Try not to laugh. Gets super hot. Super hot. So I'm. Throughout the entire year. You can't dress for the seasons. You have to dress for this specific stage and that specific stage.

[Arasha Lani]

See, I'm always cold everywhere, so. But I don't think that my warmer clothes are my most fashionable clothes. Like, I'm all for layers, but sometimes if I need to wear a tank top, like, I will tough it out. I'll be like, I want to wear this today. Like, I'm just going to put this on in between videos. Like, I'll go put a blanket on, but I will tough it out.

[Shane]

That's crazy.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. Yeah. Beauty is pain.

[Amanda]

Those are like, models when they take photos and it's like, snowing out, and they're just like, oh, gosh.

[Arasha Lani]

I don't know if I could really do that.

[Shane]

I could never do that.

[Arasha Lani]

But to answer your question, more than wardrobe, what I actually just think about is my hair at smosh. Like, I just kind of. Like, I, like, space it out in my head. Like, I'm like, okay, if I wash my Hair on Monday. I'm supposed to be at Smosh on Tuesday, so I'm gonna be frizzy. So I'll do that whole we had.

[Shane]

That New Year's episode of Reddit stories where we're like, right before we start filming, we're like, we have these fun hats and your face, you were just like, oh, cool.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah, after I washed my hair.

[Shane]

And I think it was also you had, like, a party that night that you were throwing, and so you were.

[Amanda]

Like, did you wear the hat?

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, no.

[Shane]

You put it on for, like, a second and you started. You're like, yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

Anthony just, like, knocked us off. And then we were like, oh, no. Okay.

[Shane]

Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

So I guess we'll just carry on without the hat. Yeah.

[Shane]

What if I get a mohawk?

[Amanda]

I think that would look great. But then with a white Selena, we.

[Shane]

Heard Selena just goes.

[Amanda]

So you want to wear a white tee, denim jeans, and a mohawk.

[Arasha Lani]

I actually think I'm on board.

[Shane]

I don't understand why that combo.

[Amanda]

Here's the thing. You know what I really like? I like it, like, shaved and then a fade up and then a little bit more hair right here. So not like a full mohawk, but just. You might look a little too military, though.

[Arasha Lani]

No, I'm doing it.

[Shane]

I do tend to look a little too, like.

[Amanda]

Yeah, straight cut.

[Shane]

Yeah, yeah. Like, like, like, oh, that guy's from Texas.

[Arasha Lani]

You know what's wrong with Texas?

[Shane]

Not. Not like. But you know what? You know what I mean? It's so opposite of my personality. Like, I'm like, I don't want to give off. Different from who I am. There's nothing wrong with Texas. I'm saying I don't want to give off. I don't want to give off. Like, that's a military type dude. And I'm like, hey, I'm actually not.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You want. You want your.

[Amanda]

I think it could be fun. I think it gives you some edge.

[Arasha Lani]

Your look is your, like, vibe, right? Like, that's what you're giving off. I think so. It's. It's definitely important to make sure that it lines up with who you are, but totally cool to be.

[Shane]

Like, I've been doing. I've been doing. I've been doing the same haircut for a while, and I feel like it's what works best, which is just like. I'm like, take off everything on the sides in the back. Leave a little bit on top.

[Amanda]

I want to see you do something different.

[Shane]

Like what? Either hear me out.

[Amanda]

Shave it. Not, not, not, not At a zero? Yes.

[Shane]

Like, like a two.

[Amanda]

Like a two.

[Shane]

So I just have a little bit of frizz.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, is that little.

[Shane]

Maybe I'll get the, the dewy from Malcolm in the Middle.

[Amanda]

No, I think it would look really good.

[Shane]

I, I, I've thought about doing that once I'm a little older when I'm like, okay, my hair is starting to go. I'm gonna just take it all off.

[Amanda]

Think that's.

[Shane]

Yeah, I think someday I'll do it with you. You talked about that. That was one of your possible thoughts, my husband dyeing your hair.

[Amanda]

I'd be down if I shaved my head.

[Shane]

Dude, I think it'd be so sick.

[Arasha Lani]

Would you do it for money?

[Shane]

How much?

[Arasha Lani]

Okay, just thinking.

[Shane]

Let's get into the acting careers in a second. First up, how much money would it take for you to shave your hair off?

[Amanda]

This is also getting into the acting career, because hair, oh, that's a huge part of acting. So if I was. I've always thought if someone offered me a role to shave my head and, like, completely dye it, I would do it in a heartbeat.

[Shane]

Oh, sure.

[Amanda]

Like, in a heartbeat. Now, if it wasn't a part of a role and I would have to shave it, a lot of things would happen. A, I would never be cast as the young mom ever again.

[Arasha Lani]

Your hair would grow back.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Shane]

You could probably wear wigs and stuff, like, truly.

[Arasha Lani]

Or like, an eye track.

[Shane]

Let's take the acting career stuff aside. Personal life just. Would you shave your head for how much money?

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, okay.

[Amanda]

I would definitely shave my head. I think my sisters would be very upset with me. They like my long hair. They'd be like, why? Probably my little sister would be like, yeah, Fuck, yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I guess I would shave it for 3,000.

[Shane]

Okay.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay.

[Shane]

That's a classical number.

[Arasha Lani]

That's pretty low. Yeah.

[Amanda]

I mean, if you gave me a thousand, I'd really have to think about it. I'd be like, that feels low. 3,000.

[Shane]

So it really is something you're considering?

[Amanda]

I just think it's so fun.

[Shane]

I think women look really well, really good when they shave their hair.

[Amanda]

Me too. And honestly, my whole time being an actor out here, agents and managers never wanted me to touch my hair. They were always like, I was always. So I had the long hair. I never had bangs. I had it the same way forever. And then finally I was like, fuck this. Like, I want to change up my hair. So then I cut my bangs. Then I cut my hair really short. And my agent was like, you did that, huh? Do you think it's better? And I was like, I don't care.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, heck, yeah.

[Amanda]

But you know what? It made me book different roles. Like, more like unique roles.

[Shane]

I remember for a Smosh sketch, this was years ago, I had to wear a bald cap. And I think I remember that I was really well established, really, really good looking. Like, I looked fully bald. And I take a photo of it, I post on Instagram, and I get a text message from, like, the ad from Goldberg's, and he's like, is this real? And I go, no, it's not. It's a bald cap. And he's like, okay, thank God. And I was just like, wow.

[Arasha Lani]

They freak out.

[Shane]

No, people, you really have to. I have never done anything crazy with my hair. In fact, I dyed it dark because I was told to dye it dark because they were like, yeah, blonde guys aren't getting any rolls. It's not. This was back in, like, two guys. This is 2009, 2010. It's different now, I think, but I.

[Amanda]

Think it's the same.

[Shane]

But at that time. Yeah. So.

[Amanda]

But anyways, hair is a big part of acting.

[Arasha Lani]

Yes. And I would accept 25,000.

[Amanda]

25,000.

[Shane]

I get that.

[Arasha Lani]

That's my. I think. I think 20. And you know what? If they take some taxes. Yeah. Yeah, I think I could like it. But if I would do 25,000 and if they took out taxes and it ended up being, like, probably like, 18,000, I'd still be okay with that.

[Shane]

I understand the trepidation.

[Amanda]

I'm like, 310 bucks.

[Arasha Lani]

You guys. You guys want to. And you are actually, like, you could consider it. I have no desire to. I don't think I want to. But I do know that it would grow back, and I also would do a lot for money.

[Shane]

It grew out. It grew up so fast that it would only be a couple months.

[Amanda]

Same exactly. My hair grows really fast, but I just, like, change. I like experimenting and changing up. But I do think if I shaved my head, I think that I would be like, whoa.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

I think it'd be very overwhelming.

[Shane]

I genuinely think. I think people in general, but. But when women do it, I think it looks really good. Like Natalie Portman and V for Vendetta. I mean, it's like you would expect her to look. I don't think you would have expected her to look that good. But I think it's really. I think it's so unique. Whenever I see it, I'm always just like, that's really cool.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

It's such a power move.

[Shane]

It is.

[Arasha Lani]

It's powerful just to be like, I don't care, but you got it, you.

[Shane]

Got to own it.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

If you're. If you're.

[Amanda]

You have to feel like it. You have to.

[Shane]

Anyways. Yeah, we're already back into it. Let's talk about acting. We're all actors here, I believe.

[Arasha Lani]

I think so.

[Shane]

Yeah. How long have we all been acting? Amanda, how long have you been acting?

[Amanda]

So I started acting in a musical when I was five years old.

[Shane]

Okay.

[Amanda]

I was a part of an Orpheum. I don't know if you.

[Shane]

Like a theater.

[Amanda]

Yeah, yeah, a theater. Local theater. I took acting classes there and I was a part of it. And I was in and out of musicals ever since I was little, actively acting, like, career acting when I turned 25.

[Shane]

Wow.

[Amanda]

So it's been going on 12 years now.

[Shane]

Right. Because we've talked about. In LA, you had a bunch of other different jobs. Like you were. You were trying other careers out and then you were like, I'm doing this.

[Amanda]

My mom was like, acting sounds fun as a hobby. Fun. You're gonna work for the DA you need a real job. Right. Acting was never a real job in my mind. I'm also from the East Coast. Do you know what I mean? Like, that doesn't exist there, really. And so I did a bunch of other jobs before I moved out here when I was 25. And so actively I've been pursuing acting for 12 years.

[Arasha Lani]

Wow.

[Shane]

Damn. Yeah, it's really cool.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. For me, I also started, like, just acting a lot younger. I think I was. I was going to enter into sixth grade and that's pretty much when I started. I remember there was like a, like an elective fair or something like that, like going into middle school and you just kind of would walk into all these different rooms and learn about these different clubs. And I remember for theater, we like walked in and they did like a little snippet of like their play that was going to come out later that season. And I just remember sitting there and like watching them, like, doe eyed and just being like, I want to be up there. Like, I want to do that so badly. And I knew right away I was like, I have to do theater. And that's when again, I also just started acting, but career wise, professionally. I started right out of college, So I was 21, 22. Yeah, yeah, yeah. About. About three years ago.

[Shane]

You both, like, moved to L. A to get into it.

[Amanda]

I moved to la. Not like I Knew my sister, but no one was in the industry that I really knew.

[Shane]

And so you just were like, you did the, like, stereotypical, Like, I stepped into Hollywood not knowing a place straight up with the intention of getting into the city.

[Amanda]

My husband was like, wait, so you moved here not knowing any. Like, not having any connections? I had zero connections.

[Shane]

That's crazy.

[Amanda]

Zero.

[Shane]

That's crazy.

[Amanda]

Yeah, I just did workshops and I did a workshop and I joined a theater right away and I got a commercial agent. And that's really just where I started.

[Arasha Lani]

Totally. I think that's how to do it. I mean, I would say I felt a little more protected. I had a little bit more of a safety net underneath me. Because as you guys know, I went to Emerson, and it's very common for Emersonians to just move to either New York or la. It pretty much just separates after graduation. And at first I was thinking about staying in Boston. Cause I loved it so, so much. I just thought I would hang out there because I obviously had my community out there. But I don't think I mentioned this to you guys before, but I did a. I was a stand in for that movie that came out last Christmas season, Spirited, with Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the ghost of Christmas past is played by Sunita Mani, who is an Indian woman. And I was her stand in. Which is a crazy story, by the way. I just have to cut it and tell you guys how I got that, because that was when I was working at Lululemon in college and the casting director from Boston Casting, she like walked in. I didn't know her obviously right then, but we were hanging out and I, like, helped her shop for leggings or whatever. And then when she was checking out to like, give her the receipt, I got her email and she said, like, it's blah, blah, blah at Boston Casting.

[Amanda]

And I was like, I remember Boston casting, of course. Oh, yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

And I was 21. I was very, like, young and very, like, again, not even in the industry, but I just kind of had this instinct to be like, you're a casting director. And she was like, yeah. And I was like, I'm an actor. Just, you know, maybe. Maybe you should know that. And she was like, she's like, no, you're not.

[Shane]

You work at Lulu.

[Arasha Lani]

You just help me shop for leggings. But she was like, oh, cool. Like, well, like, write down my email. Like, maybe send me like your headshot. And I was like, hell yeah. Okay. This is the biz. This is how Hollywood goes. Wow.

[Shane]

This is the most stereotypical. Like, I saw Cassie Richter at a.

[Amanda]

Found you at a restaurant. Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

And I emailed her, I sent her my headshot. She was like, let me ask around and see what there is. A week later, she called me and she was like, arasha, do you believe in fate? Literally? And I was like, oh, my God. I was like, what do you have for me? And she was like, this is actually perfect. And obviously it wasn't perfect because it wasn't an acting gig, was a stand in gig, which for those of you that don't know in the industry, a stand in the back of your head.

[Shane]

But it's not an easy job.

[Amanda]

But tons of people make a living off of this.

[Shane]

Goldbergs had like a team of stand ins who were there for the entire show.

[Arasha Lani]

Totally. Yes. It's basically like, you could say it's another crew position. You're basically there for helping the crew with lighting and framing and just being the second team before the actual actors come on and do the whole scene.

[Shane]

One of the stand ins on Goldberg's ended up. He became a grip on that set, which I'm like, that's. That is so hard to break into those industries that I'm like, damn.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

Like, so a stand in is kind of a way in for probably a lot of different types of jobs.

[Arasha Lani]

Totally.

[Shane]

But it's. I'm sure. How was it? How was doing?

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, my God. It was like, truly life changing. Like, it was so, so, so cool. Again, like, I know it wasn't the perfect gig because it wasn't acting, but I was so excited. And I was like hearing all these big names, right. Like Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer. I just was like, oh, my God, this is amazing. Like, all of this is just like happening to me so quickly, you know? And I was on that set for about three or four months, which was crap. Yeah. Yeah. It was so every day. Every day there were, you know, obviously days that I wasn't needed, but it was like whenever she was on, I was on. Right. That is so cool.

[Shane]

So that was your first job.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

You got right into it.

[Arasha Lani]

It's kind of funny. It's. Yeah. I started right away on this huge, like, big picture Hollywood set. But that was really what launched me into wanting to be a professional actor is I stepped onto that set and I watched everything work basically to the best degree. Right. Like when you step onto an amateur set, you're not really seeing the magic of what happens in acting. But when you're on a set, like that, like, you're seeing everybody work so creatively, so efficiently. Like, it. It really was just like admiring.

[Shane]

That's a really cool.

[Amanda]

I didn't know that.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, yeah, yeah. So pretty much right when I saw that, that was when I was like, oh, I need to be doing this for the rest of my life.

[Shane]

So after you did Spirited, is that when you then moved to la?

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah, yeah. So Spirited blended in a little bit into when I signed my lease, which was the beginning of September in 2021.

[Amanda]

Because it was shooting out here, it.

[Arasha Lani]

Was shooting in Boston.

[Shane]

Oh, but you were like, as you're doing it in Boston, you're like, I'm going to move to la.

[Arasha Lani]

Right? I decided to move to la and I was really lucky. My two best friends at the time in college, they also were like, fuck it, let's go to la.

[Shane]

That's fantastic.

[Amanda]

That's.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah, So I got to move out there with them again. Like, I ended up moving out closer to the end of November because that was when the movie fully wrapped and I again, I had a lot of good connections, like good people that I had met there. I had a lot of good insight and I had just.

[Shane]

You were now best friends with Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay, Ryan Reynolds, also.

[Amanda]

Anchorman 3. Are you interested?

[Arasha Lani]

Ryan introduced himself to me, first name basis, but like five times, like five.

[Shane]

Minutes every day, he's like, hey, how's it going? I'm Ryan Reynolds.

[Arasha Lani]

No, that's literally the first day, the first day on set. I remember he came over to all of us and he was like, first day, and everyone was like, my God, like, so exciting. And then he came over to the stand ins and he was like, all right, guys, like, we're gonna be working together. Like, let me hear your names, whatever. And I was like, arasha. And he said it back. He was like, arasha. Got it. Walked away, whatever. Maybe two weeks later, he's like, I'm so sorry, I don't think we've met. What's your name? And I was like, arasha. And he was like, arasha. I'm right. I was like, I know you're Ryan. And he walks away. And then literally he did that again, like three weeks later. He was like, I don't think we met. What's your name?

[Amanda]

He's like, all right, stand ins. We're going to be working together.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

At least he's trying.

[Arasha Lani]

No, of course, of course. He was very, very kind on set. Again, like, that is obviously a joke and I understand that he meets so many different people. It was just kind of funny to me that I was like, you've said Arasha and you don't remember that. He said that a few times. But that's okay. I forgave him. It was truly just a wonderful experience.

[Shane]

Three or four months is a long time for a movie.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

That's crazy.

[Arasha Lani]

I mean, it was. I don't know if you guys saw Spirited. It is.

[Shane]

I haven't seen it yet.

[Arasha Lani]

It's an amazing movie. I loved it. And I'll pick you out. Oh, you'll see me in the.

[Shane]

That's a Rasha.

[Amanda]

That's a Rasha.

[Arasha Lani]

Well, stand ins very rarely even get, like, bumped right to, like, being a crew position or, like, being background. There was one day that they bumped me to being background and I. And you can see me in the background. It's like an off. It's like the office scene. And at first I had done a whole, like, thing with Ryan and I forgot the other actress's name, but she was from Young and Hungry.

[Shane]

Octavia Spencer.

[Amanda]

She's from what?

[Arasha Lani]

Young and Hungry. Have you ever seen that with Emily Osment? I'm forgetting it. But I spoke with her. I spoke with her for, like, the whole day that I was on set because it was me, her two other background people and Ryan. And the five of us were doing this, like, scene. And it was so fun and so great. But of course, it ended up getting cut. So you can just see me, like, very quickly in the background in this, like, blue dress. But all that to say that was pretty much the moment that I was like, okay, I'm moving to la. I'm doing the acting thing. And I know a lot of. I learned so much from Spirited. So this is everything I'm gonna take with me. And I'm just gonna use that to perform.

[Shane]

That's so valuable to be on a set for that amount of time.

[Amanda]

Oh, it's so valuable to be on set anytime ever.

[Shane]

What was your first set experience? Well, first, how, when you moved out to la, you were like, okay, how did you first start getting into it?

[Amanda]

Or you just said, well, I literally went on a casting site, I think Casting Frontier or whatever, or backstage and got into a theater immediately and started doing improv and sketch shows, like, every single Friday. And then I auditioned for Groundlings. And then I think even before that, I don't even know how it was, like, through being at the theater that someone was like, oh, you should do this workshop. It's to get commercial agents. And I was like, oh, and you just do a scene. And I got my first commercial agent from that.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh.

[Amanda]

And so then I started getting in, like, the casting director rooms, and they were like, you have to do student films for your reel. And I was like, sure. Ooh, student films.

[Arasha Lani]

Wow.

[Shane]

That was my break in too.

[Amanda]

Yeah, that was my break in. It was student films. And I was like, huh.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

I remember feeling like, what am I doing? And I just. I remember everyone was so obsessed with, like, being sag. Being sag. And then I all of a sudden just started, like, booking commercials. And I was like, oh, okay, maybe I'm good at this. And I literally didn't even know what Groundlings was. I'm telling you, I came in here knowing nothing.

[Shane]

That's crazy.

[Arasha Lani]

Wow.

[Shane]

I heard about Groundlings so many times over the years.

[Amanda]

I didn't know what it was at all. And then people are like, oh, it's where Will Ferrell and Chris and Megan. I was like, okay, I'll audition. You know, sure, let's try it. And then I just fell in love with it. And literally through that is how I met my big comedy community. And then it's just like word of mouth, like, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do, what you need to do.

[Shane]

And you got all the way up to Sunday Company. Yeah. Which for people who don't know, like, Groundlings is like, there's a couple, like, peak comedy theaters, improv theaters in LA and New York. But Groundlings, I think is, like, in la is known as, like, the number one for a lot of people, UCB and Groundlings. But it takes so long and it's so hard. You start at beginners, then you go to intermediate, then you go to advanced, then you do these writer workshops for, like, years. And then like a select few make it into Sunday Company. And it's so cutthroat. It's so brutal. I've had multiple people, you included, who have gotten there. And it's a full time job.

[Arasha Lani]

Yep.

[Shane]

But you don't get paid. It's a lot of work. You don't get paid, but it's a full time job. And you have to be pumping out sketches and characters and things all the time.

[Amanda]

I wrote hundreds and hundreds of sketches. I probably wrote like five, five, six a week or something.

[Shane]

It's insane.

[Amanda]

And when you pitch, you don't sit and talk. You go up on stage and you grab people and you cold read and you pitch it to your fullest, like full heart, full character, fully realized character. And yeah, it. And then you also have, like, breaks, like, year breaks where they're like, okay, it's a two year wait list for the next round. So in between that, you have to use the teachers and have them coach you and perform, perform, perform, perform all the time. I mean, every night I was trying to find a stage to perform. It was crazy.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

It was like seven and a half years of my life out here. But it taught me so much. It taught me. It pushed me to a point that I never even knew I had in me. And it also taught me how much I love comedy and how deeply I love acting. Like, I love acting and it taught me what I don't want, too. And I have so many lifelong friends from it. Like, I'm just so grateful, honestly, moving out here and not knowing anything. I'm so grateful that I was just like, yeah, I'll try that. And people like, so you did improv in college? I'm like, nope. I was always way too afraid you.

[Shane]

Did the, the Phil Hartman route. Cause he was, I want to say he was like 28 and he, like, was working as, like, an art designer of some sort. And then he just happened to be like, oh, I'll. I'll walk into. I'll do this theater. And, like, was just one of the funniest people of all time.

[Amanda]

Do you know about Phil Hartman and Groundlings?

[Shane]

Yeah. That he apparently haunts it.

[Amanda]

He's apparently a ghost at Groundlings.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, I'm sure I haven't seen him.

[Amanda]

But many people have. And he wears a Hawaiian shirt.

[Shane]

I don't know if people realize he's.

[Arasha Lani]

Like, he wants to be seen.

[Shane]

He's one of my biggest influences. I know so much of my character and comedy and stuff comes from Phil Harmon.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

How did, how did you get into all of it, Shane?

[Shane]

I started. I did a. I was not as a, like, little kid into thinking I'd be into acting at all. And, you know, I came from a military family. Like, my grandpa was a fire or my grandpa was a Air Force pilot. My dad was an Air Force pilot.

[Amanda]

So cool.

[Shane]

So, you know, I don't know what would have happened if I'd made it to 18 and I hadn't, like, gone down this path. I don't think I would have ever gotten in the military or anything like that, but I don't know.

[Arasha Lani]

Then you can have that Mohawk.

[Shane]

Yeah, then you can. But I lived in Arizona and there wasn't, like, a big acting scene that I would have just fallen into. You know, it's not like there were big comedy theaters or anything. But fifth grade, we did a. We did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We did a play. My fifth grade teacher wanted to hold this play, and we had, like, roadblocks in the way even of just doing that play. Because we were like, oh, yeah, we're gonna do this play, and we'll do it in the auditorium. And then the principal said, no, you can't do this play. Theater has no educational merit.

[Amanda]

Oh, he's the guy who would burn.

[Shane]

Insane. Insane. Start. Oh, God.

[Arasha Lani]

The villain of a Disney movie.

[Shane]

I know. So insane. I still vividly remember my teacher coming back into our classroom. We're all in fifth grade. She's sobbing, crying, telling us this story. And then she's like, we're gonna do it anyway. We'll just do it in our classroom.

[Arasha Lani]

Yes.

[Shane]

And so we did it anyways. I was the only one, or I was one of the only ones who auditioned for Willy Wonka. And I was just like. I memorized not only my lines, but I memorized all the lines. And I was just, like, obsessed with it. And I wasn't thinking about it at the time. Like, when we were into this, I wasn't, like, acting and stuff. I was just, like, into this whole thing and just making people laugh and getting. Because I had become a class clown, like, in that year or the year prior before that. I was a super quiet kid. Didn't talk at all. But then I had some friends who were kind of class clowns. I was like, that's kind of awesome. They say stuff in the middle of class and people laugh.

[Arasha Lani]

It is.

[Amanda]

Teachers are like, shane.

[Shane]

But I paid my dues in third grade. Nobody laughed at any of my shit. And I had a lot of girls be like, you're stupid. And I'm like, I know.

[Arasha Lani]

Hey, it's a tough world. Stand up.

[Shane]

By the time fifth grade happened, I had that audition. I'm like, I'm primed for this. I've been performing.

[Amanda]

Did you get Willy Wonka?

[Shane]

I got Willy Wonka. I think. I think I might have been the only person who auditioned for it. That's the key, guys. That's how you book.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. Wipe out the rest of the competition.

[Shane]

But. But I had so much fun with it. And then people were like, oh, Like, Shane. People were telling my parents are like, shane should do theater. Like, it seems like he loves it and he's really good or whatever. And so I went and did one community theater play. It was called the Best or worst Christmas Pageant Ever. And it's a known one.

[Arasha Lani]

I've heard of that one.

[Shane]

Got a smaller part in it, but I had a blast doing that. Was super into it. And then I got into an acting class out there, the Phoenix Film Institute, and I got really lucky with these acting coaches who they. They would film the classes, so they would have a camera and they would have you, like they were teaching you literally how to do auditions in front of a camera. So I got all this super valuable information. They also did improv in that. And I didn't know. I had no intention of getting into improv, but they just happened to do it and I had. At that point I was like, oh, yeah, dramatic acting and. But the improv in it was so much fun. I was having a blast. And people told my parents, they're like, oh, you should get him out to la. You should get him an agent, whatever. And so I got an agent in Arizona, and I'm 13 years old, so. 13 year old actor in Arizona. What's great is that there's just a ton of availability. Like, you're. The competition's not much there. I now absolutely would never tell a kid to get into the acting industry or audition and stuff at 13. I'm like, just live your life. Yeah, be a teenager's a really tough age. Don't. Don't think about your career yet. Like, you get those years to not worry about your entire life career. But so I got into it and I booked like the first two jobs I auditioned for. One was a student film. And that was an experience that took like a year to film because they'd, like, get. We'd film like, on like two days, and then like, they'd. Two months, two months later they'd be like, all right, yeah, we need to shoot this thing.

[Amanda]

And what I'm getting paid $05 footage.

[Arasha Lani]

You'Ll never see and you never want to see.

[Shane]

Right, sorry. And there was. Oh, man. I'm just. It's just. I'm just now recalling there was like a scene that had like a gun in it, and I'm like wondering about the safety that involved.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, my God.

[Amanda]

Like, you're 13, right?

[Shane]

Yeah, you're 13. No, I had a gun pointed at me, like, in it and. And stuff. And I'm like, okay, I. Who knows? That's. Yeah. But I got really lucky because one of the other jobs and actors know this. One of the other jobs that I got, it was this indie film that had a couple mad TV actors in it, and I played a pretty small part, but it was SAG, and I got it. And I got SAG eligible immediately at 13, which is.

[Amanda]

Whoa.

[Shane]

It is like, one of the hardest things in this industry.

[Arasha Lani]

Just qualifying for the.

[Shane]

Got that. Yeah. It's so hard.

[Amanda]

It's so hard. I was like, it's never going to happen for me. And then when it did, I was.

[Shane]

Like, oh, it's freaking brutal.

[Arasha Lani]

I was lucky with Spirited, too. That's how I got my eligibility.

[Shane]

Damn.

[Arasha Lani]

Throughout. Because once you get a couple of those bad.

[Shane]

I have friends who've been trying for years. It's truly a luck thing. That's fully.

[Arasha Lani]

I agree.

[Amanda]

It's not. It's not how good you are. Honestly.

[Shane]

It is luck.

[Amanda]

And also then when you get in. Okay.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

But that's how I got into it. I. Eventually a couple. Yeah. And then you pay so much money.

[Amanda]

But when you book under them, they also pay you.

[Arasha Lani]

But then you still pay.

[Shane]

Whoa.

[Amanda]

And then you still pay, and then you pay more.

[Shane]

But that's generally. And then, like, I started flying out here for auditions, and we did have some connections. My. Like, because of this, the. The agents I had in Arizona, whatever. Like, there were some light connections made. But I. I kind of came out here. And you do have to just start doing workshops and started doing workshops. Started getting out here. And it slow. It took a. It took a couple years then. Because it wasn't till I was 16 then that I booked icarly, which was like the first, like, big job here.

[Amanda]

That's huge.

[Shane]

And it's so funny that the memes and stuff now are like, Shane from iCarly. I'm like, @ the time, it really was like, the biggest deal to me.

[Amanda]

Wow.

[Arasha Lani]

Of course. As it should be. Like, I'm sure that was a huge, huge.

[Shane]

Oh, my God. I remember freaking out. I remember. I remember freaking out, but being almost more like, not upset, but like, finding out that I booked it. I was more scared than I was excited, of course. I was just like, oh, you got.

[Arasha Lani]

To do a good job.

[Amanda]

I kind of feel you. You know, when you're, like, going out, you're like, God, I need to book this thing. And then you get it and you're like, oh, you booked it. And I remember, like, a first big booking. You're like, oh. Oh, God.

[Shane]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

Like, I remember I booked Amazon Alexa, and it was gonna film all in Seattle, and it was like a 20 new media contract or something. And I remember being like, ha.

[Shane]

Oh, whoa. I know.

[Arasha Lani]

Nice.

[Shane]

It's that you wanna do well. The better you do, the more that failure gets scary.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, yeah.

[Shane]

Cause you're like, if I fail at this, then my whole career's over.

[Arasha Lani]

Right?

[Shane]

You know, you fail at a single audition, you're like, whatever. That's not gonna impact you too much. But you get a callback, you get another callback, and you're in front of the director and producers.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

You go, well, if I fuck up here, they're gonna remember me forever.

[Arasha Lani]

Totally.

[Amanda]

This episode is brought to you by Rocket Money. So my husband and I live under the same roof, and I found out that we have multiple subscriptions that we are paying for when we could easily just join forces and share and pay one subscription. I found out by using Rocket Money. I was like, oh, my God, we are wasting so much money. So I got to cancel them all, and now we're one big happy family. Wow.

[Shane]

Sounds like you're really in love now.

[Amanda]

Yeah, I think so.

[Shane]

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[Amanda]

I'm wasting so much money.

[Shane]

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[Amanda]

Wow. That's crazy. Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com Smoshmouth that's RocketMoney.com Smoshmouth RocketMoney.com this.

[Shane]

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[Amanda]

And you can get one that matches your boo. So you guys could be wearing the same underwear. Well, not the same underwear, you know, the same print, maybe. I'm really excited because I getting two new pairs and they have the coolest prints. They have like, palm trees and hummingbirds and hearts. They're so cool. I'm so excited about it.

[Shane]

Yeah, I have some meundies myself, and I've got some classic pairs, some solids, some solid prints, and then I do have some silly ones. I even have a Christmas one, and I wear it year round.

[Amanda]

What? That's outrageous.

[Shane]

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[Amanda]

Wow. I'm excited. Let's get back in. Acting is the wildest journey I've ever gone on. But I will say, for me, and we've all started at different times. There was never another path for me, because, yes, it all kind of happened, but ever since I was little, it was never gonna go away. Like, for me, it was just like, this burning desire. It was like every time I was in a job that wasn't acting, something always felt like it was missing, like, big time. Like, very much missing. And I think that's what makes people move across the country with nothing. And that's really what it was for me. And I feel like whether you get that later, I think if you really want to do acting, it's in there. Like, it's just. It's there, and I don't know, sometimes it gets ignited later in life or someone goes, you should try this. But I just feel like you have to have that fire. Otherwise, this job is. It's not. You don't even have a job.

[Arasha Lani]

That's exactly.

[Amanda]

It's not even a job.

[Arasha Lani]

That's exactly what I was.

[Shane]

Sucks the most.

[Arasha Lani]

Gigs.

[Shane]

I was gonna ask, like, what. Like, getting into more the bullshit of it. Like, what is the hardest part? Cause for me, the hardest part is the space. There's so much just, like, nothing that happens. You know, I came out here with this. This mindset of, like, you know what? I heard there's a lot of rejection in Hollywood. I'm ready for it. Reject me. Casting directors, reject me. But it wasn't cast directors being like, you're never gonna make it in this town. No, it's a lot of. Okay, that was great. Thanks. And I'm like, I drove. I drove two hours to this audition. I went in for a minute, and you said, great job, and I'm leaving, and I have to drive all the way back home, and I know I'm not gonna hear anything, and that's gonna happen so many times. And then it's also just when you go weeks without an audition and you're just like, what am I doing?

[Arasha Lani]

Well, it even goes further back, right? Like, to the actual Audition. Right. The preparation for that audition. Right. You said you drove two hours. Like, a lot of the times, especially now that we're in the South Tape era, we just get pages sent to you and. And you'll just get like, 10 pages and it'll be like. And you can do that by Monday.

[Amanda]

Right. Luckily, that's changed.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. Thank God.

[Amanda]

Like, a limit on that.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. With the new agreement.

[Amanda]

Yeah. Now you have less than 10.

[Arasha Lani]

Right.

[Amanda]

But.

[Arasha Lani]

But the point is, like. But still, you still have, like, it's.

[Amanda]

Still the night before.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. And you're doing your hair, your makeup, you're getting ready for it. Like, now it's like a quality thing as well. You have to have good lighting, a good background, good camera. And then you send in this beautiful package that you get paid $0 for if you don't book the job. Like, you just did all of that for no money.

[Amanda]

Don't be an actor to make money.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

That's literally. You have to love it that you literally can't think of doing anything else.

[Arasha Lani]

And that's what I was gonna tell you earlier when you brought up the whole advice of, like, don't do it if you don't want it. My whole thing is, if you want it bad enough, you are able to overlook all the bullshit. Like, you are able to be like, okay, this sucks, but the alternative is leaving acting. And I'm not doing that.

[Shane]

I think that's true for all creative pursuits.

[Amanda]

I agree.

[Shane]

From what I've heard.

[Amanda]

Yeah, I agree.

[Shane]

And a lot of pursuits, even not like that, you know, people who work in a lot of different industries, too, are like, oh, don't get into, like, people who are teachers, unfortunately, they should get paid more. But people who are teachers are often like, you gotta love it.

[Amanda]

Like, I also think. I think for me, doing it for so long, I think the biggest thing for me that keeps me going also is that when I turn 60 or 70, I don't want to say, oh, I wish I did that. I will say, though, I have put my heart and soul into acting since I got out here, like, from the ground running, that I will say I never want to stop acting. But I am at a place right now where I feel very proud of myself and very satisfied that if something were to happen, like another strike or whatever, I would be okay. Because I've learned that you have to have hobbies, you have to have other things you love other than just acting, because it'll drive you insane. For me personally, and that's what's really helped Me with this space. Because the space when you go months without working was really difficult. And now I'm like, oh, I have to act. Like, acting could be taken away at any moment. So I have to find other things that I love. That's kind of a newer thing that. Cause the live or die acting thing, I had it for so long and let me tell you, it burnt out my soul.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, yeah.

[Amanda]

And so now I have to be like, I love this, I love this. What else do I love? Course I want to act always. I literally would be happy if I got paid next to nothing and was doing a play. Like, And I say this to Angela and she's like, don't wish that.

[Arasha Lani]

And I'm like, why?

[Amanda]

But I don't know, I just like. I think what's great about being an artist and acting is that I see it as like, you're a cat. Every year you have a different life in the industry. Like, every year is a new way of looking at acting.

[Arasha Lani]

I love that.

[Amanda]

Like, this year is a totally different year for me. Last year was like, a lot like my own show. Like, every year it doesn't have to be a new project, it's just how you experience acting.

[Arasha Lani]

I think that's great.

[Shane]

That's really interesting.

[Amanda]

You know what I mean?

[Shane]

I think that's really cool.

[Amanda]

You're like a cat with a million lives. Like, it's just like every year, look at it as a different year.

[Arasha Lani]

I love thinking about things like that because for me, the hardest part is definitely the, like, the mental gymnastics that I always play of. Like, some weeks I'm feeling so encouraged and I'm like, oh, my gosh. Like, I have so much time and I'm at a good pace and opportunities are around me and I'm lucky and I'm feeling it. And then the week after I'll be like, what's the point? Why should I? And why would I. And I don't deserve it and all of this. And it just goes back and forth. But I. I've also, I think, come into the same realization, definitely. Like, spreading out that love, distributing it a little bit. That way you don't just have it in one corner of your life, but also just like, truly accepting. For me, I think I. For so long, especially right when I had that. This dream of coming out to la, I immediately, it was like, oh, well, once I get it, I will be happy.

[Shane]

I. Bro. Oh, I've told this before, but when. The most toxic thing looking back was when I was a teenager out here. With a bunch of other teenage actors. Everyone thought this way. They're like, well, yeah, my goal is to make it before I'm 18.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

And then you turn 18 and you haven't made it, and you're a failure at 18 years old. You can't fail your career at 18 years old. That's such a. It's so messed up.

[Amanda]

It shouldn't have even started.

[Shane]

And I thought that way. And then every year after that, you're like, shoot, I'm 20. It's gonna. And you have this mindset of, like, it's gonna get harder every year. Cause now I. Now what am I. What do I have to offer? I'm not a kid anymore. I can't get those roles. Like, I'm. Now I'm competing against adults. Yeah.

[Amanda]

You age so fast, right?

[Shane]

Oh, it messes you up so much. I look back on when I joined Smosh, and I look back, and maybe it's not visible, but I'm like, I can see how much older I was at 23 than I am now because of my mindset at that time, I was so. I was of the mindset of, like, I'm done.

[Amanda]

Whoa.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

And it's. That was all. That was what I was. It's what the industry does to you, but it's what I was doing to myself.

[Arasha Lani]

Exactly. But acting favors, right? The younger kids are like, you have to be in your 20s, your prime. You have to be so young and pretty. And so it. That feeling feels like it's fading. Like, oh, my gosh, my time is running out. But I've truly just accepted this as of the last few months and have just been significantly happier of just, you don't have to qualify to live like you already get to be happy. And. And I love what you said, too, is just like, enjoying the now is how you're going to maintain longevity in your acting career if you are able to be like, you know what if I don't accomplish anything else? I've already accomplished so much.

[Amanda]

And also, like, I'm so. Like, I'm so glad no one saw me when I was 23 and was like, you're booked. Because I am such a better actor. I'm more understanding. I understand who I am. I feel more grounded. I feel more able and strong enough to take on different characters and personalities, and I feel just more understanding.

[Shane]

Well, really, a bad thing that I did a lot is I would compare to other actors or actors previous to me. Yep. And I think, oh, their career, that career. And it's like, you're never gonna have anyone else's career.

[Arasha Lani]

Never.

[Shane]

You're never gonna have anyone else's life. Your life is gonna be so unique that it's scary. Cause you're not gonna know what's gonna happen next, but it's gonna be your own story. And that's why comparing is so stupid. I did it so much, but same.

[Amanda]

It's like when you do auditions, I.

[Shane]

Mean, and you have to learn to start trusting your own performance.

[Amanda]

Right? We gotta talk about auditions. Because auditions are literally the biggest part of acting.

[Arasha Lani]

Yes.

[Amanda]

You have to learn how to audition. And sometimes you have really good auditions, and sometimes you have really bad auditions, which lead to really weird jobs.

[Arasha Lani]

Quickly, though. Can I ask, before we delve away from your career, Shane, I wanna ask how your parents were throughout all of that. Did they want you to get into acting?

[Shane]

Yeah, they didn't want me to get into acting until I was very vocal about wanting to get into acting. And we also had other acting, like, acting coaches and agents and stuff. And I. It's. It's tough to know. Like, I certainly was saying it a lot. I remember being like, I want to do this. I. My hair is crazy.

[Arasha Lani]

I was gonna fix it.

[Shane]

I want to be Alfalfa in. In Little Rascals. But I was. But I also. I also look back and I'm like, I was 14, and I was mesmerized by a little bit of this fantasy.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

I'm very fortunate that once I got out here and I actually got into it, I also liked it.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Shane]

But there's no way to know what it's actually like until you're out here. And doing is strange to have so many authority figures when you're a teenager. Like, telling. Talking to you about your career. You know, I don't think it's healthy. And even though my parents were great about it, they were. They were. They had the best of intentions and compared. Because I saw so many awful parents. Right. And like, parents that I didn't even know were awful. You know, I was on the icarly set, and Jennette McCurdy was there. And I think I met her mom and stuff. And I had no idea. But that was reading that book. I was like, that's obviously such an extreme. But I'm like, I saw everyone. I feel like that's a child actor has some little tidbit similar to that of just like being told. I've realized this a lot lately of like, how much by authority figures I was told to think about my body and my appearance. And when you're a teenager and it could be light, it could be like, yeah, you should dye your hair, or, oh, you need to make sure you stay like. Like, even. I was told about my weight and stuff like that of like, if I got. If you get too muscular, they're like, you could slim down. Like, you're just. Even when it's not a critique, even when it's coming from a positive place or just truly, in their mind, a professional place, you're still being told to think about things when your body's not even fully formed. But it's unfortunately. But it's unfortunately, the industry is so messed up in that way. And it's why there's a lot of push for things nowadays that I think is so good of like, hey, let's show real people on screen. Because it's not just that we have attractive people. We have people who are like, we are. It's fake. Now we're using cgi. We're using plastic surgery, using all these things. It's like, can we show real people?

[Amanda]

Yes.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. I asked because I was curious, like. Because I often get asked as well, like, just, like, how my parents kind of felt about it. Because it's also, you know, in. In my culture, it's not something that was necessarily, like, normal to my parents. I mean, obviously, like, Bollywood is a huge thing, and they were aware of, like, movies and acting and stuff like that, but I don't think they really ever took it seriously.

[Shane]

My parents took it very seriously. Once we were out here, we moved out here. I mean, they took it very seriously. I think that they thought it was really cool.

[Arasha Lani]

Right. And I'm sure once you get out here and kind of see all of that, definitely that's where my parents are now. I always am able to answer that question and say that I'm grateful because they've truly been nothing but supportive. But I think the reason why it took so long for me to launch into it. Cause truly I would have also gone into being a child actor, was that my parents didn't really believe in that. They genuinely were like, is this really even anything? I don't really think it's gonna happen.

[Amanda]

Yeah. My parents were like, I'm sorry, what?

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Shane]

If I had gotten into this after I turned 18, if I had done it on my own, I wonder what their. Their point of view.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. Maybe. Maybe they would have thought about it.

[Shane]

I think they had. They had so many people, other people telling them this is what they should do that. I think they trusted that it wasn't just me saying this. And I also, by booking a couple things in Arizona, I think they were like, oh.

[Amanda]

They were like, oh, okay.

[Shane]

You always underestimate how hard it's gonna be.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah, yeah, same.

[Shane]

I think I booked some things in Arizona. Certainly. I'll book some stuff in la. It's like, no.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

No, you're not.

[Arasha Lani]

I think the first time, like, I, like, actually, like, booked anything. It was just like, small, small, small thing in San Antonio, and it was like, like on one of our, like, grocery store, like, newspapers. It was just on the COVID And my parents were like, oh, my God. So acting is a thing. So this is a real thing. And I was like, all right, I guess I'll accept that if that is.

[Shane]

I think it took a minute. What? I think it took a minute for a lot of my. For a lot of people to accept was smosh. I don't think they understood how big. How big that was.

[Amanda]

My family has no eyes either. Send them. And my mom's like, so what.

[Shane]

What is.

[Amanda]

What are you doing? She's like, so smash. Smash. Smash is. So how do I find it?

[Shane]

I'm like, but it's honestly one of the best jobs.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

But speaking of jobs, jobs, let's get to what we.

[Amanda]

Let's get to what we really.

[Shane]

Cause another big part of this industry is you end up on some really dumb job.

[Arasha Lani]

Multiple jobs.

[Shane]

I have ended up on so many stupid sets. Arasha, your conservative dating app commercial. Yes, I will admit I had seen it before the roast. I had seen it. I'd come across it. A fan had posted it on our Reddit, and I watched it and I laughed. I was just like, that's funny. But I knew about it. So when it got brought up in Anthony's funeral, I was like, oh, I had. Because I was like, that's such a deep cut. That's such a, like, reveal.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

But I'm so curious to hear you talk.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah, I mean, and I spoke a little bit about it, but to kind of talk about the back ends of it, you know, I originally saw the job on backstage, and it was a long time ago, like, pretty much right when I moved out to la. So at the very beginning of it, I was like, you know what you do kind of get these auditions is submit yourself, right? Like, put your profile, like, out there and on backstage. It makes it really easy, just like actors access to put yourself up for jobs. And I saw this one for this. For this commercial. And how do they label it? It was called the Right Stuff. It had the name on it.

[Amanda]

Yeah, but how would you know that that's a right wing anything?

[Arasha Lani]

Exactly. You just think about it in the normal way.

[Shane]

Also observing it. Right. The. Isn't it the right. Right, Right stuff. But right is in blue, which is. Is that.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, is that right?

[Amanda]

Yeah, blue is Democrat. Blue is Democrat.

[Shane]

So I'm like. I'm a little confused. Yeah, I'm like, that feels weird.

[Arasha Lani]

That's interesting.

[Shane]

In red.

[Arasha Lani]

Well, I mean, it was black. It was all black. When I saw it, it was just, you know, on the page and I scrolled down, it said, like, you know, commercial. It had, like, some of the crew listed the production company and then like, the rolls or whatever, whatever. And I submitted myself for one. And then I remember, like, hearing back, and they were like, okay, like, we'd love you for you to audition. So I sent in a tape of, like, the lines they provided. And it was the lines that I read in the commercial. Like, it was not anything crazy. It was just simple.

[Amanda]

Yeah, I watched the commercial. I wouldn't think it's perfect.

[Shane]

Yeah, because you're just like, oh, this guy tried to. He. He asked me to pay.

[Arasha Lani]

Right. It's like a very basic, like, bad date thing. Yeah. So I. I read that for the audition, and then they reached out and they were like, we'd love to, like, meet with you. Like, could you do, like, a zoom? So I did a zoom. And it was very professional. It was like a team of, like, five guys.

[Shane]

And that's when you knew it was a right wing.

[Amanda]

I have white dudes.

[Arasha Lani]

And I was like, well, truly, that's a lot of the time, the industry. So I was like, great.

[Shane]

That is also true.

[Arasha Lani]

This is just another thing. It was literally five guys. And they were like, hey, Rachel.

[Shane]

And they're making burgers.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

They have American flags all over them.

[Arasha Lani]

It was actually a fast food commercial.

[Shane]

Yeah, we work for five guys. Cause we're five guys.

[Arasha Lani]

Is they. And again, they gave me the outline. They did not mention, of course, at all it being at all political. It was just like, this is a dating app. Like, this is the concept of it messed up. They just. They just put that out there. And. And they were like, you know, whatever. And. And I had a. I had. I have my team as well, so I'd, like, connected my manager. And it was just like, in terms of, like, negotiation. But we didn't get into any of the specifics other than, like, so your manager didn't know no, like, we literally had no idea.

[Shane]

Oh, does the commercial explicitly state.

[Amanda]

It doesn't.

[Shane]

It's kind of vague.

[Arasha Lani]

It's. It's pretty vague.

[Amanda]

I think I watched it and I was like, I would not immediately think that this is for.

[Shane]

It's very.

[Arasha Lani]

Unless I Googled it. So. So once. So on set, actually, it was. It was also very professional. Like, everything was run, like, very industry standard. I was very happy with all of that. Still did not know on set and going through all of it. The other two girls I met, they were very nice, like, you know, whatever. Months later, my best friend, like, texted me a tweet. And it was just the tweet. And I clicked on the tweet and it was a Republican candidate posting this on their profile. Or maybe it was a Democratic candidate, like, saying that it was a bad thing or something. But they just posted it and I see it quickly. I remember I was, like, driving home and I just see it and I watched it and I didn't see anything else. I just watched it and I wrote back and I was like, oh, cool. Like, that's what I did. And he was like, arasha, like, have you seen the comments? And so then I went into it, and people were, like, bashing it, right? Not specifically me, but just being like, this is awful. This is stupid. Like, whatever. Like, all of this, like, negative comments, this hurts me. Oh, yeah. So then I went back and I was like, people aren't really liking it. And he was like, well, are you catching, like, what exactly it is? And all of a sudden I am like, oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. And I was driving again. I remember specifically because I was like, okay, I gotta call, like, 10 people. The first one being my manager. And I was like, do I make a statement? Like, and I make a statement. She was like, it's okay if I.

[Shane]

Have to pay on a date. Oh.

[Arasha Lani]

She was like. She was like, do not do anything.

[Amanda]

Make a statement to what?

[Arasha Lani]

She was like, it's fine. Like, I don't think that many people are going to see this. Like, if it blows up, like, we'll come up with something, but we do not need to worry about it right now. Like, you didn't know. Like, hopefully most people are going to realize that you didn't know. Like, it's gonna be okay. Like, let's just, like, keep calm. And. And I think she was like, if at smosh, like, they say anything, like, you can have them talk to me if they're, like, worried. And I was like, no, they're not worried about me. So I was like, it's fine. We're gonna figure it out.

[Amanda]

Okay, so this is recent.

[Arasha Lani]

No, it was like a year and a half ago. Maybe. Maybe a year ago. It was a while ago. And then I remember I called, like, the other girls on the set, too, and I was like, did you guys know? And they were like, no. And I was like, okay.

[Amanda]

Right.

[Arasha Lani]

So I, like, proceeded to panic for, like, the next hour as I was, like, making calls and, like, freaking out. And essentially everyone was just like, it's fine. Yeah, it's gonna be okay.

[Amanda]

And then you get roasted on Anthony's funeral.

[Shane]

And it gets brought back up.

[Amanda]

And it gets brought back up. And you're like, oh, well, you're never safe.

[Arasha Lani]

No, it was totally fair game. And again, like, I am actually grateful that it was brought up because I did need to make a statement. Make a statement. And that's. That's what I'm doing now. I get to make it.

[Shane]

I remember I did a commercial for some, like, mobile app, like, forever ago, and I still don't know what it was.

[Arasha Lani]

Yep. I'm just like, you've probably never seen it.

[Amanda]

You just don't know.

[Shane]

You really don't know for a lot of stuff. And you show up and you do commercials are really. You show up, and they're often filming, like, multiple kind of commercials in one day for the same thing. So you're just kind of going. And you're just. You often don't have lines or whatever, but.

[Amanda]

And a lot of the auditions don't tell you the product at all. They don't even tell you what it is. I've had that happen to me a few times. But then it's like, if you book it, then it's a product that you know, and you're like, oh, okay.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

Like, the recent one that I did, it was for Acrisure. Acrisure. I had no idea what it was. And then I booked it. And they're like, oh, yeah, it's with Lionel Richie. And I was like, what?

[Shane]

Oh, shit.

[Arasha Lani]

What?

[Amanda]

And I met his stand in.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay.

[Amanda]

And his stand in was just like, I don't even know who I'm standing in for. And I was like, you're standing in for Lionel Richie. And he was like, oh.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, my God.

[Amanda]

Lionel Richie. What an amazing person.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, wow.

[Amanda]

Yeah, he was amazing.

[Arasha Lani]

Wow.

[Amanda]

Very humble. Shook everyone's hand, unlike Ryan Reynolds. Knew everyone's name.

[Shane]

Lionel Richie. He's got the right stuff.

[Arasha Lani]

Ryan knew my name. He just forgot it. And then remembered when he asked me again, God, we're.

[Amanda]

We're going to be working together.

[Arasha Lani]

We met.

[Shane]

But I think I'm going to download the right stuff so that I.

[Amanda]

Okay. Honestly, Shane, you'd probably crush on the right.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah, actually get on there. Go with the Mohawk, too.

[Shane]

That'll do you well. God, yeah.

[Amanda]

You would crush on the right stuff. Me, they'd be like, you're a lesbian. Correct.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, I would do great.

[Shane]

My only thought, my thought, my genuine thought when I saw that, that commercial as I was just like, there are no women on that dating app. There's no fucking way. No way.

[Amanda]

The commercial. You guys aren't on the. You guys are on the dating app, right? No, you're just, like, having bad dates. And they're like, get on the right. So you're not technically even on the date.

[Arasha Lani]

I'm not even on it. We're literally. We're at this party talking about our bad date. You know, I had a similar experience. This guy seemed normal on his profile, but when we went out, he asked, oh, do you mind paying? I left my gift card in my other fanny pack.

[Shane]

I guarantee you that the whole premise of that was to get to sway a bunch of dudes, a bunch of toxic dudes into getting on it and paying some sort of amount and just getting a bunch of them on there. And then if it doesn't succeed, whatever, they get a bunch of money and.

[Amanda]

Then they all date each other.

[Shane]

Then they all date each other.

[Arasha Lani]

Hey, again, I can only say positive things about the production. Like, they were.

[Shane]

Well, none of the production. They're hiding.

[Arasha Lani]

I probably didn't even know either.

[Amanda]

Yeah, like, Brian and the production, they aren't really linked except for, like, during the process of choosing who it is.

[Arasha Lani]

Exactly, exactly. So you really, you really never know when you go on these sets? No, it's, it's, it's, it's. It makes me laugh, too, because you said that you had shown up to a set and you had, like, a gun pointed at you. Literally, like.

[Shane]

And then we started rolling.

[Arasha Lani]

I think. I think I told you this once, too. Like, my very first student film, it was a student music video, and I showed up to that set. Oh, it's as bad as it sounds. I didn't even actually continue it because when I got there, I've definitely told you this, Shane, because I get there and production starts handing out weed. And they're like, so we're gonna have you guys smoke this?

[Amanda]

Dude, they're like, bikinis only weed. Yes.

[Shane]

They. They Literally. They literally handed drugs out and said, smoke.

[Arasha Lani]

They were like, you're going to smoke this in the background of the club. And we were like, I also want.

[Shane]

To point out, look, morals aside, production wise, any production person here would be like, that cost is so unnecessary.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay. Yeah.

[Shane]

That is so much money that you are wasting.

[Arasha Lani]

Well, that's the thing, too. When I say production, I mean a student. This student came over and was like, yo, here's some of my weed.

[Shane]

Smoke it in the background.

[Amanda]

Honestly, the student film that I did that I wish would never exist was me playing Aaron Brockovich.

[Shane]

Guys, did you guys just remake Aaron Brockovich? We just remade Aaron Brockovich Reloaded.

[Amanda]

We just didn't see from Erin Brockovich. What? It's not a. That's not Canada's student search for it.

[Arasha Lani]

We gotta find it.

[Amanda]

I gotta find it. Because it's just. It's not a student film. It's just a scene from Erin Brockovich. And it's so awkward. It's just me going through the filing cabinet and I'm wearing the smallest mini skirt, and I'm like, why did I. And I'm going through a file gown, and I'm like, they're just boobs or whatever line I had. And I'm like. I look back, I'm like, what did I do? I can't even use that for my reel. It's literally already a movie.

[Shane]

Oh, my God.

[Arasha Lani]

But, hey, the jobs we accept for. You probably did get paid for that.

[Amanda]

Of course not.

[Shane]

You don't get paid for those.

[Amanda]

I got, like. I got like, a voucher. Which I never saw.

[Arasha Lani]

No.

[Shane]

To see Erin Brockovich. Okay. Anyways, we have a little end segment we want to do. Mine ties in with all of this.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay.

[Shane]

A little end segment called Jaw Drop.

[Amanda]

Yep.

[Shane]

Where we say something about ourselves or some. Just some sort of thing that'll make the other people's jaw drop. Something shocking, something fascinating. Okay, Amanda, do you want to start?

[Amanda]

I'll start. I don't even know.

[Shane]

Is it that you did a student film where you were Erin Brockovich? Because that.

[Arasha Lani]

That already worked our job a lot.

[Amanda]

This is more. More of a jaw drop. That's like something very embarrassing. And I thought about it this morning. So when I was acting, I also was bartending forever to, like, pay the bills. There was a guy who came up to me, and you know how when you see an actor, your first thought is, how do I know that person? And you think you know them as a friend or whatever first, which is kind of weird. This Guy came up to me and came up to me and went, hey. And I'm not kidding. I thought he was an old friend of mine from Groundlings. I hugged him so hard, I was like, hey, man, oh, my God, how are you? And I found myself rubbing his arm for like, this is the standard.

[Shane]

Amanda. Hello.

[Amanda]

My hand was, like, gripping his arm, going up and down, his arm being like, how are you? How is everything? Wow, it's been so long since I've seen you. I thought he was. Was someone from my class. And I was like, whatever happened with that class? And he went, I'm sorry. I was just looking for the bathroom. He's a famous actor.

[Shane]

Can you say what actor?

[Amanda]

I forget his name, but he was on Orange is the New Black. He was one of the leads of Orange is the New Black. Jason Biggs.

[Shane]

Is it Jason Biggs?

[Amanda]

No, no, no. I know Jason Biggs.

[Arasha Lani]

I wouldn't.

[Shane]

I know him.

[Amanda]

No.

[Shane]

Wow. So you just.

[Amanda]

So I was just like, oh, my God, how are you? I think I hugged him twice because I was like, I know him. I know him. I know him. I know. And then he wasn't weirded out. He was like, oh, yeah, that just.

[Shane]

Happens to him all the time.

[Amanda]

I was like, yeah, yeah. That's so nice of you. I just was wondering where the bathroom is. And then I was like, oh, it's right up there. And he walked away. And I went. And it all hit me like a ton of bricks. I was like. And I was watching Orange Is the New Black during that time, so this is a while ago. And I was like, oh, my God. I don't know him. He's just a famous actor. And I just.

[Shane]

He'll never forget that I rubbed his arm.

[Amanda]

And honestly, he wasn't upset, but he was so nice and polite.

[Arasha Lani]

Everyone loves an arm rub.

[Amanda]

Oh, gosh.

[Shane]

From strangers. Yeah.

[Amanda]

That's great.

[Shane]

I've definitely done that before. Not to that degree, but I definitely saw someone once at a party, and I was like, hey, it's good to see you again. He was like, yeah, man. And then I walked away. I was like, wait, that was just Jason Ritter. Wasn't that. I just watched him in a movie. That wasn't.

[Arasha Lani]

So you didn't see him again?

[Shane]

No. Okay.

[Amanda]

That's my jaw drop.

[Shane]

That's.

[Arasha Lani]

Our jaws were dropped.

[Shane]

That was.

[Arasha Lani]

Our jaws were dropped.

[Shane]

Okay, so I've talked to Amanda about. Amanda knows this, but I want to say it here because it's a crazy fact. Okay, so my first ever trip to la, I come out here for a workshop. Like a casting actor workshop. So I am 14 years old, and I come out here and I'm like, man, I'm gonna. I'm gonna be. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna. I'm gonna go in there and they're gonna be like, whoa, all eyes are gonna be on me. Like, I was just buying into the fantasy, and I'm just like. Cause you. You. That there's that myth of, like, the people who make it, they know they're gonna make it. They know. And I'm like, at this point, I know that's bullshit.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Shane]

But I was like, okay. Like, I got to walk in there and I'm. I'm Shane Top. Like, you know, and there were. There just. There was like, maybe like a dozen or so kids in this workshop, but there were two other dudes in this workshop. Similar age to me, similar look. And it was like, already just, like, right in my face of just, oh, this is going to be a lot harder than I thought. And I'm not special. The two people, the two other dudes in this class. One was Sterling Knight, who I would later work with on so Random and stuff. I knew him a lot through my teenage years. He's a great guy. The other person in this acting class was Austin Butler. Just when I was ready, Elvis. And already at 14, I was just like, hey, man. Ah, you're really good looking. Like, just like, okay.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, my God.

[Shane]

How's it going?

[Arasha Lani]

No, back then, he was on. Back then, he was like, background right on. Like, Ned's declassified a little bit.

[Shane]

He started booking, actually, pretty quickly. Yeah. And I. That's. He was. He's unfortunately so nice. He was a super chill dude. Really cool. We even exchanged numbers at the time. I doubt that's his.

[Amanda]

Like, I can't wait to write.

[Shane]

Yeah, I should call him up and be like, austin, what's going on?

[Amanda]

How was Elvis?

[Shane]

No, he's super, super chill, dude. And what's been funny is I have not seen him since. But, like, just every step of the way, like, I. I've just been observing his career. He was on the episode of iCarly before my episode of icarly.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, my God.

[Shane]

Like, stuff like that. Like, just. And then just going back to the whole comparison thing. Like, it's just like, okay, you've been nominated for an Oscar and stuff. But I'm like, whatever. My career is my career. Yes, I have. Like I said, I've gone through times. This was years ago where I was just like, fuck, yeah, he made it. And I didn't. But I'm like, no, I.

[Arasha Lani]

Not yet. But also, you made it.

[Shane]

No, I'm super happy.

[Amanda]

Exactly.

[Shane]

I just think it's really funny. It's a really funny story.

[Arasha Lani]

No, that is really fun.

[Shane]

So anytime people talk about Austin Butler, I just immediately I go back to it.

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, my best bud.

[Shane]

Stop. My bro.

[Arasha Lani]

I have his number.

[Shane]

My bro. Awesome.

[Arasha Lani]

That's fun.

[Shane]

Yeah. So it's super insane.

[Arasha Lani]

Okay, I've got a jaw drop for you guys. I guess it's not gonna be about acting, though. I didn't.

[Amanda]

Okay.

[Arasha Lani]

I didn't nicely segue that because I just saw to this, but trigger warning poop.

[Shane]

Oh.

[Arasha Lani]

So. So when I went to India for the first time, it was when. Well, actually, I was born there. So technically this is the second time. But when I went as, like, a conscious person. Yeah, I was, I think 15, maybe 14 or 15. And I had no idea what India was gonna be like. So when I went there, it was complete culture shock. I just was like, oh, my gosh. I felt like a little American princess, like, being like, what? And, like, what's that smell? And, oh, my God, I need this and I need that. And I just was very shocked. One of the things that I was also very shocked at was that in some parts of India, instead of a toilet, there's just a hole in the ground. And I didn't accept that toilets are.

[Shane]

Kind of holes in the ground, just with a nice little seat. Seat above the toilet.

[Arasha Lani]

That seat provides so much.

[Shane]

Oh, it really. Yeah, it's kind of great without it.

[Arasha Lani]

You're very vulnerable.

[Amanda]

I did hear pooping in a whole. Like, full squat is better for you.

[Arasha Lani]

Yes, Yes.

[Amanda]

I don't know why I heard that. But.

[Arasha Lani]

So, okay, so I didn't want to do that. So I held my poop in for seven days.

[Shane]

Oh.

[Arasha Lani]

And that wasn't the end of the trip. I was there for three weeks. But at the end of, like, seven days, we went to, like, my mom's sister's place, and she had a normal toilet. So I was like, freedom. So I ran over there and I took a shit, and it was made.

[Shane]

National news in India, guys.

[Amanda]

Destroyed.

[Arasha Lani]

I feel like I was giving birth. Like, yeah, it hurts.

[Shane]

Were you also. Because I'm assuming. Were you eating any spicy foods while you were there?

[Amanda]

I don't know. This is a jaw drop.

[Arasha Lani]

Your jaws were dropped. I looked at both of your jaws dropped.

[Shane]

My jaws dropped.

[Arasha Lani]

Look. That's the craziest thing I could think of. In just a few minutes.

[Amanda]

I think it's insane. Does your aunt know that you ruined her bath?

[Arasha Lani]

Oh, she knew before I was like, where's the bathroom?

[Shane]

Look, without going into details, was the bath. Like, did they have to call people to come fix things?

[Arasha Lani]

No, I didn't. I didn't need to fix things.

[Shane]

If I waited seven days that I used the bathroom, I'd be like, you need to call.

[Arasha Lani]

You're different.

[Shane]

You need to call multiple services.

[Arasha Lani]

You're the right stuff, honey.

[Amanda]

You're different.

[Arasha Lani]

Trust me. Whatever I did went down smoothly, but I was fighting for my life on that toilet. I was like, hand on the wall. Like, I needed the railing to, like, keep me down. Cut, cut.

[Amanda]

To, like, Arasha's family and the aunt, like, eating cookies. And they're like, so, how was your trip? It was lovely. What is that? And it's like. It's like, slamming against the wall. It's like, trip went well. She's doing fine. Really? Sounds like she's dying in there.

[Shane]

So the next time someone's talking to you, they're like, hey, I'm going to India. Do you have any advice? You're just like. Like, take. Take a.

[Amanda]

Hold your.

[Shane]

Take a. Just take a.

[Arasha Lani]

You're like, right when you get there, just poop.

[Shane]

Just poop, man. Just do it. Just do it. Don't worry about it.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah, so I survived that.

[Shane]

Arasha. That was. That was.

[Amanda]

I don't even know.

[Shane]

That was a. I think you. Body truck. I think you won that. I think Austin Butler.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Arasha Lani]

Literally.

[Amanda]

And, like, arm.

[Arasha Lani]

Sorry.

[Shane]

El Grub of our celebrity stories don't matter in the face of that.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah, Yeah. I already told my celebrity story, so Ryan and I, you know.

[Shane]

Yeah. Thanks for being here.

[Amanda]

Yeah. We learned a lot about acting and how we feel about it. And.

[Shane]

Don't become an actor.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah.

[Shane]

Just don't.

[Amanda]

Don't become an actor unless it's, like, a burning desire and you can't do anything else.

[Arasha Lani]

I feel like I could talk about acting for hours.

[Shane]

Oh, for sure.

[Arasha Lani]

Just inside of our conversation, I know that I could feel so many, like, stories.

[Shane]

There were so many questions I had on here that we didn't get.

[Arasha Lani]

Yeah. Yeah. We'll be back.

[Shane]

All right.

[Amanda]

All right.

[Shane]

Thank you, Arash.

[Arasha Lani]

Yes. Thank you, guys. Thank you.

[Shane]

All right.

[Amanda]

And thank you.

[Arasha Lani]

And thank you.

[Shane]

Thank you. And we'll see you next time. Next Saturday.

[Arasha Lani]

And. Hey, poop.

[Amanda]

Next Saturday.

[Shane]

The next. I. What am I saying? Well, yeah, I don't know. Next Monday.

[Amanda]

Are you okay?

[Shane]

I'm not.