Billy Crudup | Stress, Success & Staying Strong After 50

Summary

Podcast Summary: Stronger with Don Saladino – Episode Featuring Billy Crudup

Episode Information:

• Title: Billy Crudup | Stress, Success & Staying Strong After 50
• Release Date: July 15, 2025
• Host: Don Saladino
• Guest: Billy Crudup, acclaimed Hollywood and theater actor

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1. Introduction and Personal Connection

The episode opens with Don Saladino expressing his admiration for Billy Crudup, highlighting their long-standing friendship and professional relationship spanning over a decade.

• Don Saladino [00:06]: "My good friend Billy Crudup, one of, I think Hollywood's best actors... what to eat - it’s about building strength in every area of life."

Billy humorously remarks on his transformed appearance due to Don’s training.

• Billy Crudup [00:25]: "This is what happens if you work out with Don Saladino. I was not gray before I met him."

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2. Building a Strong Coach-Client Relationship

Don emphasizes the professional yet friendly dynamic he shares with Billy, contrasting it with typical trainer-client separations.

• Don Saladino [00:30]: "In my business, I work with people and it's very professional... Everyone has their life, they have their families. You don't always have the opportunity to connect with them all the time."

Billy recounts how their relationship evolved from mere training to a deep friendship over 15 years.

• Billy Crudup [01:22]: Discussing their initial interactions and mutual interests in running and golf.

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3. Fitness Philosophy and Training Approach

The conversation delves into Don’s training philosophy, focusing on quality over quantity and understanding individual needs.

• Don Saladino [05:48]: "Quality over quantity."

Billy shares his initial struggle to adapt his running mentality to strength training.

• Billy Crudup [06:00]: "My instinct was to do what I do when I run. Push myself until I get to the point."

Don introduces Billy to a more nuanced approach, emphasizing understanding the body and setting realistic goals.

• Don Saladino [06:17]: "How does your body work today? What are your goals today?"

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4. Managing Stress in Acting and Life

Billy discusses the inherent stress in acting, from unpredictable job schedules to the emotional toll of roles, and how fitness serves as a vital outlet.

• Billy Crudup [04:35]: "Stress is one of the things that you have to figure out how to manage as an actor."

He elaborates on how training with Don helped him manage stress more effectively by providing structure and understanding his physiology.

• Billy Crudup [09:13]: "You introduced me to a new way of observing my body, my physiology."

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5. Overcoming Challenges and Injuries

Both Don and Billy share personal anecdotes about facing physical and mental challenges, emphasizing resilience and adaptability.

• Billy Crudup [23:46]: "I have never been able to exercise and do that show at the same time."

• Don Saladino [50:11]: "Don't push it. And try and get strong fast and overreach."

Billy recounts overcoming a severe performance mishap during a play, highlighting the importance of keeping a positive outlook.

• Billy Crudup [30:06]: "It was a terrible experience... It was the worst experience of my life."

Don relates his own experience of overcoming stage fright during a large presentation.

• Don Saladino [31:33]: "I just blacked out. I don't know what it was."

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6. Career Insights and Artistic Pursuits

Billy reflects on his career choices, focusing on roles that challenge him and allow for personal growth rather than easy, financially driven projects.

• Billy Crudup [16:21]: "Acting is still ahead of me. I still feel like I'm not the actor I want to be."

He discusses his current role in Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts," appreciating the timeless themes and their relevance today.

• Billy Crudup [12:11]: "Realism naturalism is the appearance that something is happening for the first time in front of you."

Don praises Billy’s versatile acting skills, sharing how Billy’s performance in “Arcadia” profoundly impacted him.

• Don Saladino [11:09]: "You nailed it."

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7. Parenting and Personal Life

The duo touches on their experiences with parenting, balancing professional commitments with family life.

• Billy Crudup [35:02]: Discussing his son's foray into acting and his excitement about collaborating in future projects.

• Don Saladino [33:05]: Shares insights about his children’s interests and his pride in their pursuits.

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8. Audience Interaction and Q&A

The episode features questions from listeners, with Billy providing thoughtful advice based on his experiences.

Question from Tristan:

• Topic: Athletic longevity and training through injuries.
• Billy’s Advice [48:09]: Emphasizes the importance of trusting the recovery process and focusing on incremental progress.
  • Billy Crudup [48:09]: "Meditation has been very, very useful to me... focus on the present moment."

Question from Alexander:

• Topic: Mental well-being beyond fitness for actors.
• Billy’s Advice [55:29]: Recommends meditation, engaging with the arts, and maintaining a creative connection to stay mentally healthy.
  • Billy Crudup [55:29]: "Meditation has been very, very useful to me... engaging in the cultural conversation."

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9. Final Reflections and Gratitude

As the episode wraps up, Don expresses deep gratitude for Billy’s influence both professionally and personally.

• Don Saladino [61:00]: "You changed my life materially, and I am forever grateful for not just that, but for the friendship as well."

Billy reciprocates the sentiment, emphasizing the profound impact of their training relationship.

• Billy Crudup [61:36]: "You changed my life materially, and I am forever grateful..."

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Key Takeaways:

• Holistic Strength: Building strength extends beyond physical fitness to mental resilience, stress management, and personal growth.

• Quality Over Quantity: Focusing on effective, tailored training methods yields better long-term results than pushing oneself indiscriminately.

• Adaptability and Resilience: Overcoming challenges, whether physical injuries or performance mishaps, requires a positive mindset and structured recovery.

• Balanced Life: Maintaining a balance between professional pursuits and personal life, including parenting and self-care, is crucial for overall well-being.

• Continuous Learning: Embracing new experiences and roles fosters personal and professional growth, keeping creativity and ambition alive.

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Notable Quotes:

• Billy Crudup [00:25]: "This is what happens if you work out with Don Saladino. I was not gray before I met him."

• Don Saladino [05:48]: "Quality over quantity."

• Billy Crudup [09:13]: "You introduced me to a new way of observing my body, my physiology."

• Billy Crudup [16:21]: "Acting is still ahead of me. I still feel like I'm not the actor I want to be."

• Billy Crudup [48:09]: "Meditation has been very, very useful to me... focus on the present moment."

• Billy Crudup [55:29]: "Engaging in the cultural conversation is a crucial part of keeping your creativity and your ambition and your optimism going."

• Don Saladino [61:00]: "You changed my life materially, and I am forever grateful for not just that, but for the friendship as well."

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This episode of Stronger with Don Saladino offers profound insights into maintaining strength and resilience in both personal and professional realms, illustrated through the candid and insightful conversation between Don Saladino and Billy Crudup. Whether you're an aspiring actor, a fitness enthusiast, or someone striving for holistic well-being, the shared experiences and advice provide valuable lessons on overcoming challenges and building a balanced, strong life.

Transcript

[Billy Crudup]

Blind Nil Audio.

[Don Saladino]

My good friend Billy Crudup, one of, I think Hollywood's best actors, theater actor, movie actor. Like, you really are an inspiration. And I had the privilege of becoming friends with Billy and being his coach for. Damn, Billy.

[Billy Crudup]

I know.

[Don Saladino]

I mean, what's 10 plus years now?

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah, Good decade.

[Don Saladino]

And now he looks like the guy from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Who's.

[Billy Crudup]

This is what happens if you work out with Don Saladino. I was not gray before I met him.

[Don Saladino]

He was not. Welcome the stronger. Today's episode is my conversation with actor Billy Crudup. Not only is Billy one of the most dedicated and respected actors working today, he's one of the hardest workers I've ever trained with. I'm Don Saladino. Let's get stronger with Billy Crudup. Look, so on a. This is actually, yeah, kind of on a serious note. In my business, I work with people and it's very professional, even though you become friendly with them. But I understand in my line of work that, you know, I'm coming in to train someone, work with them, get them ready for a goal, and then they're off. And it's like nothing personal. Everyone has their life, they have their families. You don't always have the opportunity to connect with them all the time. And people separate. Right? Yeah, we've been, we've been buddies for. I've been your coach, buddy friends for 15.

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah. I mean, I vaguely remember when it. When it was because when did you know when, when did you open Drive for 95.

[Don Saladino]

2005.

[Billy Crudup]

2005. So I probably joined within a year.

[Don Saladino]

I would say.

[Billy Crudup]

Okay. And. But I would only come in because I was interested in the driving bays and running. And running. And I didn't want to talk to you. I didn't want to talk to any.

[Don Saladino]

Listen, most people don't. It's like, I still don't want to talk to you. I know, I know. I'm like that guido trainer that, like that stereotype. I know at some point you're gonna be like, oh, dawn.

[Billy Crudup]

Oh, I'll do my impression.

[Tristan]

Don't worry.

[Billy Crudup]

No, you, you were very welcoming to me and my friend Bart Freundlicht. We both played golf. We didn't know what to do with ourselves in the off season. It's cold here. But crucially, your spot was within a five minute walk from my apartment, which is a mandate for me in terms of working out. It's going to be very difficult for me in New York to take the train even to 14th Street. So the fact that it was right there was a huge, huge bonus for me. And you guys had the driving base, so join there. Practice golf. And then I'd go, I'd run, do some push ups and sit ups or whatever. And then probably a year after I joined, maybe a year and a half or so, I tore like a little toe or something, tendon in my toe. And I came to you and I said, could you give me a couple of exercises that I could do because I can't run right now and I need to keep my cardio up. And you go, and what I said, you said, hey, why don't you just, okay, I'm not going to do you yet. Why don't you just come work out with me, bro? And I was like, I was like, oh, no, no, I'm already an actor, okay? I don't need a freaking trainer. And next thing I'm going to have a nutritionist and a astrologer and I'm not starting here, okay? This is a slippery slope. And you were like, don't be such a dick, just come.

[Don Saladino]

So that's the voice. Sorry, do I sound like that? Oh my God.

[Billy Crudup]

You understand when I'm doing the impression this is what I felt. Okay, okay, this is who.

[Don Saladino]

But, but for some reason I sound.

[Billy Crudup]

The same because I come, I sound like, hey, man, I've got a problem, can you please help me? I mean, I know what my energy is. And so you, you said, just come work out. And I said, well, the thing is, I work out, I run and stuff. For my mental well being, I need to let off steam in that way. I need to get the. You'd be able to tell me what they are. But the chemicals in my body that calm stress, because I have a lot of stress and the job that I have as an actor, you never know what's coming. And sometimes you get a great job. But it's at a very. There's a pressurized environment. There's either a lot of people around, they're going to show it to a lot of people, it's going to be on tv, you're going to be on Broadway. Further, some of the things that you're asked to do are to call upon stressful things. So there's any. And then if you're not working, that's stressful as hell too.

[Don Saladino]

Yeah.

[Billy Crudup]

So there's a lot of unpredictability in the line of work, a lot of great things about it, obviously. And I don't think I could do anything else, but stress is One of the things that you have to figure out how to manage as an actor, and obviously in life, everybody has enormous stresses, so it's good for everybody. But for me in particular, when I am not working, finding a way to manage the stress or attacking that more specifically is. Has been a mandate throughout my entire career. They kind of teach you that in acting school. Maintain your life as best you can. And one of the ways that I did that was running and playing golf and whatever I needed to do for a certain part. Well, when running went out the window and I needed to do things and you said, come work out. I'm not sure if I said this to you specifically.

[Don Saladino]

What did I get myself into?

[Billy Crudup]

I think it was something to the effect of, okay, I'll do it. Just don't talk to me. Yeah, okay. If you look at me in the face, I'm gonna kill you. Because I'm here to work off stress. You just tell me what to do. And you were like, hey, fine, that's not a problem for me. Okay?

[Don Saladino]

But there is some truth to that. And I don't mean just you, but I mean, it becomes an escape for people where I think you have to read the individual, like, in anything else, and you have to see, hey, this is someone that needs the banter, or sit back and do your freaking job.

[Billy Crudup]

Well, this is something you were particularly good at because I'm like, you know, some kind of sea urchin that, you know is under rocks, and if you get too close, I throw a spike at you.

[Don Saladino]

So you weren't that. You were not like that.

[Billy Crudup]

This is the feeling on the inside, so.

[Don Saladino]

Bullshit.

[Billy Crudup]

So I. I work out with you one time, and you pushed me so hard, and I could see all of the places that I was not just weak, but inflexible, and all of the ways that I was holding my body that weren't just an impediment to me getting physically in better shape, but they were an impediment to my work because, obviously, use your body quite a bit as an actor, and if you're inflexible in a way, it keeps you from reaching the potential that you want to reach.

[Don Saladino]

I argue that, though. I don't think I pushed you. I think I introduced you to things that were a challenge.

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah.

[Don Saladino]

And you pushed yourself. And I'm. Let me joke. You were in my career with working with. No, but in my career with working with people, you were one of the people that I felt like I had the best relationship with. Like Billy. You were. You were. You Were a real friend. Like you were. Even during COVID you know, we worked together.

[Billy Crudup]

I might, at a certain point we started talking.

[Don Saladino]

Exactly. But, like, we would. We would go maybe, you know, a couple years, you know, Covid this and that, and out of nowhere we would shoot each other. Attacks. Just to be like, I'm thinking of you, or we met in L. A. Like, you were. You were really a friend. We had some of the really powerful conversations. I was a newer father than you were. Your. Your son's older than my daughter. My daughter's 17 now and 6.

[Billy Crudup]

Crucially, we were going through parenting. We were going through parenting, and it was.

[Don Saladino]

We would. We would. We would be training, but then in between sets. And my whole goal with training was to slow your ass down because you were like, go, go, go, go, go. And I'm like, recover, rest. High levels of quality. And you were probably one of the hardest workers I've ever worked with.

[Billy Crudup]

Really?

[Don Saladino]

Yeah. Hands down. Even. Hands down from a Hollywood.

[Billy Crudup]

Because I've got mental problems. Done. Okay. But those are associated, though. Those. The. What I was saying at the beginning and what you're reminding me of is that I really do need it, and I need to push myself to a certain point in order to release those chemicals again, ones that I don't know what they are. And when I'm running, I know how to do it. I've been doing that for so long. Or I don't do it anymore. But I had been doing it for so long, I knew what kind of pace I needed to run and for how long before I could get the whatever out of me and feel better and feel more calm. I had no idea when. How to apply that to training. Working different muscle groups, working in series, cross training, that kind of thing. So my instinct was to do what I do when I run. Push myself until I get to the point. And you're like, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. You know, there's a way to go about this.

[Don Saladino]

I loved it. But. But I was also like, quality over quantity.

[Billy Crudup]

Yes. And it took me a while to understand that. But you never. Probably right about your.

[Don Saladino]

Your. Your piece.

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah. Like I said, I've got problems. But you introduced me to a new way of observing my body, my physiology. That wasn't just about my kind of caveman approach to must run, must run. It was more about, how does your body work? How is it working today? What are your goals today? What are we looking at for the short term? What are we looking at for the long term? What do we do when there's an impediment. What do we do when the growth isn't happening? What are you doing in your life typically that is going to impede your ability to grow? Are you just doing this for management right now? Are you doing this on. As a slow recovery? You know, there. All those sorts of questions were always on your mind and introduced me to a new way of thinking. So, no, that. And it's been.

[Don Saladino]

Appreciate that.

[Billy Crudup]

Changed my entire.

[Don Saladino]

No, appreciate that. And you're also the one that I think brought the world of acting. Like, the first actor I worked with was Hugh Jackman, but you were the one that I actually really spoke to and started understanding what it was like. Because, listen, when you're younger, you see actors and you think like, oh, that's who they are in real life. Like, you don't really know. Like, wait a second, It's a job. They're acting.

[Billy Crudup]

We did. We talked a lot about that, actually.

[Don Saladino]

No, we. And we did. And this allowed me to be successful in my line of work, because then I felt like when people started reaching out to me, I knew what questions to ask. What are we trying to prepare for? What are you trying to portray and create?

[Billy Crudup]

Right.

[Don Saladino]

We need to look like. But is there. Oh, there's always resiliency and energy. What's your stress levels? Are you away from your family? Are you in different time zones there? All these questions that I started asking. And I think the role for you that did it for me was Arcadia. Yeah, Arcadia. You were the first person ever I always had. I'm admitting something I probably shouldn't. But, like, I always have a difficult time watching my clients in movies because I know who they are.

[Billy Crudup]

Right, right, right.

[Don Saladino]

You were the first person ever that when I watched in that, I forgot I was looking at Billy.

[Billy Crudup]

Oh, that's great.

[Don Saladino]

And I'm. I'm in the crowd. And if I recall, there were like, two different centuries. This was years ago.

[Billy Crudup]

That's exactly.

[Don Saladino]

There was two different plays going on, and you were playing two different characters in, like, two different centuries. And I completely, for first off, I thought I was looking at two completely different people. And then I forgot it was you. I had to remind myself it was you. And that, to me, is when I realized the gift of acting. And that's when I realized there were actors and there are actors. So when I would have the conversation with people that I've worked with who are in Hollywood and I would drop your name out there, they would say, oh, no, he's a real actor. And it Was actually a really talking to.

[Billy Crudup]

Because I need to talk to them.

[Don Saladino]

Annie Hathaway was one of them. Turned around, she's like, oh, no, he's a real.

[Billy Crudup]

Is this being recorded?

[Don Saladino]

Yeah.

[Billy Crudup]

Good.

[Don Saladino]

Yeah, she's phenomenal. But, like, this is. I've got a lot of history with you in that sense, and, you know, I'm really proud. Anytime I saw you on stage or Harry Clark, I was knowing. Was it 19 characters that you played? So explain me now. What are you. What are you working on now?

[Billy Crudup]

Right now I'm doing a Henrik Ibsen play called Ghosts. Henrik Ibsen, a very interesting guy, wrote some of the first realism naturalism plays. So you had a couple of different ways of producing theater over a period of time. The Greeks, they started with their amphitheaters, all big melodrama about the gods and people interacting with the gods. Then you had Shakespeare, who was throwing some poetry at the human experience in a rather singular way. And then what we see now in movies, with the exception of superhero movies, is what you would call realism, naturalism. So you try to create the. The sense for the audience that something is happening in real time. So as opposed to, like, professing something and declaring something and knowing that it's a pantomime, you know, like, the superheroes are like, I'm Superman. Sure, that's it. Nobody walks into a grocery store and says, I'm Superman.

[Don Saladino]

Right.

[Billy Crudup]

I'd like milk, please. You know, so the. The way that I love it, by the way, not a bad idea for a film. He has to shop.

[Don Saladino]

What does he buy?

[Billy Crudup]

What does he buy? So realism naturalism is the appearance that something is happening for the first time in front of you. And the way that you go about doing that is you write the way people speak. Ums and ahs and. Oh, wait, I had that thought. Oh, no, that's not exactly what I meant. It feels like it's happening for the first time. So this guy was doing this in 1860. 1870. 1880 in Norway. And he wrote some of the most seminal plays. Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, Master Builder. These plays that are done at every acting school you can. I think A Doll's House was the most produced play in the world in 2006 or something. Maybe 2016, I can't remember. And he was also writing about the way society was changing. So the society at the time was a patriarchal society that was mostly governed by the rich and governed by the religious figures. Very oppressive for people who weren't rich. White dudes and so subsequent to that, there was this suffrage move, the women's suffrage movement. Women were looking for the right to vote, so they were also looking for general rights. And he was writing about these stories in 1880 or so. Obviously, this, 130 years later, it is still. I mean, the themes of this play are the themes that we're all exploring now. Continue to explore now. And so there's a real bond that you have with, like, the breadth of humanity when you do a play that was written 130 years ago and the audience around you is going, oh, wait, what? This is what we're talking about right now. And he's like a level of brilliance to it, actually. Well, he's pressing, and that's why these, you know, just like any good piece of art there. There's going to be albums that will never grow old. They can't. They're. You know, there's going to be scores of music. We still play Mozart and Bach, and I mean, we don't listen to it, but, you know, people do. Zeppelin.

[Don Saladino]

Exactly.

[Billy Crudup]

They're still rolling. Um, but he. He's a. He's one of those playwrights that he saw into humanity in a way that it's just. It's never going to go away. Very complicated, hard material. So you do it at the potential that you can touch some of his brilliance. But it's, It's. It's. It's elusive.

[Don Saladino]

But do you ever take on anything easy? Like, I just don't feel like. Like you're not like, I actor clients of mine that want to produce and direct. You don't want to do that. You are an actor. Like, you are a pure actor that I feel like on every project you are. It is not like, oh, this is a paycheck, and I'm gonna just. This is easy. Like, I've never seen you do anything easy. You've always. You've done roles from Steve Prefontaine to a rock star to playing 19 different characters on Broadway. I mean, there's. There's a lot of versatility in what it is that you do.

[Billy Crudup]

Well, I appreciate that. I do. I certainly. There are times in your career. I've been. I'm doing this for over 30 years now where you just can't get work. There's nothing out there for you. Nobody's interested in your work. You're not producing anything interesting, and you have to make a. A salary. So you. Something comes to you that you don't know how to make difficult. You don't know how to make more complicated and you deliver as best you can. Priceless.

[Don Saladino]

No, that's.

[Billy Crudup]

That's precious. There are some things money can't buy, so there are those kinds of jobs. But when I have banked enough cash for a certain job, I look for things that are going to allow me to continue to grow and change. I have found that to be the most useful pursuit from. From a career standpoint, because I, you know, I think I had a lot of ambitions when I was younger, but I don't think my skill set was very broad. And so, I mean, I had a lot of energy. Like, when I work out, I go for it, but that doesn't mean it's terribly interesting or sophisticated. And so I could see actors around me who were producing more interesting performances. And to your point about producing and directing and stuff, acting is still ahead of me. I still feel like I'm not the actor I want to be. I'm still in pursuit of it, and I've spent so much time on it. The idea of trying on a different hat just because somebody says, do you want to do this? Is bonkers to me. In fact, this show that I did for Apple, hello Tomorrow, which was very near and dear to my heart. I think this was more. Some of my colleagues, my manager, agent were called and they said, and we got you a producing credit. And what does that mean? A little bit of extra money or something? And I was like, why? And they were like, oh, no, no, this is good in case you want to continue to produce things going forward to have a producing credit.

[Don Saladino]

Like, I don't.

[Billy Crudup]

And like, with the phone, I was like, all right, fine, that's cool. Let me tell you, way too many phone calls about shit that I should not be making decisions about.

[Don Saladino]

I get it.

[Billy Crudup]

There are other people who understand the process of producing material as much as I understand the process of acting. So I understand the right questions to ask doesn't mean I can always give the performance that. I mean, it's kind of a. It's a little bit of. I mean, not just smoke and mirrors, but you're waiting for a little alchemy. Sometimes there can be sublime moments that arise that are unexpected out of, like, careful study. They don't always come. So you have to make sure the careful study is telling the story. All of those are acting related pursuits. Producing, understanding why a particular room is going to be more cost efficient and give the best opportunity for the. That's a whole other thing that I've spent no time on. So to imagine that I'm going to incorporate another feature of this. As a novice, it's totally uninteresting, like hire other people.

[Don Saladino]

So you keep using the word process, which. I'm a big process person in the sense of, you know, I now I don't work with people one on one. I work with thousands of people that will come to my community and I trying to teach them. Something that I call NSV is non scale victories. So but in a way, it's a fancy term for process. Like, okay, this is. I need you to follow this process, right? And if you can incorporate more water, get better sleep, lower stress levels, move right, these good things are going to happen. You are a process person. When you're. I've seen your process preparing to train and you still would get in and do the mobility and foam roll and then we'd start winding up and you're going. What you do with your profession though, is not that simple. So when you get a script or someone contacts you about a concept, a movie, a play, what is your process in making the decision of whether you want to do and pursue that or not? That's something I've never asked you.

[Billy Crudup]

Well, no, you haven't. It's very thoughtful. Interesting question there, Don. I will also add when, when you, when I first started to train with you after, you know, the first couple of months probably where I just, you know, kept coming back and being like, okay, let's go, let's go.

[Don Saladino]

He's lying, by the way. He was the most friendly person I've worked with. We had a rule though, Led Zeppelin. The second you walked in to drive, we needed Led Zeppelin would come on. That was it. No Steve Miller band.

[Billy Crudup]

Exact. I'm old, so. And rock and roll fires me up. But I can remember starting to feel fit and in a new way, strong. And I remember saying to you, because you're in pretty good shape, I remember saying to you, so how long do you think it would take for me to get, you know, like ripped? You know, I could feel like muscles going. And I was ready for like two, you know, like two and a half weeks, maybe, maybe three weeks. And he just, without blinging goes six months. And I was like, okay, I mean, I'm gonna take that. And it's a good number.

[Don Saladino]

Because now I'd say it's a process.

[Billy Crudup]

No.

[Don Saladino]

I'm way better now. Turned into a politician. I've honed myself.

[Billy Crudup]

Tell the actor what they need to hear. Because it's a process. Because you're determined. You understand the body is not Something that you can just. Well, I suppose you can magically inject yourself with shit.

[Don Saladino]

You can't rush. You really can't rush.

[Billy Crudup]

If you want to be strong in the way that I was alluding to being strong, you'll have to change your diet. You'll have to be more regular about your sleep hygiene. You'll have to come in here these number of days, you'll have to take rest, and it's going to take time. And so I appreciated that as much as I didn't like hearing it at the time. So the process component appeals to me. The. I'll get back to the question about the script in a second. But it's one of the difficult things about this job and training at the same time, too, is you're interfered with constantly. So, for instance, when I was doing Harry Clark, the performance that I did by myself, my nervous system was so screwed up and hyped up all the time because it's a uncomfortable experience. And it takes you a long time for the adrenaline to wear off at night, so you don't get to bed till late. And. And you're constantly thinking about the. Your voice management, the vocal management, and so you have to rest a lot during the day. I could not work out. I tried working out twice when I was doing it, and I was fried. I was too depleted. When I was doing the show, it was. So that's. And I've done that show four times now in the six years since, you saw it at a different theater in New York than in Berkeley and then recently in London. And every time it's the same thing.

[Don Saladino]

Oh, so you don't feel like it's improved at all or you've been able to manage that?

[Billy Crudup]

I have never been able to exercise and do that show at the same time. So that's 10 weeks while I'm doing it where I'm not exercising or so running around.

[Don Saladino]

I mean, that's a pretty active role.

[Billy Crudup]

It is active.

[Don Saladino]

You're on stage.

[Billy Crudup]

I'm not running around.

[Don Saladino]

It's just you. It's not like you get a break.

[Billy Crudup]

But when I went back to working out after that, this guy that I have worked out with in Los Angeles while I've been doing the morning show, Keith Anthony is his name. Terrific. Very similar to you. He is constantly holding me back. He's like, no, no, now you need to breathe for a little while now. Okay? And he likes doing the same thing that you do. If you see this spark in me, go, Billy. He used to scream that across the Gym.

[Don Saladino]

Come on, Billy.

[Billy Crudup]

And it would really fire me up. I'm an easy target that way. Keith is similar, but when I went back to work out after doing Harry Clark, I had atrophied all over, like it was asymmetrical. And it took us, you know, good three months to get back into it, which I really enjoyed. But back to the question that you were asking before about process. Process. You know, I think early in my career I was thinking a lot about the people that I was working with. The writers, the directors, the other actors. Were they people who had inspired me before, who I might be able to learn something from? Were there people who were so good that I would have to rise to the occasion to work with them? Was the material aspirational in a way that it could be not financially successful, but rewarding for the people who saw it or just did it, have that potential? And as I've gotten older, the thought that occurs to me most often is, can I be useful here? So I feel like I have some understanding of where I'm most useful as an actor. And the things that have been most rewarding for me is when I've been in productions where I'm put to good use and I fulfill that obligation Sometimes the material, like the play that I'm doing now, the director, Jack o', Brien, is just one of my favorite people in the world. And the place that it's being produced is the first place I did a play on Broadway, Lincoln center, and it was actually a production of Arcadia where I played the younger guy then. And so that was in 1995.

[Don Saladino]

So I've got freshman in college.

[Billy Crudup]

Were you?

[Don Saladino]

Yeah, yeah. So you're, you're. I think you're what, 10 years older than me?

[Billy Crudup]

I'm 56, dude.

[Don Saladino]

I'll be 48 in April, so less than eight years.

[Billy Crudup]

Catching you, man.

[Don Saladino]

I don't know. I like the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade look though.

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah, I'm going quick, man. I'm just, I'm not a hair away from 70.

[Don Saladino]

This is great. When this gets in thick, you gotta see it. It's gray, it's white.

[Billy Crudup]

My poor manager who tried desperately to get me a job and finally got me on the morning show and she's like, okay, you have to dye your hair and look younger. When she saw a picture of this, she was like, all the work that I've done, that's hilarious. Right out the frickin window. Thanks for nothing.

[Don Saladino]

That's a great show.

[Billy Crudup]

I hate Ibsen.

[Don Saladino]

That's fun.

[Billy Crudup]

So this Part of doing this play is, first of all, I've never done an Ibsen play. And so one of the things about being an actor and having some versatility is trying different styles. Get a part in a superhero movie, do some Chekhov, some Shakespeare, get a part on TV show, do some Sam Shepard. You know, the. That sort of flexibility is enormously useful just in making a career over a period of time. And so this was an opportunity for me to perform a playwright that I've never done before. So it's a slightly different approach. But crucially, I thought, I don't quite understand that character. I think I could be useful in discovering this production with this team. So there's a lot of different ways that you can be useful. It's not just in like executing a part. It's being a part of a company that wants to attack a piece of material, not in a new way. So this is just our production. This isn't. We're not referencing other productions. We're not trying to please groups of people. This is how we as a company of actors and director have investigated this material and, and we think exploited the greatest potential drama with this group of people. And so that takes a certain spirit of adventure. You have to say, I don't know if this will work. There's no kind of formula to it.

[Don Saladino]

But that excites you a bit.

[Billy Crudup]

I love that. It's a great way to continue to grow. It's also a great way to fall in your face. And there's no shortage of that. Actually, when I was doing Harry Clark, another thing where I was like, I don't know how to do this. A 48 page monologue that seems ridiculous to me. Why would I even try that? And as we're working on it, the director has several pictures of me in rehearsal where I'm just like this. Oh, no. Like head in hands. I don't know what I'm doing. First week of rehearsal, first week of previews, I go up, which means you forget your lines. And I'm about two minutes into an hour and 20 minute show, and I forget my lines and I call for line, which means I asked the stage manager to just throw like a flip, a reminder to throw me the line. But we didn't have any system in place for her.

[Don Saladino]

So would you yell line?

[Billy Crudup]

I said line. And from the booth up there I hear. At which point you're like, I have a full panic attack, get tunnel vision. My heart is through my chest, I can't remember anything. And I start to just Your mouth starts to move. Based on the work that you've done, the repetition that you've done, there's some story in there. Anyway, it was a terrible experience. It's an hour and 20 minute show. And that night it was only an hour because I cut about 20 minutes of important material. So the audience didn't know what the.

[Don Saladino]

Hell was going on. Yeah.

[Billy Crudup]

So I go backstage afterwards and the director comes up and says, well, that happened. And, you know, you gotta march your ass back in there the next night, knowing it could happen again. It's terrifying experience. And there's a long way of saying, I was telling this story at a dinner party and my wife said, and I'm sure nobody knew. Right. It wasn't as bad for you. And this woman in the corner goes, I was there that night. It was the worst experience of my life.

[Don Saladino]

Did you just start dying? You gotta start laughing at that.

[Billy Crudup]

I was laughing my ass off. I was like, see? Exactly. And what about me? I was on stage, the worst experience of my life. So. So you can fall on your face when going for things that are really difficult.

[Don Saladino]

Listen, I was doing something that wasn't difficult. About a year ago, I was speaking in front of 300 people. I was in California. And I made the mistake of leaving my phone up on the table with the monitor as I'm presenting to a very large group of people. It was that Ursa. It was just the fitness conference. Everyone's in there and I know where. I see my phone ring and I just black out. I don't know what I'm talking about. It could have been like. It could have been.

[Billy Crudup]

Is this on tape? I should find, like, to see that.

[Don Saladino]

And my, My. My buddy Derek's on stage with me, and I just, like. I turn around and I just look at him and I. I go into full panic.

[Billy Crudup]

So what was happening in your body at that time?

[Don Saladino]

Like, I was literally like. I was like, holy. I. I blew this, like. And I'm just. I. I think that. And I look at Derek and I'm like, oh, dude, I'm so sorry. I just gotta. I gotta just. I got a disturbing call and he just jumped in and went. And then out of nowhere, I'm sitting there and I'm going, what am I talking about? What am I talking about? What am I talking about? And the first opportunity I jump back in, right? And I just looked out in the crowd and people were just like, so wait, you just.

[Billy Crudup]

You bited your time and waited someone up there for something to come back yeah, just.

[Don Saladino]

I just. I blacked out. I don't know what it was. I guess it's the same thing with you. It's. Sometimes you get distracted or there's no. Your blood sugar levels off, or, you know, I'm traveling. I didn't really sleep well.

[Billy Crudup]

It's a fluid environment with the audience. You know, that's one of the things that you have to appreciate is that anything can happen. It's a very fragile environment. That's what makes it great when it works, is that nobody. I mean, if you're in the middle of a very dramatic scene and somebody in the front row farts, the whole thing is done.

[Don Saladino]

Never thought of that.

[Billy Crudup]

It's done. This incredible environment that you've dedicated yourself to for two months to create this one moment of precious drama instantly.

[Don Saladino]

But. But how many. So you've. You've got, what, seven shows a week? You've got eight shows a week. Eight shows a week. You're off Mondays. You got two Sunday, two Saturday, two.

[Billy Crudup]

Wednesday, two Wednesday, two Saturday.

[Don Saladino]

That's what. So just recently, I started experiencing this from a different standpoint because of my kids. And I know your son. I don't know if he's still doing it.

[Billy Crudup]

Oh, he's making movies, man.

[Don Saladino]

He's making movies. Yeah, he's on his third movie.

[Billy Crudup]

Wow.

[Don Saladino]

All right. So he's super talent. But my daughter, my son are into it and watching it now.

[Billy Crudup]

I just saw those videos.

[Don Saladino]

Thank you. But watching it now, it excites me more. Like, because I grew up an athlete, I'd rather see them get into theater. I honestly, I look at it now as, like, what a lost opportunity. If I was to either choose to be in movies or in theater, I'd want to do theater. There's something about, again, the process and going up there every night, and there's no take two.

[Billy Crudup]

This is true.

[Don Saladino]

There's no take two. So if you don't mind, tell me about. Because, Will, I always loved your son. We always had a very good relationship coming to the club, but. Thank you. But very talented. Even a lot of the people at Drive would talk about who you know. I'm talking about how talented he was. But what's he. What's. Where's he going?

[Billy Crudup]

Well, well, is. He's 21 and he's a junior in college and incredibly talented and capable in ways that I was. Couldn't. Couldn't even go near when I was his age.

[Don Saladino]

But is a goal of yours now to maybe do something with him in the future, like, for you to be.

[Billy Crudup]

Well, well, it wasn't in a play, a show, actually, when he, when he. He'll have a slight, slightly different version of this. But when he actually got interested in it, and his mom is a brilliant actor as well. So we're in. We kind of got it in the blood. And when he first said, I want to do this movie, I want to get to do I, my response was, I think you need to get mom and dad out of the way right now. I got total confidence in you. But. But she and I had been in his student movies together, and you know, I've been very supportive of all that. But my thought was he needs to go do this. But he's made three movies now, and he recently said, would you come and do this part in the next movie that I want to do? And I gotta tell you, I'm very excited. I would. I.

[Don Saladino]

Are you about to talk about what that part is or.

[Billy Crudup]

Not yet.

[Don Saladino]

Okay, okay.

[Billy Crudup]

But I will. But, but that's not true. I did do one day on a proof of concept that he was doing over the summer, and he ran such an incredible set, Don. And he could see that I was starting to well up with pride. And he was like, don't cry, dad.

[Don Saladino]

You'Re a Navy seal. I love it. I love it. So, processes in your profession, what are your pro. Because I think working with. I've worked with athletes, I've worked with actors, I've worked with politicians, I've worked with Wall street. If you ask me, who are the most challenging people to work with, I think it's an actor. And it's because they're always playing someone different emotionally. That plays a toll on you when you're acting as another character. Or maybe it's not a good character, it's not a good person.

[Billy Crudup]

You're getting a bad head.

[Don Saladino]

You're gonna get. You're gonna get into a bad headspace. But changing time zones. Yeah, being away from your family, maybe the set's not going well sometimes you never know. Producers, directors, you show up and it's not what you feel like you signed up for. And it can become very emotional. But what do you feel like? Is there a process you have when it comes down to your health and wellness? Now that you can talk about that, maybe our viewership can look at and say, oh, that's interesting. Something simple. It could be the easiest thing, but maybe some non negotiables that you have when you're. When you're performing well.

[Billy Crudup]

Well, that's a great question. Typically My mind and body tell me at a certain point, yeah, I have no problem taking time off if I'm not working and I have enough to pay my bills for a little while. I have no problem taking time off seeing friends, playing golf, maybe traveling, watching the Yankees, you know, I don't have Shameful.

[Don Saladino]

I'm a methane, so it's all good.

[Billy Crudup]

I don't have, it's all inherited. It's just because my dad was a Yankees fan. You know, I didn't even get it, I didn't even get into baseball until after he died in like 2009 or something like that. Probably as a way to just be close to him. But in any case, the I'll take down time. And it usually probably the most I, before my mind and body start chirping is about two weeks. And then something starts nagging at me that you gotta move. I, I need to get my body, I need to get the blood flowing. The mind's maybe not ambitious. It's getting, you know, kind of, it's atrophying a little bit. Yeah. And then the most regular thing for me to do now is call you or call a trainer.

[Don Saladino]

Sure.

[Billy Crudup]

And say, let's move, let's move. And this was the major discovery for me is, and even though it's more expensive than running, when I call and make an appointment, I will show up always and always. That keeps me active. So making appointments with trainers. Now, as long as I can still make the money to have trainers, because I typically will not go to the gym myself, I'll make a feeble attempt from time to time. And if I'm in, say, a rhythm with a trainer and I know what kind of regiment I'm on, I'll try some of it. But I am acutely aware that I've been most successful at keeping in shape and keeping healthy when I work with a trainer, which was a discovery with you. So I would say I, I, I don't have a regimen, which is fine, by the way.

[Don Saladino]

You don't need.

[Billy Crudup]

But I listen to what's going on.

[Don Saladino]

Yeah, I need to move today. I'm going to go for a walk.

[Billy Crudup]

Well, oh, I'm always moving. I mean, walking and hiking. That's very given, very active. But in terms of like, really attending to how flexible I am, My, my priorities when working out have most typically been flexibility, strength and endurance.

[Don Saladino]

Right.

[Billy Crudup]

Because those things are very useful in acting. Right. I don't have a terrible drive to get, you know, like.

[Don Saladino]

No, I get it.

[Billy Crudup]

I mean, if there was Something that was coming.

[Don Saladino]

You got a movie for, for a movie. I'm not one, I'm not one to even say now that I don't think people like, you've got to go with what you're into right there. There are things with strength training where I'm saying, you know what, two to three days a week at a bare minimum. I do believe someone should be doing 30 minutes right now, whether that's with dumbbells or kettlebells or bands, something or body weight to create tension, right? Because we want resiliency, right? We wanted to develop that body armor for when we get older and we want to have an optimal metabolism and we want to be able to burn fat calories and we're gonna fall, right? We want to, we want to be able to have that body armor. So I'm never like, where my coaching has changed a lot is now I'm like, like, oh, I hate lifting. No problem. Like, what are you, what are you enjoying? It might be throwing a weighted vest on and hiking, right? And I'm not saying 100 pound weight of that 15 to 20 pounds just to get the body to brace and engage a little bit, right? Go with your strengths. But we need to move, we need to hydrate, we need to get in protein.

[Billy Crudup]

Is that how your thinking has evolved over time? It really has to start.

[Don Saladino]

I'm, I'm, I'm someone who. Listen, I love, I love lifting, but I'll. Every workout I'm putting in 15 to 20 minutes on mobility.

[Billy Crudup]

I'm picturing his face now after a, like a particularly strong one where he's like, yeah, I mean, I like it.

[Don Saladino]

I like it so good. I like it. I like being strong and I, and I like picking up stuff and it's just, it's something. But I've also, I love the process of trying to get better and better at your craft. And like, I'll, I'll watch a video of myself, like squatting and I'll be like, all right, right foot's dropping in. Like, not like, I, I like to be a student. I'm going to Toronto this weekend to work with a coach on energy system. Work one on one for three days. Like, because part, it's like me, it's like what you do in the sense of, I always want to get better at my craft. I'll always, I could be a billionaire. I'll still be a coach. It's what I love to do. I love to help people. But I, I think moving is really the lesson here. My My wife doesn't like to lift.

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah.

[Don Saladino]

But she likes throwing a weighted vest on and going for a walk. And I'm like, right, great. Like just stop sitting so much. You know, she pays attention to some of the food she puts in her body. She has some fun and she's healthy.

[Billy Crudup]

Right.

[Don Saladino]

And, and that. So to me, it's not always. I think a good coach is going to recognize where you're at and say how building to be as successful as possible. A bad coach is the one who's you need to do what I do. I'm like, well, that might not click with that person. So what do you think if there's something that you'd want to improve? What do you think? Like, like is there anything off the top of your head? You're like, I'd like to get more of this in. Or maybe my protein's a little low or I'm not always hydrated or is there something that you think you want to be cognizant of? And. And the answer might be like, no, I do. I'm nailing everything.

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah, well, no, I'm definitely not nailing everything. But do I want to do anything?

[Don Saladino]

I love it.

[Billy Crudup]

I love hard answer is no, I'm working right now. I'm doing.

[Don Saladino]

That's another thing too. When you're doing a play.

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah.

[Don Saladino]

You're like, it's so strenuous mentally and you don't have any time for anything else.

[Billy Crudup]

But so yes, to your point. What I need to do and what I do do is make sure I have as thorough a warm up and flexibility both vocally and physically every day, every before the show.

[Don Saladino]

Smart.

[Billy Crudup]

And we actually, we have a company of actors that do it together.

[Don Saladino]

That's fun.

[Billy Crudup]

That's really great accountability. It's. And it builds camaraderie and strength between the group and trust and stuff. But so I always maintain some level of flexibility and that has to do with about a 30 minute, could be 40 minute warm up. That's both vocal and physical. And you attack wherever you're feeling you're holding today, like this morning, I noticed there's a little impingement over here. So when I get over to the theater, I'll probably get, you know, ball or something, roll that out for a little bit and then do some shoulder flexibility, mobility exercises and see if I can release some of that before the performance tonight. So I'm not holding on to anything. However, that being said, if you are holding on to something, you just use it in performance.

[Don Saladino]

Right.

[Billy Crudup]

Try not to Encourage it. So it becomes a problem. Because if you, if you start to lean into any kind of, of physical malady over a while, it can become a bit of a problem. I did a production of Elephant man one, one time, and you have to hold your body in a very extreme way.

[Don Saladino]

And that messed you up, didn't it?

[Billy Crudup]

It did in some ways, but it could have messed me up a lot worse had I not done a cool down that involved flexibility and re. Centering. Because the way you hold your body, I mean, you could do it whatever way you want. The way that we did it was, it made for a very unstable, asymmetrical way of carrying myself. And so you try to compensate for that somewhat at the end, knowing I've been holding this one for a while, so I need to work this out. And I ended up being totally fine. But the question every day for you, when, when you're working, if you're not working out, is where's your body at today? And so I, I, I suppose I am, I, I'm fairly conscious of it, whether I'm working or not working. And there's lots of things I suppose I could do right now to. I wish sleep was better.

[Don Saladino]

Oh, yeah, that's it.

[Billy Crudup]

You know, that's it.

[Don Saladino]

I mean, that's, that's my, the number.

[Billy Crudup]

One thing I get, like, I was up till two last night. Yeah, because you get keyed up from the performance.

[Don Saladino]

Yeah.

[Billy Crudup]

And then once we get past this portion of rehearsals, you have most of your day free. And then I can get better. I can get back into eating better and probably having a nap in the afternoon.

[Don Saladino]

A little, a little trick for the sleep piece. Have you, have you worn blue light blockers?

[Billy Crudup]

I don't know what that is.

[Don Saladino]

So blue light block a glass. I'm gonna send you a pair.

[Billy Crudup]

Okay.

[Don Saladino]

Okay. So I'm gonna text you later, get your address.

[Billy Crudup]

I get some swag from this.

[Don Saladino]

Come on, bro. I got a few treats for you. I'm gonna send you a pair of blue light blockers. But I think when you leave the show and you get in the car or whatever it is, throw them on, and what happens is we start reducing the level of blue light. So when we're subjected to all this blue light, our body stops producing melatonin, which is the sleep hormone. So when you put these glasses on, which is going to calm down the blue light, it'll start preparing you for that rest. And I've been using them for years now, and I even measure it with my Oura ring And I'll notice 10 out of 10 times that my. My. My deep sleep has improved, my restfulness has improved. So I'm going to send you a pair.

[Billy Crudup]

How long do you wear them for? When you.

[Don Saladino]

You wear them for. You wear them up until bed.

[Billy Crudup]

But more importantly, how do they look?

[Don Saladino]

Doesn't matter. I'll get you a cool pair. I. I got you. Before we're going to jump in and take some questions, but before that, I want to tell you something I never told you. I always get asked the question, just like actors sometimes get asked the question, what's your favorite movie? And I always hear, you know what? I don't have a favorite one. And, you know, I. I prepare for the role, you know, yada, yada. So when I get asked the question, did you ever have someone that you really wanted to work with? I would give the answer, no. But there was a time before I met you, it was actually you. And it was in. I saw one of my favorite movies of all time. And when I watch you Prefontaine, when I watch you play Steve Prefontaine. Not to. Not to bash.

[Billy Crudup]

You didn't ever tell me that before you.

[Don Saladino]

To bash. Not to bash. Jared Leto. But Leto played in Prefontaine. I mean, it's like comparing. It's like comparing a Rolls Royce to, like, a Yugo. Like, I'm sorry, Jared. Like, you just. You could not have done what. What Billy did in that movie. But when I saw you in that. That movie, it was such a level of intensity, and I understood who that character was so much that I actually became a bit obsessed with Prefontaine after and started, like, reading about Fascinating guy. Fascinating guy, but you nailed it. And I remember saying to myself, I wonder if this guy Billy, I wonder what he's like. And compared to it. And the thing that I got out of it was, like, when I met you, I'm like, God, he trains, like, pretty. Listen, man, I. I love you to death. Thank you for coming on. I really. I mean, I could sit and talk to you for hours.

[Billy Crudup]

Dylan's mute.

[Don Saladino]

Mutual. Appreciate it. And I know we got a couple questions right now, so. Hey, Tristan from Texas. I'm Don. This is Billy. How you doing?

[Billy Crudup]

What's up, Tristan?

[Tristan]

What's up? Nice to meet you guys. Thanks for having me on the pod.

[Don Saladino]

Pleasure, man. What's. What's going on? How can we help?

[Tristan]

Yeah, so, like, a little bit about me. I'm a former Division 1 athlete, so I played water pole in college. And you know my question is kind of around, like, athletic longevity, you know, injuries and stuff going through. It's hard to push, you know, as hard as you'd want to now. So I guess my question is a little bit directed towards Billy and curious if you've ever had to train through any injuries for a role in a movie and, you know, how would you stay on track with that, both physically and mentally?

[Don Saladino]

Oh, I like this one.

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah, that is a great.

[Don Saladino]

Especially considering you're older than me. So this is perfect.

[Billy Crudup]

First of all, you played D1 water polo. Your cardio is through the charts. Yeah, I'm not one worried about.

[Don Saladino]

That's impressive.

[Billy Crudup]

Oh, that's incredible. But the. I have had injuries before and I. I herniated a disc in my neck just in a. In a random fall doing a play, and I didn't realize it for a while and the nerve became inflamed in my arm. And so it took about six months of physical therapy. But if you've ever done physical therapy, one of the. The things that I found most excruciating about it, but also most helpful, is that it takes a long time and it's very small and incremental in the movements. And so what that forces you to do is bring yourself to the present moment. Present moment is much easier to manage than the future of when you're going to be better. That's impossible to manage. So if you can have people around you that you trust in terms of recovery, first of all, you have to have trust in the trainer that you're using. And if you do believe in the system, take it seriously, take your time with it, and focus on the present moment. And that could be the injury as it's evolving. That could be just the day that you're having. But the process of doing those incremental things is a hopeful one. The, the, the one that you'll get into trouble with is if you need it to happen now, if you need to, you know, make your body work in a different way in order to get a job, in order to compete.

[Don Saladino]

You ain't rushing it. You ain't rushing it.

[Billy Crudup]

Cannot.

[Don Saladino]

When you're coming back from injury. It's even when I tell people, in reference to getting stronger, that. That are nervous about getting injured.

[Billy Crudup]

Yep.

[Don Saladino]

I'll tell them, get strong, slow.

[Billy Crudup]

Yes.

[Don Saladino]

Don't push it. And try and get strong fast and overreach. And I think rebounding from injury is the same thing. You, you have to accept how you're feeling that day. You might be, you know, Tuesday might have been an incredible day for you after that neck injury. Wednesday might have been a nightmare because you got off a terrible phone call with someone, you're stressed, your body's holding tension differently, and then suddenly you're a little bit down. But I think when you were recovering from an injury, it is important to keep that mind in a good place as much as possible because that's going to steer you in a good direction.

[Billy Crudup]

We have a great voice coach that's working with us on our play right now, and she'll do a vocal warmup with all of us. And at the end of the warmup, she'll often say, okay, during tonight's performance. And we've only done six performances now, so we're very new to it. In tonight's performance, just find one thing that's accomplishable that you can do. And the point of that is to again, bring yourself back to the present. Don't try to give your great performance tonight because we're not quite there yet. So for you in recovering from an energy from a injury, in terms of your mental well being, if you can remember to give yourself one accomplishable thing per day, that is not going to be impeded by your injury or by restlessness of the mind or sadness and not being able to attack the things that you want to, that is doable, that maintains some level of positivity that you can accomplish. I think that couldn't agree anymore.

[Don Saladino]

Okay. So, Tristan, we're all getting older, right? It's just. It's inevitable. But I think there's a misconception with, with. With aging, people are. Will. Will say, well, you're not gonna be able to do the things that you did when you were younger. I'm gonna be 48. I'm as strong as I've ever been. My body comp is as good as it's ever been, and my endurance is really, really good. Right. I mean, I'm in a really good place. The recovery piece is what's different. So those days of doing frivolous workouts where you're like, I'm just gonna go run six miles after a squatting session, think twice about that. I think you got to be more methodical about, you know, preparation, about recovery, about how much you're training, about the intensity you're training on specific days, so there's hope for all of us, right? I think. But most people are in that mindset of, oh, well, I'm getting older. I'm like, no, we're getting older, but. But if you prepare properly, you can be. As you're approaching our age and we're way older than you are, you're going to be in a really good place. I mean, you look like you're in incredible shape and you're asking great questions right now. So just keep taking that mindset and keep like Billy's saying, like, observe your how you're feeling and your environment and what's going on that day. It's a very intelligent thing to say about training and your body and just take it day by day.

[Billy Crudup]

Also, you are supposed to be angry and frustrated and embittered when you're injured. You are, especially as somebody who has accomplished what you've accomplished as an athlete. Just accept those things. You don't have to do anything about it. Just know that that's what you're supposed. And continue plotting on those small things that you can do per day. Don't try to solve the restlessness that comes from being held back. That's the way you're supposed to. That's a sign of your ambition, which has gotten you to some pretty be exceptional places saying, I need more. That's okay. It's all right to have that feeling. You just don't have to act on it. Act on the things that are going to slowly get you better over time.

[Don Saladino]

One last thing I'm going to add to that. If and when you get injured, it's going to happen all. Yeah, just it's unavoidable. Have a team in place. Like, who's the physical therapist that you're going to and who are the people that you could talk to that are going to get you back on track? I, you know, I play a lot of ice hockey. I get banged up. It's like I separated my AC joint point two years ago. And that next hour, I. I'm with one of my closest friends who the. Who's the head of orthopedic surgery at Huntington Hospital. I'm calling one of my PT buddies who's giving me a protocol to follow to get the shoulder back in shape, but then allow me to train around it. So mentally, I'm staying in a good place and I didn't lose a step.

[Billy Crudup]

Right.

[Don Saladino]

And mentally I was happy. And I was like, all right, this is another challenge. I'm going to get better now because I have to learn how to work around this. And how much smarter am I going to be? I took something negative, I turned into positive. So hopefully it doesn't happen much, but get your team in place for when, if and when that happens.

[Tristan]

Awesome.

[Don Saladino]

Yeah. I love that.

[Tristan]

Reframing that mindset to positivity, focusing on you can. You can do and just building that momentum. It sounds like day by day with those small wins. That's really great advice.

[Don Saladino]

Perfect.

[Tristan]

Appreciate that.

[Don Saladino]

Thanks, brother. Listen, it was great meeting you and good luck. All right.

[Tristan]

Yeah, great to meet you guys, too.

[Billy Crudup]

Great meeting you, man.

[Don Saladino]

Good question.

[Billy Crudup]

Great question.

[Don Saladino]

Alexander, can you hear me?

[Billy Crudup]

Me?

[Alexander]

Yeah, I can hear you.

[Don Saladino]

It's great seeing you. I'm so excited to have you on. This is my friend Billy.

[Billy Crudup]

Hey, how's it going?

[Alexander]

Hey, nice to meet you.

[Billy Crudup]

Nice to meet you.

[Don Saladino]

So, Alex, fire off your question. I'm sure you got something for Billy.

[Alexander]

I'm an actor and I'm constantly curious about, like, aside from fitness, what actors do in order to stay sort of mentally well. I know when I studied in school, relaxation was big. And I'm just wondering if there's anything aside from fitness and exercise that you do when you're preparing for a play or.

[Billy Crudup]

Well, I think you actually hit the nail on the head for actors in general, which is it's not. You're trained to turn on the mechanisms that you've been educated to when you're working. You are not trained to know what to do when you're not working. And this can be a major impediment to your flexibility, your creativity, frankly, your sense of well being. Because all of us need to work in general to feel well, even if we hate our jobs. Working is a refuge for most people, and you feel useful in your community, you feel useful in your family and for actors. When you are counting on other people to hire you and you don't know how to produce your own stuff, it can be quite daunting to hit that first dry spell or an extended dry spell. And I have found a couple of things helpful. And the crucial thing is to find what works for you, and you'll find them in time. Meditation has been very, very useful to me. Maintaining my interest in the arts is very, very important to me. So if I am not working, I'm seeing as many movies as I can see. I'm watching as many shows as I can see. I'm going to the theater as often as I can. I'm relating too much my colleagues as often as I can about the work that they're doing. Engaging in the cultural conversation about what is interesting to people and to you right now is a crucial part of keeping your creativity and your ambition and your optimism going. Not as a way of going, oh, these people are working. And I'M not. But what's happening? What's exciting now in the world, in my field.

[Don Saladino]

Field.

[Billy Crudup]

So between meditating, making sure you begin to understand how your mind works and engaging it in something you already know you love, which is the arts, I think is one strategy for keeping your creativity alive and your hopefulness in your mind and body.

[Don Saladino]

Yeah, I think that's really helpful. What are you working on? I mean, what do you. I mean, I know we always talk about wellness and recovery right from. From an exercise standpoint, but what are, what's some of the processes that you go through?

[Alexander]

Well, I mean, gosh, kind of like what you were saying, like, fuel it. I'm at the movies any single chance like that I get even, like, if I've seen it, like, I'm going to see it again. I saw, you know, a complete unknown a few times and I just like, it fuels that fire in me.

[Billy Crudup]

That's a hell of a performance. Timothy Chalamer.

[Alexander]

Oh, my God. I, first of all, like, I just love Dylan, but I also love Joan Baez. So I was just so excited to watch that. But going to the movies, reading, like, I. I've been reading a lot more plays. I brought my plays up like last time that I was home. I brought some up here and just like snippets kind of like from what I studied in school and meditation. I feel like something I really do, though, need to get into because like I said, like that relaxation that we learn in school, like, it's almost a meditative state because, like, your brain is just completely relaxed. So that music is big for me too.

[Billy Crudup]

Playing music or listening to music?

[Alexander]

Listening to music. I listen to a lot of score music. I love instruments.

[Billy Crudup]

That's it. Whatever is inspiring to you. Absolutely.

[Don Saladino]

Very, very cool.

[Billy Crudup]

And I would, I would add for meditation too, because I have yet to reach a peaceful meditating ever. But what you do find is the process of sitting and observing your mind in motion gives you an idea of how your mind works in the world, which is useful as an actor in ways that you can't imagine because we talk a lot about intuition and somebody's gut. These are all kind of creations of your mind, mind. So your mind is telling you the story of your world around you all the time. That's a really good thing to begin to observe as an actor because it helps in your storytelling as well. You don't, and you don't just take for granted that this is a choice that you, you make. You think about why you made that choice, why you Wanted to put yourself in that place. So it is useful for stress and lowering your heart rate, for sure. But I've never reached a kind of Zen state.

[Don Saladino]

Meditating and listen, like. Like everything else, you know, it doesn't come easy. And I think what's fascinating about the people I'm bringing on is that, you know, yes, they're successful, yes, they're phenomenal at what they do, but it wasn't always smooth and the process to get there. I know you and I, as successful as you are, you're always running scared. In a way, I'm always running scared. All the successful people I bring on, they run scared. And I think that's a good quality to have. Granted, they can not drive themselves crazy. But keep working, all right? You're doing great. You've been one of the best challenges that we've had. I mean, from an engagement standpoint and putting that effort in and, you know, I know you're going to do great things, but just keep in touch with me, all right?

[Alexander]

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks so much for bringing me on, and thanks for talking with me, Billy. I really appreciate it.

[Billy Crudup]

Thank you for your question. I appreciate it.

[Don Saladino]

Take care, Alexandra.

[Billy Crudup]

Take care.

[Alexander]

Bye.

[Don Saladino]

Very sweet.

[Billy Crudup]

Yeah, great question. Question.

[Don Saladino]

All right, so again, you are. You know, you started as a client. You've become a really good friend. I mean, even though we don't see each other every second, like, I truly mean it. I know, I know. No, but I truly love you. And it's. It's. It's nice. You know who your real friends are. Like, I'm watching this. I text you. You jumped on a call with me when I was on a work trip, and you're like, what are we doing here? Let's talk about it. Like, you were really interested in not just coming on and having a bullshit discussion. You were interested in, like, tom, what are we going to be doing? How can we make this better? And that's just. That's. That's who you are. That's how I explain you. That's why I love you. And. And just thank you.

[Billy Crudup]

Listen, dude, you.

[Don Saladino]

You.

[Billy Crudup]

You changed my life materially, and I am forever grateful for not just that, but for the friendship as well. The views, information, or opinions expressed in.

[Don Saladino]

The series are solely those of the.

[Billy Crudup]

Individuals involved and do not necessarily represent.

[Don Saladino]

Those of Chip and Joanna Gaines by.

[Alexander]

Nail Audio nor Magnolia.