"The Universe Needs To Relax" (w/ Cynthia Erivo)

Transcript

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Speaker 84 Look, man.

Speaker 48 Oh, I see. My eye.
Oh, my.

Speaker 33 Oh, and look over there.

Speaker 85 Wow, is that culture? Yes, goodness. Wow.

Speaker 45 Las Colcharistas.

Speaker 87 Ding-dong.

Speaker 84 Las Culture.

Speaker 53 Calling in our green, as it were.

Speaker 89 You know, it is a very present color in all of our lives.

Speaker 67 and yet for someone to

Speaker 93 I don't know like really I'm not gonna say own it

Speaker 88 that's my color now vibes and I'm not talking about us no I'm already talking about someone else I'm already you'll hear about it in a sec you'll hear from in a sec I I'm already sort of basking in the glow of this person because I'm fresh off

Speaker 9 how could you not I mean I This is the first time I'm seeing her in person in a long time.

Speaker 93 And I'm fresh off of seeing the film Wicked Part One.

Speaker 9 Again, last night there was a screening.

Speaker 97 Talk about this because this was a really, this was not just any screening.

Speaker 100 No, no, this was so sublime.

Speaker 67 It was Broadway friends and family.

Speaker 5 So it was so many of the original cast of Wicked, but also all the casts since over the 21 years that the 21 years the show has been on around the world. Kristen was there.

Speaker 93 Norbert was there.

Speaker 103 Wow.

Speaker 67 So many wonderful, wonderful people.

Speaker 5 I'm missing so many people.

Speaker 105 Carrie St. Louis was there.

Speaker 103 I saw that.

Speaker 5 One of our famed Glindas.

Speaker 106 And it was just the warmest crowd.

Speaker 107 I couldn't believe it.

Speaker 1 You know what was also crazy?

Speaker 5 Children of the original cast.

Speaker 73 Oh, so now it's truly generational.

Speaker 98 And it see, that's the great thing about this.

Speaker 21 And I think that it's like hitting everyone right now.

Speaker 111 This is meaningful, unmeaningful, because I've also seen the film.

Speaker 112 It was a little bit of a different situation.

Speaker 30 It was a very small screening room. And I was just telling our guests when I saw it, I was like, are people going to turn up the way I'm going to turn up?

Speaker 25 Because it was a smaller theater.

Speaker 113 Yes.

Speaker 98 And I can say that they did.

Speaker 30 But it's so, when you're watching the movie, what's so incredible about it, and I don't know why I had to realize this, but I was like, oh, we're also honoring the Wizard of Oz.

Speaker 112 This is generations of cinema.

Speaker 73 This is the Wizard of Oz is the story.

Speaker 114 And so Wicked is the story.

Speaker 116 And it's just, to watch it land on people like that must have been really, really, really monumental.

Speaker 74 So monumental.

Speaker 117 Oh my God, I can't believe you're here.

Speaker 74 I love you so much.

Speaker 120 I mean, just to speak on, you know, by the way, what a huge year for Green. Big year.
Green.

Speaker 122 Green, you did that this year.

Speaker 121 You really, you really got your stripes.

Speaker 74 And I'm sorry, remind us what.

Speaker 33 Well, Brat Green.

Speaker 93 Oh, Bratt Green, of course.

Speaker 98 Well, there was famously Brat Green, and now there's Alphabet Green.

Speaker 96 Green was very present at the various tennis opens of the world.

Speaker 116 100% bow. You know, golfers.

Speaker 119 Because of the color of the grass.

Speaker 84 Of the grass.

Speaker 70 Green is forever.

Speaker 97 It's actually rule of culture number six.

Speaker 113 Green is forever.

Speaker 116 Our guest today is one of the most brilliant artists of any generation, an Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner, an Oscar-nominated actress and songwriter, just a truly brilliant star who we're here to announce is Alphaba.

Speaker 81 You heard it here first

Speaker 124 playing Alphaba in Wicked.

Speaker 114 I mean, when you see this, you are going to be truly lifted.

Speaker 30 I mean, and I don't even say that as a pun.

Speaker 9 No, oh, right.

Speaker 88 Oh, because of the famous lifting that happens.

Speaker 94 Not a spoiler.

Speaker 93 She's also the patron saint of the Kennedy Center at this point.

Speaker 109 If you don't think I'm going to bring up Alfie,

Speaker 126 you didn't think.

Speaker 34 If you didn't think I was going to see you, don't talk to me.

Speaker 25 Don't talk to me until I've had my Cynthia.

Speaker 87 Cynthia.

Speaker 127 Okay, everyone, welcome into your ears.

Speaker 126 Magnificent.

Speaker 87 Cynthia Ario.

Speaker 19 Thank you for having me.

Speaker 33 How are you feeling since last night?

Speaker 1 Well, I'm feeling very, very like floaty. Last night was crazy and amazing.
Many, many things are happening.

Speaker 126 You were bouncing around all over town.

Speaker 1 I was bouncing around all over town. So I started at the CFDAs, went back to the screening.
I was hanging out at the screening for a little bit, which was so surreal.

Speaker 1 I had like an outer body experience. Yeah.
So I was standing at the back of the theater. First of all, when I walk in, and there's all the Alphabas standing there, all the Glindas standing there.

Speaker 1 And then there's Kristen right in the middle. And she welcomes me.
We have this massive hug. Kristen is amazing.
And I'd already spoken to Adina.

Speaker 1 So that was like already sort of like a metaphysical thing that was going on.

Speaker 33 Yeah.

Speaker 1 So I felt like, oh, I'm part of this incredible sisterhood, which you know you are, but when you see it in like real life,

Speaker 1 that sort of becomes an actual core memory. Yes.
And then we move upstairs and then we speak and we start talking about what it means to us.

Speaker 1 And as I'm waiting for us to go up, I realized that I'm standing in front of a Broadway family, one of which I belong to

Speaker 1 because of my history and the things I've been through and color purple and all of that. And I'm like, oh, two things are happening at once.

Speaker 1 I'm getting to show this film that is from Broadway to a Broadway family from which I belong.

Speaker 1 I just had like a massive, it's not even a meltdown, but like a real realization of the journey that I've been on and what it might mean to them and what it might mean to me.

Speaker 1 And it just was, it became so much, it was already a big moment, but that became a really huge moment to be a part of.

Speaker 93 You were enveloped in it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I had to be like, I've got to breathe.

Speaker 1 I can't even, I feel like I'm so out of body. It was so insane.
And then because I had to rush back, I really didn't want to leave immediately.

Speaker 1 So I hung out at the back and watched just like the first 20 minutes of the film with everyone.

Speaker 1 And just to see, like hear it, the laughs and the tears that happen immediately, and the applause, and it just was working, you know. You're like, oh, it's playing, it's playing.

Speaker 1 Um, my makeup artist was saying this is piece

Speaker 1 in Madonna's Truth or Dare.

Speaker 1 And when she, they're standing in a circle, and they're about to go on show, and it's in her hometown, and she's shaking, and she goes, It shouldn't matter, but it does matter what they think.

Speaker 1 Of course, and I was like, That's that's the case. It does matter

Speaker 118 what this

Speaker 1 legacy, what this room thinks of this piece yeah and to be in the room whilst they were like accepting it and open-armed for it was beyond beyond my wildest dreams yeah how are you managing overall your emotions around this moment because it's sometimes i'm not that's what i mean is it's like could you

Speaker 136 do you have like times yourself in the mornings where you like actually

Speaker 93 let things out like or do your emotions like surprise you in moments like they surprise me sometimes i feel like i'm really like i'm in control of what's going on and i you know i can manage everything and then other times they just like spill out yeah you know unexpectedly a little thing will happen i go oh my god yeah we were talking about this before with like john and with ari it's like it's because we kind of put it to the side we compartmentalize it we put it in a drawer and now it's all coming back and like you are really these things are popping out of not nowhere but like intermittently because it was something that you sat with for years.

Speaker 130 Yes, yes.

Speaker 1 And was that your first time watching it in a bigger room last night with an audience wow on a bigger on a bigger screen with many people yes that is a very different experience to

Speaker 88 being sent the link correct

Speaker 1 very different even to because we i i watched that movie basically with two other people it was me and like my publicists or something yeah and like we just sat and watched or a friend and that was it and i'd been craving to watch it in a theater with other people who had never seen it before who were just coming to it for the first time so to sit like to watch people react just off the cuff insane it's a completely different energy it's a it's the wildest most energy filled most electric feeling you could imagine it's i can't wait to do it again yes can't wait to do it again do it again do it as much as you can because we're talking to you is like to you as someone who's obviously been in films before with theatrical releases, but like, I don't know,

Speaker 3 it's just different. And also, of course it's different.

Speaker 141 But also the thing that I miss miss about, you know, Matt and I were in a movie once that didn't come out in theaters, but we went to like the premieres and stuff and the screenings and it was like, oh, I'll miss this so much, just sharing the space with people as they're watching this at the same time.

Speaker 111 Yeah.

Speaker 30 And to give it the cinematic opportunity that it deserves because we were talking to Ariana last week on the pod.

Speaker 111 And one thing that struck me was when you're shooting it, it is, you're at work and you're shooting it.

Speaker 98 So there's the tape.

Speaker 112 You know what I mean? There's your mark.

Speaker 98 There's the guy with the camera.

Speaker 1 So then all of a sudden it can feel easy to slip into oh i'm at work i'm doing the scene you know i'm talking to my friend i'm on my phone what when i'm not like here yeah and then all of a sudden you see oz yes and it's all together and everything like all of those miniature things that make it happen all the stuff that like our semantics go away yes and now it's like the thread is there yeah and then you're like

Speaker 1 wow we made a big yeah movie it's insane the thing is huge it's wild yeah and like like, I keep going back. Even I was in it.

Speaker 87 And I go back and I watch and I go, I didn't see that last time.

Speaker 132 Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 140 I didn't notice that that person did that.

Speaker 1 I didn't know that I was.

Speaker 140 Why did I roll my eyes at that point?

Speaker 113 When did he catch that?

Speaker 1 When did I do that? I don't remember. So you're catching up on all the things that you may have done in the moment that you didn't remember you even did or you didn't remember was there.

Speaker 1 And now all of a sudden you're like, oh my God, that was.

Speaker 140 That is where I was.

Speaker 95 And that's alphabetical.

Speaker 130 And that's right.

Speaker 112 That is another thing is it's just like, you've contributed such a beautiful, strong, funny, powerful alphabet.

Speaker 30 And I wanted to ask specifically about one choice in the film because this to me was, this really is what blew people back in their chair.

Speaker 33 We're going to talk about.

Speaker 30 So, so much said about Define Gravity and in that, the last note, right?

Speaker 109 The gut that you put in that note, that battle cry, that roar

Speaker 30 is so different than the way you've approached vocally the rest of the performance the whole time.

Speaker 30 Can you talk about that choice and like the collaboration with John on deciding how to make that note the Alphabet 2.0 that launches us into Wicked Part 2?

Speaker 1 Well, we knew that for her, this was the beginning of her journey almost, like the beginning of what we know will become the Wicked Witch. The Wicked Witch.

Speaker 1 But it had to be, for both of us, the release of everything. It had to be a roar.

Speaker 1 So I didn't necessarily want to make it pretty.

Speaker 1 so there has to be like a guttural it has to come from that place it's that's the beginning of like the rage and and all of that grit so we just were like how what do we want it to sound like for me and each alphabet has their own battle cry each alphabet has their own roar and I spent some time searching for what that felt like what that could be and the moment I did it and tried it everyone was like that's that's it that's it because the rest of alphabet in this in part one the vocal sort of the quality and the timbre is so clean.

Speaker 9 And it's so,

Speaker 107 and in a lot of ways, what we know to be like Cynthia Revo's voice is like, it's just so purity.

Speaker 93 Pure.

Speaker 151 And there is like a, like, it's, it's almost like it's always intimate.

Speaker 112 Like you singing, I'm not that girl is such a beautiful, and you don't really understand when you watch it on stage.

Speaker 120 Obviously, we enjoy the song, but when we can be really with you

Speaker 30 and you're singing it, it actually makes Defying Gravity even more heartbreaking.

Speaker 136 Like, that's why it's going to be amazing to watch on a second, third, fourth eighth ninth millionth time is because the arc the journey is it really lands and in that last note yeah like

Speaker 97 i just can't wait for everyone to see it that said it should have been one movie it's like please

Speaker 87 watch it after that we need a break the curtain is dropped

Speaker 126 like

Speaker 144 there's no way there's no way

Speaker 1 i like i love that people are so passionate and they like it should have been one movie and i understand but because we were there and we shot the second movie, there's not a chance. No.

Speaker 1 There's no way. There's no way it could be one movie.
There's no way. There's too much.

Speaker 74 Yeah. There's too much.

Speaker 91 And even, you know, there's something to be said about part one running in at a certain time.

Speaker 154 But it's like it moves.

Speaker 102 And even then, I think, even last night, I was like, things can breathe even more

Speaker 155 if we let them.

Speaker 105 Like a lot was cut out.

Speaker 71 Yeah.

Speaker 105 You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 9 Like a lot was like, oh, I guess we're trying to service the audience experience by like not making them sit there for too long.

Speaker 75 And yet it still came in at like two hours and 40 minutes or whatever. That's it.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And we still never felt it.

Speaker 144 Do you see what I'm saying?

Speaker 1 Like, can you imagine we went on to the second?

Speaker 87 No way.

Speaker 43 I was like, because you couldn't move on to thank goodness at that point.

Speaker 87 No, you can't.

Speaker 113 It's impossible.

Speaker 73 Without defying gravity suffering and the rest of the movie after that suffering.

Speaker 34 Yeah. Literally, everyone has to be like, I need to go away.

Speaker 1 We have to all go away.

Speaker 93 Right.

Speaker 126 Junior year. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Let me process. Let me come back.
Let me see it again. Let me, you know, we'll see this.

Speaker 130 We'll get back.

Speaker 1 Yeah. We'll get back.
And also what's lovely about waiting for the second is that there is growth happening in that time.

Speaker 1 So what happens in a year is like the growth that happens totally for everyone that comes back the second time around. Time passes

Speaker 75 on the axe.

Speaker 108 Exactly.

Speaker 111 And just to speak about like how you don't want to let any moment not have its

Speaker 33 true expanse. Yeah.

Speaker 30 I think one of the most unforgettable moments I've seen in a film in a really long time, to speak on just this one segment is dancing through life.

Speaker 30 When you come in and it's the hope and the, you know, this chance to have a real social moment and the disappointment and the realization that you've been tricked.

Speaker 156 Yeah.

Speaker 30 I just think that that entire sequence, I could get chills.

Speaker 11 I mean, I don't think there was a dry eye.

Speaker 24 And that just.

Speaker 107 If you had stayed for that last night, you would have crumbled.

Speaker 48 I'm telling you not not that you're not

Speaker 150 a strong person

Speaker 157 it's just peep they lose

Speaker 1 it was a cacophony of sniffles and like everyone was losing it it is a beautiful moment and i i wanted to ask about shooting that yeah like that must have been so vulnerable and exposing and tough yeah it was that was a hard that was a hard day and i thought when you when when i was watching and i was like i wonder where she's at like it was hard yeah because you have to process i really understand alphabet's ownership of loneliness and like

Speaker 1 knowing she feels different knowing she's not one of the one of everybody else and and deeply wanting to you know there's a part of us that all wants to be we all want to be accepted even when we know that we can't or we're different and we're on the outside i think that

Speaker 1 Because I understood that, that's where I'm in my head.

Speaker 1 So it just, you know, funneling all the thing, all the times when I feel alone, all the times when you want to be accepted, all the times when you feel like you're on the outside, all the times when it just, you just can't connect with

Speaker 1 everybody.

Speaker 1 And it's just that that replays in your head and in your body as well. And when you're doing something

Speaker 1 like that, where you are really on your own, the loneliness is really loud.

Speaker 1 So you just have to... process all of that and that's what happened and every time i could it was like,

Speaker 1 the more you do it, the deeper you go. The deeper you go, the deeper you go.
So by the time I think he got that shot, it was like,

Speaker 1 there was like nothing left. It was just, I couldn't hold anything.
Yeah.

Speaker 93 Well, my memory of it is that every single setup, every single take, you gave it a perfectly calibrated, vulnerable, raw thing.

Speaker 127 And

Speaker 9 it was really beautiful to watch and also very difficult.

Speaker 93 And I can't, so if it was difficult for me to just even stand by the wayside, like I can't imagine the sort of buckling and the, and, and, and, and all that that you were giving in service to this project.

Speaker 117 And, like, that is, that is, I think, like the takeaway for everybody for this movie is that, like, this film is telling this huge universal story, but then for the performer, for Cynthia to be the vessel of Alphabet, this character, like, you, you gave it so,

Speaker 96 so much.

Speaker 5 You gave so much of yourself.

Speaker 159 And I remember you at the end of that sort of segment of shooting that you turned to everybody and thanked them.

Speaker 101 And it was, and we just all applauded and it was just such a beautiful,

Speaker 92 loving moment of sort of communion because we had all sort of been through it in a way.

Speaker 144 I've been through it with me.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I felt really supported and held.

Speaker 108 Like it felt like genuine care.

Speaker 129 Yeah.

Speaker 1 It felt like there was the most amazing energy. in the room.
It felt like, you know, and there's like a circle of like

Speaker 1 strength.

Speaker 1 Everyone, we all have to do what we have to do, but actually in the core of everyone's heart I could feel like energy just hold the circle keep the energy keep the space and there was such respect for what was going on and what needed to happen no one was too loud no it was all like quiet when it needs to be quiet and space when there needs to be space and I felt so loved so taken care of during that that to have finished without saying thank you would have been impossible because I knew that it's hard enough for me to play the person who is alone and going through that.

Speaker 1 But I think it's just as hard to play anyone who has to reject someone who is that as well. Because also I was aware that so many people on that set are versions of Alphabet.
Uh-huh. You know?

Speaker 129 Yeah.

Speaker 1 We're all the queer kids who are out, you know, and who are pushed on the outside. So everyone in that room is sort of watching a version of themselves in this moment.

Speaker 1 I just like, that's something that came to me when I had finished. I looked around, I was like, We all understand this.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 And so to have to play the people who are rejecting it must also be deeply difficult to do.

Speaker 30 It's a very hard thing to also sit in that emotion of guilt and shame that you have allowed someone to feel this way, which is why it's such a moment for Glinda as well. You know what I mean?

Speaker 30 It's like that is the scene that solidifies the relationship because it is both of you confronting the way you really feel.

Speaker 56 And then it launches into popular, which is so joyful and so expressive and colorful, but it's just so successful.

Speaker 153 Thank you.

Speaker 3 Two things. Yes.

Speaker 91 Thank you for acknowledging, even though it's a fraction of what you had to go through on a performance level, like there was something I remember like in the circle where between takes, like we would just turn to each other and be like,

Speaker 159 it feels really bad for us to like snicker and laugh at this person.

Speaker 8 And we had to do that take after take.

Speaker 90 And then I remember coming up to you a bunch of being like, how are you doing?

Speaker 159 I'm so sorry.

Speaker 127 I was like, it feels so unnatural for me, a gay man, to bully Cynthia Rebo.

Speaker 120 I'm like, this is so wrong.

Speaker 90 And then the second thing, which is what Matt's saying, like, launching into popular, I remember John turned to me last night and was just like, it's so great how the audience is immediately in love with Calinda and Alphabet as friends.

Speaker 9 Yeah. The second Dancing Through Life is done.

Speaker 75 And that's just, it just comes from that moment.

Speaker 1 you know lovely i love my my favorite uh part of that that scene in between dancing through life the osdust and popular the scene that we have in the bedroom

Speaker 1 i think it's it's just such a tender sweet scene ari and i were saying that the two of them are so awkward they're like figuring it out yeah how do we how do we hang out how do we hang out yeah like has never been at a sleepover before so she's like kind of awkward and not really like doesn't really know what to do and linda's I think also equally awkward.

Speaker 1 Like, how do I hang out with this person? And how do I share the space? And they're sort of figuring it out.

Speaker 1 And the way they like undulate and figure it out together and then finally like land on the floor and then it's you know it's tomorrow it's tomorrow i just love how they find their way to that yeah popular happens i think it's that's the the journey for them they find each other yeah and you know for elpha to give that sort of um she confides in it's sort of like i trust you i'm going to trust you with this thing that i don't think i don't think alphabet has told anyone that story to be honest i think it's the first time she's voiced it.

Speaker 1 And I think there's just a really wonderful moment of them deciding to trust each other. Yeah.

Speaker 30 To speak on the collaboration between you and Ariana, so I would imagine you get this part.

Speaker 94 And do you find out pretty immediately that the role will be played by Ariana Grande?

Speaker 108 Soon after. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I don't think I found out on the call, but I think I found out. soon after maybe like a day after and they let me know what was going on and i was like oh that makes sense yeah

Speaker 112 so is it that like you know you're up for it and do you hear who's up for the other thing?

Speaker 33 I mean, I said, don't tell me a damn thing. Don't tell me anything.

Speaker 1 Don't tell me anything. I didn't want to know.

Speaker 75 I don't want to know who was going up for it.

Speaker 1 I didn't want to even know until they needed me to come in. I said, give me no information.
Give me nothing. I don't want to know.

Speaker 75 Yes.

Speaker 1 Tell me if they actually want me to come in.

Speaker 130 That's all I want to know.

Speaker 1 Right. Got it.
And they didn't. I said, I don't care who's going in.
I don't want to know. When and if.

Speaker 1 They want me, then I will know. Yes.
That's all I wanted.

Speaker 30 Meaning the audition or actually playing playing the role?

Speaker 126 The audition.

Speaker 120 So this is wild to me that Cynthia or Eva would have to audition for anything just because it's like, well, clearly

Speaker 11 we know this is going to be brilliant, but you do have to audition.

Speaker 110 And when you do, do you sing Defying Gravity?

Speaker 113 Yes.

Speaker 1 Wow. You sing Defying Gravity, you sing The Wizard of an Eye, you sing for good,

Speaker 1 you do a bunch of scenes. But they were really, really respectful.

Speaker 1 I actually think what happened was, because I think I was the last to come in, John and I had had a a couple of conversations, and then I waited a couple of weeks.

Speaker 1 And then they came back with, We want you to come in, and it was a camera test, essentially. So I was there for three hours, my audition, and that was the one and only thing I came in to do.

Speaker 1 I think they were deeply, deeply respectful. I think John had teed it up for me to it was mine to lose.

Speaker 1 God, actually, I felt like he gave me the most amazing platform to come in and do my work and then let it be. And I think that's probably why.

Speaker 1 But I love that I got the chance to come in and show how much I wanted it and show how much it meant to me. And I was prepared to come in a couple times if they needed me to,

Speaker 1 because I think the role deserves that.

Speaker 160 Right.

Speaker 117 Yeah.

Speaker 1 I think the role needs it. It's not enough to want to come in because you can sing.
It's not enough to come in because you can act. I think there are layers that he was looking for.

Speaker 1 And I remember when he

Speaker 1 said the thing that swung swung it for him was the way I did the wizard and I he said there was like a vulnerability yeah that I hadn't seen in the other roles like a youthful hopeful energy that the other roles don't permit don't give you the chance to do Harriet does not give you the chance to do that right and because it's there's so much more depth it's like deep and hard and you know

Speaker 1 resilient yeah and Belle who is in widows doesn't it's not that oh you know what I mean Fantastic with widows, but it's a different energy.

Speaker 118 In the way this is really showing a totally new side of you, yeah.

Speaker 1 And so I think he was, he wanted to see like the wide-eyed openness

Speaker 1 that I have, but I don't necessarily get the chance to share. Right.

Speaker 156 And the wizard and I gave that energy to him.

Speaker 132 Yeah.

Speaker 1 So I was just, I think I was lucky that he allowed me to express that and show it.

Speaker 130 Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 30 And also what it takes to hold the responsibility of playing something so iconic is something that you've done several times. I was thinking about, you know, your

Speaker 119 Uber, like, you know, Harriet, like Aretha Franklin, Ceely,

Speaker 112 you know, I mean, like, these come with

Speaker 95 scrutiny, yes, but also responsibility and history.

Speaker 98 And so I was wondering, because this seems like a, like a pattern, does that excite you? Or is this like happenstance that these happen to be like these iconic things?

Speaker 116 Or do you find that you're like, yeah, that thing that everyone's going to watch?

Speaker 33 Examine.

Speaker 94 I'm not afraid of that. I want to run to that.

Speaker 110 Are you running to these things?

Speaker 1 I think by accident I'm running to them because I'm not necessarily running to them because I know that people are watching or inspecting them.

Speaker 1 I think I'm running to them because they're the most interesting.

Speaker 1 people to play. Yeah.
The ones who have like depth and history and there's complexity in it all the way around. I just think they're interesting characters.

Speaker 1 First and foremost, they're people who have wants and needs, and maybe there are parts of them that maybe haven't been discovered.

Speaker 1 And I want to like open them up even more and play and learn them even more. I think I'm intrigued by that.

Speaker 1 And then the layer of like, oh, but also

Speaker 1 so many people know about this person. Right.
And so many people are invested in this person.

Speaker 33 And projecting onto that person. Real or fictional.

Speaker 87 Yes.

Speaker 101 How much of, I would say, like the initial gut level alphabet in the audition do you think was retained by the final product?

Speaker 1 I think maybe about

Speaker 1 60%.

Speaker 1 Wow. And I learned a lot when I was there.

Because you know what I love?

Speaker 101 I've heard you talk about how a lot of roles you approach, you start with the walk.

Speaker 75 Yeah.

Speaker 105 And I love how you, how you kind of, the opening shots of Alphaba are of her walk.

Speaker 159 Yeah. You literally start on the close-up of the shoes, the feet as she sets foot on shiz.

Speaker 91 And I think from those, immediately you understand that your take on Alphaba is really new and beautiful.

Speaker 93 It's like she's not like

Speaker 93 drab or like awkward or uncomfortable.

Speaker 5 She's very self-assured.

Speaker 9 She's there to like support her sister.

Speaker 96 And in that first monologue where we're all like gawking at you, like, oh my God, who's she?

Speaker 126 You're like, okay.

Speaker 105 Like, in a way, like, and I love and celebrate, like, as we're talking about the alphabets of your, it's like, there's such a wonderful blueprint of how this has been.

Speaker 74 And for you to like honor that and also sort of

Speaker 33 divert is really special.

Speaker 155 And I feel like that must have come from like your experience with playing all these very different women, yeah, ambitious women.

Speaker 1 And it was, you know, it's like it's not on purpose to be like, I'm going to change everything now.

Speaker 1 No, I just, once I put her shoes on, and I think because of my own understanding, and everyone has a different understanding of what it is to be different and what it feels like to be sort of like on the outside, I just thought to myself, she's been in the skin for her whole life.

Speaker 140 It's not new for her.

Speaker 1 People staring at her, it's not new for her. People having a weird like reaction to her, not new.

Speaker 48 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Her needing to be the support for her sister, not new.

Speaker 1 Her getting yelled at by her father, not new. It's like, this is all stuff that she's been through already and has like,

Speaker 1 it's in her skin, in her DNA.

Speaker 112 It's the assignment of her life to deal with this bullshit.

Speaker 1 So like the choice is, I'm either going to be mad my whole life

Speaker 1 or I'm gonna get to the joke before everybody else does.

Speaker 86 Right.

Speaker 1 And if I can get to the joke before everyone else does, and it is a form of defense. If I get there before everybody else, then I can't be hurt.
They're already behind. Yeah.

Speaker 1 So,

Speaker 126 okay. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 33 Uh-huh. I'm not this.

Speaker 1 I'm not that.

Speaker 158 You can call me weird if I if I already say it myself.

Speaker 106 Exactly. I know.

Speaker 1 I know what I'm in. I know what I look like.
I know what I'm, where I've been. And I know what you're thinking.
Right.

Speaker 1 Like my, one of my favorite lines when you first meet her is, here's my sister, Nessa, and she's a perfectly acceptable color.

Speaker 128 Like, because no one else says, oh, this is, we don't, she already knows.

Speaker 140 Yeah.

Speaker 1 She knows what, that's what everyone's thinking. Right.
And it's like, she said it. So like, oh, here we go.

Speaker 33 You know. Totally.

Speaker 1 And I think that's how she functions.

Speaker 30 Is that a defense mechanism that you relate to?

Speaker 24 Yes.

Speaker 86 Yeah.

Speaker 126 You get there first.

Speaker 48 Oh, yes, you get there first. You get there first.

Speaker 33 It's a queer thing, I think.

Speaker 92 It's a queer thing.

Speaker 96 And like, it works on some level until it doesn't, except your the Ozdas.

Speaker 8 Right.

Speaker 146 It's just self-defense until you're building a weapon.

Speaker 74 Yeah. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 84 Charlie XDS.

Speaker 87 And Lord. And Lord.

Speaker 162 Two questions. What are you doing right now?

Speaker 52 And why aren't you on a Virgin Voyages Caribbean cruise?

Speaker 163 Well, obviously you're listening to us. Smart use of your time.

Speaker 74 True.

Speaker 52 But you could also be on a Virgin Voyages Caribbean cruise at the same time.

Speaker 40 That's just brilliant time management.

Speaker 164 Very true.

Speaker 165 This gives me an idea.

Speaker 166 Let's do a quick cruise quiz. Ready?

Speaker 167 First, cruise dining.

Speaker 4 Do you prefer a buffet or a curated dining experience with access to 20 distinct restaurants?

Speaker 27 Curated dining.

Speaker 166 Next. Okay, good choice.
That's what Virgin Voyages offers.

Speaker 169 Second question: Would you rather have an overstuffed itinerary or the freedom to explore stunning?

Speaker 170 Oh, I want the freedom to explore stunning Caribbean destinations.

Speaker 10 Again, I think I see where this quiz is going.

Speaker 171 Virgin Voyages is amazing.

Speaker 172 Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 139 The cruises are kid-free.

Speaker 173 From sunrise yoga to late-night cocktails, every moment is made for grown-up fun.

Speaker 41 Nothing against kids.

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Speaker 20 Wi-Fi, soda, top-tier entertainment, over 20 restaurants, and even group fitness classes.

Speaker 61 No hidden fees, no surprise charges.

Speaker 68 Virgin Voyages gives you the kind of luxury you actually deserve.

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Speaker 150 I deserve luxury.

Speaker 47 You do, and me too.

Speaker 167 Yes, there's always something happening on board.

Speaker 177 From wellness-focused sailings to epic holiday voyages, live music, DJs, themed parties, and more, boredom doesn't board the ship.

Speaker 59 And there are so many amazing stops.

Speaker 133 You leave from Miami and sail to places like Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

Speaker 57 Virgin even has their own private beach club in Bimini.

Speaker 146 And they're adding stops in 2025 and 2026.

Speaker 6 Yeah, like Aruba, St. Lucia, and Caraçao.

Speaker 145 But it's not all go, go, go.

Speaker 26 Right, you can totally go into relaxation mode too.

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Speaker 4 Private terrace, ocean views, and their signature red hammock just waiting for you to swing.

Speaker 134 Oh, and did I mention Virgin Voyages is launching a new ship, the Brilliant Lady?

Speaker 24 Brilliant name, by the way.

Speaker 19 She's bigger, bolder, and packed with even more Virgin Wow Factor.

Speaker 8 Book now at VirginVoyages.com or contact your travel advisor.

Speaker 17 That's virginvoyages.com.

Speaker 78 Okay, so you know how the world is a chaotic, swirling ball of total stress right now?

Speaker 179 Well, we have a new Hulu show from Ryan Murphy that will give you the much-needed break from reality.

Speaker 66 And whether you know it or not, you are already completely obsessed.

Speaker 50 It's called All's Fair, and Ms.

Speaker 35 Kardashian plays Allura Grant, the most in-demand divorce attorney in Los Angeles.

Speaker 182 Get it?

Speaker 63 It's All's Fair, as in All's Fair in Love and War, and she's a divorce attorney.

Speaker 27 Love it.

Speaker 183 Now let's talk ensemble because Allura does not go it alone.

Speaker 60 She breaks off from a crusty male-dominated law firm to start her own legal coven with some absolute forces of nature.

Speaker 54 Naomi Watts, Nisi Nash Betts, Tayana Taylor, and Glenn Close.

Speaker 186 Yeah, hello, Glenn Close.

Speaker 16 And of course, you need a villain, so say hello to Sarah Paulson as the nemesis.

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Speaker 11 I'm talking about the lawyers on the show and the actresses playing them, by the way.

Speaker 64 But hey, if you're thinking this will be all courtroom drama and no drama drama, relax.

Speaker 189 Allura, that's Kim's character, has plenty of twists and turns in her personal life.

Speaker 41 Her professional life crashes into her personal one, and uh-oh, so how does this super lawyer fix her own mess?

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Speaker 191 So this series has it all.

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Speaker 147 Terms apply, drama guaranteed.

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Speaker 100 i'm not going to spoil something but like there's a moment at a very critical juncture of this film where there's like an inner child healing moment.

Speaker 126 Yeah.

Speaker 127 And

Speaker 71 it is executed so every emotional beat of this movie lands, which is not to say that the rest of the movie like doesn't work at any level.

Speaker 93 It's just the underpinnings of this movie are purely emotional.

Speaker 9 And that's like a testament to you.

Speaker 96 And this moment of like the inner child. Yes.

Speaker 93 For a long time, I kind of rolled my eyes at that concept.

Speaker 71 I was like, oh, you have to like, what is like inner, like, right?

Speaker 90 I talked to like my, the young version of myself, I roll.

Speaker 8 Something about this movie really like cracked me the fuck open with that concept.

Speaker 93 You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 And it's like what you're saying with like, oh, alpha but we all kind of grow up with these yeah it's because you don't think that because throughout the movie she the inner child is not on the outside yeah and i think that's actually how most of us function like we don't realize that we're all healing like deep-seated wounds that are on the children that we were yes but it's never usually it's not obvious we don't know and i don't even think she knows until she knows until she knows you know she remembers certain things and there are things that we like that she keeps to herself and it shows up in like flickers.

Speaker 1 And when she gets yelled at by her father, there's like an immediate sort of like call to what has been. And, but she doesn't, there's no real acknowledgement until she has to acknowledge.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 But that's what she's running away from. And that's what she has to move towards.

Speaker 125 Yeah.

Speaker 93 Oh my God.

Speaker 30 As you were sitting here, it's just so funny because I had a moment where I started to get a little emotional because I'm remembering, and this is a little bit of a left turn, but when you performed I'm here on the Tony Awards,

Speaker 30 that was, I believe it was a couple days or maybe the day after Pulse.

Speaker 88 And I just remember how much that meant to me and to so many people, it felt like you were putting a warm blanket over everyone.

Speaker 30 So I guess just like, thank you for the gift of that performance, like retroactively now years later, but also in terms of like being given these opportunities to give these live performances because we mentioned Alfie earlier.

Speaker 62 You know, nothing compares.

Speaker 72 It's another opportunity that is very high stress that you seem to be running towards.

Speaker 147 And I would

Speaker 87 say she's a runner.

Speaker 88 She runs. We saw Willows.

Speaker 87 But like, again,

Speaker 33 those opportunities, which will probably come forever. Yeah.

Speaker 98 Do they excite you? How are you feeling in the moments of receiving offers to do things like that, receiving calls to do things like that?

Speaker 21 And the moment of doing things like that.

Speaker 1 When it comes to, as a singer, I do go towards them. Yeah.
Because I feel like if I wasn't meant to, they wouldn't come my way.

Speaker 1 And I think there are moments of great responsibility to connect with people. I know people say that actors, if we're not saving lives, but I think that there is an aspect of

Speaker 1 maybe we can heal a couple of people.

Speaker 48 Singing is different.

Speaker 69 Music is different.

Speaker 33 You know, we can crap people open.

Speaker 1 We can like connect. We can help you.
connect with things that you might not have thought of. We can help you heal a little thing and think of something.

Speaker 1 And I feel like that's my duty that's my work yeah that's the grander design of the gift that i've been given to sing

Speaker 1 so when opportunities like that come singing at the kennedy center of course i'm going to stand there and give dior moric her flowers of course i'm going to share with her the moment that i really fell in love with her the fact that her voice is the seminal voice for alfie for me yeah you know i want to connect with her on that you know of course i'm gonna sing I think there was a performance of I'm here that I had to do after like the last crazy election that we had to do.

Speaker 1 And people were like in tears. I knew that I had to go to work to be like, hey,

Speaker 126 we're okay.

Speaker 1 And I was asked to sing Imagine at the Glad Awards After Pulse in dedication to, of course, I'm going to come in and sing that because we're going to be okay.

Speaker 88 Do you feel that way?

Speaker 144 I do. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I do. I really believe that that is my work.

Speaker 1 And to validate people's feelings, the feelings that we have through music. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I really think that there is a bigger purpose at hand when you have a voice, when you can use music to connect with people. It's not enough to just sing a song.

Speaker 1 What is the point?

Speaker 125 Yeah.

Speaker 1 But if you can use music and tune and notes and lyric to connect, to validate a person's feelings, to send them off and feeling better, to tell them that we'll move through this, it's going to be okay, that this is a gateway to healing.

Speaker 1 I'm happy to do that.

Speaker 108 I'll do it.

Speaker 98 Yeah, it's funny because your performance of Alfie, like I always knew the song.

Speaker 109 Yeah.

Speaker 61 You know what I mean?

Speaker 88 But it was like I was hearing it for the first time.

Speaker 40 And it was so funny because like, I had gone through a situation with someone and didn't realize that that song was speaking to that experience until I was, and it actually empowered me because it's like, I know

Speaker 56 what love is, really is.

Speaker 61 You know what I mean? And it's, it's twofold.

Speaker 60 It's you expressing and telling that story, but also honoring her.

Speaker 30 And I wonder, like, did you have a conversation with Ms.

Speaker 135 Warwick afterwards?

Speaker 33 And yeah, she's very happy.

Speaker 126 Good.

Speaker 87 She was tough.

Speaker 1 She's very happy. She's tough, but she was happy.
Good.

Speaker 87 She was happy.

Speaker 1 She said, no, you didn't need to sing it like that.

Speaker 1 I was like, well, well, be careful now. I was like, thank you.
Thank you very much.

Speaker 147 Major moment.

Speaker 113 Yeah, she was happy.

Speaker 1 And they could see her up in the box and she was like beclempt and, you know, tearful. And I was like, okay, I'm doing.

Speaker 111 The thing of them watching you in that type of arena, too, is so wild.

Speaker 140 Insane.

Speaker 1 Yeah. The Kennedy Center is something that is so grand.
It's, it's one of those, you have to figure out how to fill the room.

Speaker 126 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And for me, I have to fill the room standing in one spot. That's what I do.
I stand and sing. And so every detail for me is like, what's the dress? That's not the right one.
We need this.

Speaker 1 And what's the orchestration? We need this orchestration. No, we're not going to, if we rush this and we make this two beats too fast, it's not going to, it won't land the way.
We need breath.

Speaker 1 We need space.

Speaker 1 And I had spoken to the orchestrator, Lenny, who is amazing. I said, do not, do not start this until I am set at the mic and I take a breath.

Speaker 1 We have to reset. I need a reset before we begin.
And he didn't because the production wanted me to, they wanted the music to start before I because they wanted to move.

Speaker 94 They're thinking

Speaker 94 about it.

Speaker 87 Don't you dare. Yeah, we can actually don't you dare.

Speaker 1 You wait.

Speaker 159 It's a hospitality principle.

Speaker 90 It's like you have to be unreasonable about the way you make people feel.

Speaker 93 Yes.

Speaker 71 And that is, that is what you are doing.

Speaker 91 And I loved this interview that you and Renee Rapp had at Electric League.

Speaker 105 You guys are relating about being Capricorns.

Speaker 1 Like this is, I think, is this part of Capricorn identity?

Speaker 150 Like having this sort of vision, having the conviction

Speaker 89 to tell yourself, like, this is what my charge is.

Speaker 33 Yes.

Speaker 1 Yeah, this is the charge. This is the job.
This is how I'm going to do it.

Speaker 131 Very clear about that.

Speaker 130 Yeah.

Speaker 106 Because this thing of you guys talking about how like you need to believe, it sounds, and I'm just saying, rolling my eyes at myself at this.

Speaker 107 It's like, I always didn't really quite believe the idea of like, you got to believe in yourself or else nobody else will.

Speaker 67 It's like, but then like, it doesn't make any sense any other way.

Speaker 74 Yeah. You know what I mean?

Speaker 93 It has to, that has to be the sequence of things in order for you to like do what you guys do.

Speaker 87 Yes.

Speaker 126 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Because there are literally times where only you believe the thing that is going to happen.

Speaker 1 And there's no one else. But why should anyone else believe if you don't? Like, why? There's no reason to.

Speaker 1 But if you know and have a clarity about what it is you're meant to do and what you're and how you're meant to do it, then it's easy for someone else to see it. Right.
Because you can, you can see it.

Speaker 130 Yeah.

Speaker 30 You talk about getting involved with the color purple in a sort of not lo-fi, but like not necessarily a production in England that seemed like it was going to do what it did.

Speaker 30 Would you consider that to be the biggest risk you've taken is like really going for that role on that scale?

Speaker 1 I don't think it was a risk at all. I was so sure that I was meant to be doing it.
I was so sure. And it could have been in, I don't know.

Speaker 1 someone's front room.

Speaker 53 The size of the stage did not matter.

Speaker 1 Did not matter. I just knew if it was coming, I was meant to do it.

Speaker 1 I was so clear about it. There was not one part of me that was like, well, this is risky.
I don't know what I'm going to do. I was, nope.
I was so sure about it.

Speaker 117 You were on Torres Distract.

Speaker 107 You heard that it was, it was like, they were seeing people for it.

Speaker 117 Yes.

Speaker 33 And I said, I want to play the role.

Speaker 127 Dang. Yeah.
I'm going to be doing that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And everyone else was like, but are you sure? Like, what if they ask you to do like the first cover? I was like, no, no, no. I want to play the role.

Speaker 1 I know that the role is what I'm supposed to be doing.

Speaker 1 And the first cover is amazing.

Speaker 126 But this is the role.

Speaker 1 The role I want. I know.
I'm so sure about it. This is what I want.

Speaker 137 Yeah.

Speaker 93 It doesn't have to be like that.

Speaker 2 What is that? Is that intellectual, emotional?

Speaker 8 Like, where does that work?

Speaker 126 I think it's both.

Speaker 1 I think it's like a, in the first instant, it was like a guttural emotional knowledge. Yes.
Then it became

Speaker 33 how am I going to do it? Yes. Yes.

Speaker 75 Yeah. I love this.
Yeah.

Speaker 28 So much.

Speaker 144 Oh my God.

Speaker 99 So much of my life is like this.

Speaker 138 No, but this is, but like, look where it's gotten you.

Speaker 126 Yeah. You know?

Speaker 1 Like the emotion is there and like the feeling is there and then task.

Speaker 33 Yeah.

Speaker 106 How do we do this? It's not holding you back in any way.

Speaker 108 So like what's wrong with that?

Speaker 127 True. You know? Yeah.

Speaker 126 How do you unwind?

Speaker 81 What do you do to like?

Speaker 1 I need a sleepy time tea.

Speaker 87 Yes.

Speaker 1 And I love a tea. I will carry a tea with me everywhere I go.

Speaker 1 But it's bedtime. I get, you know, I get myself in my PJs.
I like a particular PJ. Like I will wear an outfit to bed.

Speaker 88 You know, I love to dress. It's a look.

Speaker 87 It's very French European thing.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I have to dress for it.

Speaker 1 My perfume.

Speaker 126 I get ready.

Speaker 144 Nighttime routine.

Speaker 33 Full nighttime routine. I'm going to get the whole thing.

Speaker 1 Then I will

Speaker 1 get cozy. I'll put on a movie or a TV show before bed.
And then I'll journal and then sleep.

Speaker 98 That's my thing. Do you watch comedies or do you want like a bunch of things?

Speaker 1 I'm like comedies or like light dramas.

Speaker 33 Light dramas.

Speaker 1 Nothing crazy. Nothing crazy.
I can't, you know, people who watch like 60 minutes before bed or like the first 24 hours, 48 hours. I don't know how you do it.
No. It's too much for me.

Speaker 1 I don't want to watch that.

Speaker 1 of course daytime for me yeah watching those things but for me it's nighttime like something like light fair yeah right fun something that lifts and then to bed to bed and then up at what 5 a.m sometimes between five and seven to run to walk to pilates whatever i have to do something you and michelle yo every day on set on production of wicked just the most

Speaker 1 godly people both of you getting up doing your runs doing your workouts i'm like i need to get my shit together i was so in awe but there was no other way to do this role you think so i just i couldn't i needed i needed the physical movement yes not just for like the actual physicality of it but for the emotion of it all i needed to be physical because i needed to make sure my body was ready for all the like the flight work right all that harness work doesn't work if you haven't got your core together if you haven't got your body together really does have to get ready for what kind of onslaught you get when you're in a harness and flight.

Speaker 130 And singing.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 91 I have a question.

Speaker 111 And I, I think we can talk about this.

Speaker 5 So we basically had 12 days left of shooting and then Sack Strike happened.

Speaker 91 And I will say that the way things were segmented, Defying Gravity was

Speaker 5 the last thing that was.

Speaker 9 So I'm thinking, wow, Cynthia is

Speaker 26 holding on to this and considering this and it's all leading up to like this thing that is going going to be talked about and will be very difficult to pull up and it's a collaborative thing with you and with John and with everybody.

Speaker 75 And then the strike happens. Yes.

Speaker 89 Wild, wild sort of like stoppage.

Speaker 106 You're not disrupting.

Speaker 1 You're at the bridge and then you don't cross.

Speaker 33 Exactly.

Speaker 168 What was that like for you?

Speaker 8 What was it like to go back to it?

Speaker 1 At first, it started off like torture. Like, cause I was, I felt like I was ready.
Yeah. Because we had gotten right there and I was like, okay, we're ready.
I'm, I'm ready. Like, I'm game fit.

Speaker 1 I'm good to do this. And then I had to accept we weren't coming back quickly.

Speaker 126 But you don't let go of, they don't go anywhere.

Speaker 1 The character's sort of like sitting in you, sort of like, so I'm still like getting my body ready, working out, working like I'm still on set, but not on set.

Speaker 1 So I'm like doing all those things, trying to like feed my body, making sure that I'm working out the way I need to work out, making sure that I'm keeping my voice the way I need it to be and like checking in and but also having to let it go just a little bit so that I don't drive myself insane because it's still there and I'm still waiting and also there's like the anticipation of having to do it it never really left until we get until we come back and when I come back I was like ready yeah ready to do it you know and then I get ill oh I forgot about this What happened?

Speaker 1 Just the worst kind of flu you could possibly have. I mean, my skin was hurting.

Speaker 87 What?

Speaker 1 It was horrible. The day after my birthday, I was in on my birthday rehearsing and training for flying.
The next day, totaled.

Speaker 48 Totaled.

Speaker 93 I remember I had rapped and then I came back to New York.

Speaker 91 Yep. And then they were like, she's Cynthia sick.

Speaker 89 I was like, God, this, let this woman live.

Speaker 143 She can't know peace.

Speaker 126 Let this woman know peace.

Speaker 33 I was, I was,

Speaker 1 and I, when I say you, I was so sick. Oh, yeah.
Like running a fever. fever.
The fever would break, then the fever would come back again.

Speaker 24 Concerning sick. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 87 I was like, demoralizing.

Speaker 1 When is this going to stop? Yeah. It just went on for like a week, a whole week, week and a half.
I was done, down.

Speaker 1 So I was like, okay,

Speaker 1 when are we going to do this?

Speaker 126 Right.

Speaker 1 Because at this point, I'm annoyed with myself. I'm like, why is this happening now?

Speaker 40 Yeah.

Speaker 5 I mean, is there something in retrospect now where you're like, God, it was like one last mountain to scale?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I think so. I think it's weird.
I think the universe was forcing me to earn it, really earn it.

Speaker 1 So when I really got there.

Speaker 113 The universe needs to relax.

Speaker 87 I know,

Speaker 87 she's

Speaker 84 always doing the most.

Speaker 1 Always doing the most, always making me earn shit. Like, leave me alone for a second, please.
Because I'm always working, bitch.

Speaker 1 But like, it really was that last sort of like, let's see. Do you really want to do this?

Speaker 1 It really felt like that. And so when, when we got here, I was like, right.

Speaker 93 Right.

Speaker 157 Let's go.

Speaker 1 Let's do this. Yeah.

Speaker 9 You fucking earned it.

Speaker 93 That's all, that's all we can say.

Speaker 89 Thank you. But God, it is, I was, this is what I'm telling people.

Speaker 93 This is my little press quote.

Speaker 90 My favorite last 10 minutes of a film in cinema history.

Speaker 151 It's epic.

Speaker 93 And I will say, and people know the story, like, I think watching it again last night, I was like, oh my God, Cynthia is so dialed in every single frame of the levels of betrayal that are setting in

Speaker 91 that moment when when you find out what you were brought to do.

Speaker 5 I was like, every moment of this, when you walk to the Grim Marine, when you take it with you, when you run away, I'm like, it's all perfect.

Speaker 105 It's all perfect, Cynthia.

Speaker 1 And John just let me go. He just was like, here's where you're moving to.
Yep.

Speaker 84 Just go.

Speaker 93 We'll follow you. We'll follow you.

Speaker 163 Well, obviously you you're listening to us. Smart use of your time.
True.

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Speaker 27 Love it.

Speaker 54 Naomi Watts, Nisi Nash-Betts, Tayana Taylor, and Glenn Close.

Speaker 16 And of course, you need a villain, so say hello to Sarah Paulson as the nemesis.

Speaker 19 Her professional life crashes into her personal one, and uh-oh.

Speaker 51 So, how does this super lawyer fix her own mess?

Speaker 191 So, this series has it all.

Speaker 123 Well, stop. Just stop.

Speaker 95 All's fair now streaming on Hulu and on Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers.

Speaker 63 There's pressure systems moving in Bo in the form of cuffing season.

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Speaker 107 What did it feel? Can I ask what it felt like when it was a picture app?

Speaker 126 I

Speaker 1 crumbled because I was the last one out on the set.

Speaker 156 I was the last one out.

Speaker 1 Wow. And I can't even describe the feeling because it was, you know, when

Speaker 1 the only time I felt similar was the last show for The Color Purple

Speaker 1 where,

Speaker 1 you know, you're carrying something for a really long time and like happy to carry it. Like it's the best possible weight you can hold.

Speaker 1 and you're like this is I'm carrying it's part of me yeah and then that you hear it's you it's closed or that wrap and it's like someone takes the weight from you and puts it down yeah

Speaker 1 it was like putting a piece of myself down for a bit and it was so quiet that last shot because we'd finished shooting Defying Gravity and they had like just one little incidental to shoot left.

Speaker 1 And it was just like me lifting flowers in a hall or something.

Speaker 86 And I just was like, it was so quiet.

Speaker 9 And it felt right for it to be quiet.

Speaker 42 Yeah.

Speaker 30 Do you think in those moments, because it's alphabet and because it's silly, the reason why it means so much is because you're genuinely saying goodbye to that character?

Speaker 30 I would imagine that silly is not something you'll revisit.

Speaker 125 No. Yeah.

Speaker 91 And literally, not like

Speaker 90 probably not alphabet unless it's for like a Universal Studios ride.

Speaker 125 Yeah.

Speaker 93 Not to bring that up, but it's like

Speaker 1 saying bye to really close friends.

Speaker 33 Yeah.

Speaker 30 So I would imagine like these things that they have impact, but really it's like, because it's personal, that's what it is.

Speaker 151 It's like, it's great.

Speaker 1 Taking care of a person for a really long time.

Speaker 33 It was like,

Speaker 93 yeah, yeah, it's great.

Speaker 1 I cried for like hours after that. I couldn't like get rid of the feeling.
And the day after was so weird, I just didn't even know what to do with myself.

Speaker 3 Yeah. How could you not?

Speaker 30 And it has probably nothing to do with, oh, oh, this moment, maybe I could have done this, that it's genuinely a, it's like a human relationship.

Speaker 151 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Like taking the green off for the first time was

Speaker 151 the last time.

Speaker 48 Wow. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Like, oh, it's not, I'm not doing this again.

Speaker 132 Yeah.

Speaker 30 And you probably get used to that in some regard with theater, you know, because you, that's the thing about being in this business that I think is one of the things that takes at least me by surprise.

Speaker 112 And I would imagine everyone is, oh, I come in here and I make really great relationships and then they do

Speaker 109 and you know you you maintain those people in your life like you'll always be friends with so-and-so and you'll always have that memory but you don't go to work again like everyone else does no no no and so it's not It's not just those people, it's that person you play when you put so much into it.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I guess for Alphaba, particularly, because she's such a transformation, because I do spend like three hours getting her together in the morning.
Right.

Speaker 1 You know, she doesn't just like you have to care to put her together. Yes.
And then she appears.

Speaker 48 Yeah.

Speaker 1 You know, it really was like, oh, I'm letting someone go. Like, I'm never going to see this person again.
It's not like, you know, Celie's wonderful, but she had my face.

Speaker 1 You know, I don't have to really put her on. You put her on, but it's like a wig and an outfit.
Alphabet was a complete transformation.

Speaker 1 I disappeared when Alphaba came into the room.

Speaker 159 It was a beautiful construction. Yeah.

Speaker 105 Like a crafts, like a work of crafts person.

Speaker 1 Everyone, the amount of work that went to putting her together, the people that, you know, the relationships you make with those people who are with you for two and a half hours before anyone else sees you in the morning at the crack of dawn.

Speaker 108 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And then at the end of the night, they helped sweetly take her off again and you put to bed. But this last time, that was the last time.

Speaker 132 Yeah.

Speaker 97 Because she existed for a while.

Speaker 113 Yes.

Speaker 91 and now she does exist but like in that way but yeah i i understand what you're saying fascinating yeah we have to um ask you the central question of our podcast yeah so do you want to pose the question yes cynthia riva what is the culture that made you say culturist for me the formative kind of cultural thing that made you who you are the cultural thing who make that made me who i am i guess music uh-huh the culture of music yes because there is a culture of it i think that's the thing that i actually think it's the first language I learned.

Speaker 1 I think it's the first thing I understood. My mum says that I was singing when I was two.

Speaker 48 Wow.

Speaker 1 And I was putting words together, but like you're still figuring out sentence structure when you're two. But I knew

Speaker 48 communicating and music made more sense on the music.

Speaker 87 You need to tune.

Speaker 125 Oh.

Speaker 33 Interesting. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Wow. That's, I think, made me very much who I am.

Speaker 91 And then, would you say there was like a moment of understanding on a technique or a technical level what it was.

Speaker 1 I think when I was about 11, I really understood it. I knew I could make the sound when I was about five.

Speaker 1 And between five and the age of like 10, I was sort of playing around with singing a little bit, singing with friends. But when I was 11, I realized, oh,

Speaker 1 there's something I can do with this.

Speaker 1 There's a way I can use my voice and change the way things sound and mess around with things. Like that's when I started to have a real technical understanding of what it was.
Yes.

Speaker 30 So I think that's something that becomes really obvious, like as you get older as an artist, is that there's singing and there's performance and then there's being a recording artist.

Speaker 30 And those two things are so different.

Speaker 75 Right.

Speaker 30 But what you just said about like creating sound and using your voice in different ways is something that there is so much opportunity in with recorded music.

Speaker 30 So I know that you are working on a new project

Speaker 30 and that you worked with Ariana to do that.

Speaker 130 Yeah.

Speaker 1 So what basically what happened was I've recorded an album before and the experience was

Speaker 1 not necessarily the experience that I wanted for myself

Speaker 1 and it just was checkered with a whole bunch of stuff that wasn't right for me and she and I had like a really sweet heart-to-heart I sat down I talked to her about my experiences and what was going on she was like well it's because I had really interesting relationships with with managers that just didn't really understand and it got a little toxic from time to time.

Speaker 1 And she was like, well, that's because you don't need a manager, Cynthia. It's because you already know what you want.

Speaker 1 What you need is a good label. What you need is a good team.

Speaker 93 Producer, engineer, people in the room.

Speaker 1 You need people who understand your idea and who can help you execute the idea. And so we started talking and it just so happens that we're under the same label, but it's a different conglomerate.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. Different imprint.
So she introduced me to her imprint and I started having conversations and now I'm under a joint venture.

Speaker 1 So it meant that I had the care. from the people that I wanted the care from before and then new care from a team that was ready and raring to go and that really understood the story I wanted to tell.

Speaker 108 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And so I've been, I've finished writing now. Yeah.
The songs are written.

Speaker 106 They're like

Speaker 1 five seconds away from being fully ready. And whilst I was writing, I was sending it to her and having her listen to it, sending it back and forth, getting her opinion on it.

Speaker 1 She's heard the whole thing.

Speaker 94 Incredible resource in terms of recording.

Speaker 87 It's been amazing. Yeah.

Speaker 1 It's been like to be able to get her ear on things because I trust her ear implicitly has been really, really monumental and now I'm kind of ready.

Speaker 1 So we're putting it finishing touches and getting it all done. And by hopefully next year, you'll have it.

Speaker 48 Wow.

Speaker 148 What's what is it giving?

Speaker 33 I'm trying to think of a cool way to ask that.

Speaker 1 People always ask, like, what's the genre? Yeah. I think there are several genres just because of who I am and my like upbringing in music.

Speaker 1 My inspirations can come from anywhere from Enya to Aretha Franklin. So there's a lot of different mixes in between.

Speaker 1 So there's things that ended up being country, but I didn't mean them to sound like country. And there are pieces that are very RB because that's what I'm raised on.

Speaker 1 And there are pieces that feel sort of like a little left field. It's a very eclectic album, but the through line is vocal padding.
So I've used

Speaker 1 my voice as an instrument. So you'll hear each song has its own vocal pattern, vocal rhythm, very specific to the song.
But that's just what happened.

Speaker 1 And so each song starts with the voice first, and then we had instruments afterwards. A lot of what we composed and what we made started with the voice.
Wow.

Speaker 1 And it's because my AR, who's now the president of Republic, Wendy, who is amazing,

Speaker 108 she said, Do you know about Enya?

Speaker 1 And I knew exactly what she meant immediately.

Speaker 1 And there is a song on Enya's album that is the basis for Ready or Not, Fuji's Ready or Not.

Speaker 33 Yes, yes.

Speaker 129 And the moment she that, exactly, and I was like, oh,

Speaker 33 yeah,

Speaker 132 I understand. Wow.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 That the idea that you can put two different things together, make them collide, and they make this one special thing.

Speaker 1 I just loved that idea because both those pieces, both the Enya piece and the Fuji's piece, are vocal forward.

Speaker 93 Yes. Yes.

Speaker 1 So I was like, unforgettable. That I can do.
Yeah.

Speaker 87 That I understand.

Speaker 1 She's like, your voice is an instrument. So just use it that way.

Speaker 156 Because

Speaker 91 if you don't mind me saying, like, you can do like the Enya padding on, let's say, Ready or Not, and then also give the Lauren Hill.

Speaker 33 Exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 30 That's really exciting for you to find that. Yeah.

Speaker 136 It's also really interesting because Ariana has her thing with Image and Heat.

Speaker 86 Right.

Speaker 97 And so that's like almost like

Speaker 108 another way that you guys can speak to each other.

Speaker 33 Yeah.

Speaker 87 Wow. Yeah.

Speaker 9 I love the Vanity Fair piece that Chris Murphy, our friend, wrote.

Speaker 87 Yes, he's the best, right?

Speaker 33 The best.

Speaker 1 The best. Sweetheart.
Wonderful.

Speaker 129 And I loved how he wrote that.

Speaker 1 It was just, it was, I was so touched and moved that that's what he, he really got us.

Speaker 98 yeah he got you guys i read i just felt you guys through yeah the piece and i mean it ends on you in this really beautiful way and um it just made me texted you right after i was like this is so i'm crying this is so perfect i love it oh very proud of that so the album will be next album's next yeah yeah and then is there it's crazy to even think like after you do something like alpha but obviously there's going to be years and decades more but what do you want to do next like what's the next what are you running

Speaker 1 what I want to do next. But I don't know if I can say it because I don't want to like jinx myself and get myself into trouble.

Speaker 33 You can tell us after.

Speaker 126 I'll tell you after.

Speaker 1 But I know what I want to do next. But on top of which, my production company is working on a series right now, and that seems to be going quite well.

Speaker 1 It looks like it might be Greenlit very soon. We're like in the final processes of doing that.
So that would be, it would be my project and that. might come to TV soon.

Speaker 1 But I want to just, I want to, I loved how big and explorative this particular piece was I want to do that more I want to just be adventurous with it. Yeah, and there's a play called Prima Fasci

Speaker 1 that happened and we're turning it into a movie and you're doing the film.

Speaker 116 Oh, I saw it with Jodi I managed and

Speaker 1 it's just it's it's a great piece of work and we've been we've been through the mill with it because we're supposed to have it we're supposed to have shot it last year and with

Speaker 1 the strike and then we lost some of the funding but I think we're okay. I think we're coming back together.
I think we're getting our funding now.

Speaker 9 It's in preproduction. Oh, no, no, the funding's still coming up.

Speaker 1 The funding's still coming up, but I think we've found it now. So, I think that is still preproduction.

Speaker 21 That is a tour divorce.

Speaker 94 That is a tall order. That is you running to

Speaker 33 it again.

Speaker 126 Running into the fire again.

Speaker 1 But I think the more these characters turn up that desire something, that need their voices to be heard, that like feel powerful, and not in the stereotypical sense of the world, but like have a power in them

Speaker 18 i i'm there that's what i want to do yeah wow yeah one final thing yes i was reading middle march on set oh yeah and i remember you got a copy i do have a copy i haven't read it yet i haven't i haven't finished it either i was gonna ask you if you finished it

Speaker 1 i haven't read it yet it's a big one yeah george elliott huge book but it's supposed to be amazing okay well i'm going into it i'm gonna get into it yeah i might well actually what i want to do is take like a couple series on tour with me yeah we can like move through so middle march I might take with me as well.

Speaker 1 Could be good. I still have to finish A Little Life.

Speaker 33 I have to. Oh, that's.

Speaker 48 Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 I know it's hard. I know it's hard.
And I have put it off for a really long time, but I know it's going to be good. And I have to just suck it up

Speaker 1 and pick it up and just read.

Speaker 48 I have to just

Speaker 95 be in the right environment.

Speaker 30 Remember, I tried to read it on a plane and I started to have an anxiety attack.

Speaker 87 I was like, this is a job.

Speaker 84 This is it.

Speaker 87 I can't do this on a plane.

Speaker 95 No, no.

Speaker 97 It was, because it's kind of rough and tumble from the jump.

Speaker 126 Oh.

Speaker 122 Like, and then it gets way worse.

Speaker 109 But like, yeah, Hanya, she doesn't mess around.

Speaker 1 No, she, no, she doesn't. No.
No.

Speaker 153 No way.

Speaker 153 No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 48 No, no, no.

Speaker 150 Are you ready for the tour?

Speaker 140 Yes. Go.

Speaker 1 Excited. I think it's going to be absolutely manic and crazy and wild, but I'm okay with that.

Speaker 108 But so fun.

Speaker 9 Yeah.

Speaker 97 Are the looks picked out?

Speaker 75 The looks are picked out.

Speaker 125 Oh, okay.

Speaker 87 That must be such a fun.

Speaker 1 At least the carpets for the premieres are definitely picked out. And we're like.

Speaker 1 Fine-tuning things. Yeah.
But we're picking all the like the things in between. We're trying to make sure that we're considered for everything, sure, yeah.

Speaker 30 And so, like, the green of it all, yes, did you have a good relationship with that color before this?

Speaker 1 That's actually my favorite color, perfect, which is the strangest, craziest thing. That is my favorite color, no problem.
And now, people think I'm just wearing it for this, and I'm not.

Speaker 1 I have a lot of green in my closet already, yes, yes, yes. This is just an opportunity to get more.

Speaker 113 Thank you for quote-unquote using this on us.

Speaker 24 This is this is a beautiful.

Speaker 1 I'm really proud of this. I found this in a Paris uh vintage shop, and it is an original generation.

Speaker 86 Johnny Versace, yeah, that is just

Speaker 1 hard to find.

Speaker 129 Yeah.

Speaker 33 Really special.

Speaker 21 Yeah.

Speaker 111 Last night at CFDA, you did black, though, right?

Speaker 33 That was the hood.

Speaker 88 Yeah.

Speaker 112 It was beautiful. You were giving everything.

Speaker 88 It wasn't kind of nice to like step out of it for a second and just have your isolated CFDA fashion market. It was nice.

Speaker 84 Yes.

Speaker 33 Yes, yes, yes. It was.

Speaker 1 I had my little touch of green on my neck, and that was no, just the touch.

Speaker 87 Just a touch. Yeah.

Speaker 125 Just a touch.

Speaker 87 I love that dress.

Speaker 1 I loved it. It made me feel so

Speaker 1 Zach Pose and well, it's like that's by Zach Pose and he'll say Gap Studios.

Speaker 87 Yeah, sure, sure, sure.

Speaker 1 But he has now, he is an Atelier with Gap now.

Speaker 111 That's what he did.

Speaker 30 You have a great relationship with Zach Posen, right?

Speaker 113 I do.

Speaker 1 When I came to New York, I like nobody knew who I was. And I have a stylist, but this thing, color purple, was really taking off.
And

Speaker 1 I was like, well, I have all these events to go to, and I have nothing with me. I have my clothes, but it's not right for these very special events.

Speaker 1 So I went to his studio and he, I fit for like a dress, but he sent me away with like nine, yeah, and separates and things that I could throw on if I needed.

Speaker 1 He just really took care of me and has done ever since. Yeah, he's just a sweetheart.

Speaker 30 It's an incredibly fun part of it for an artist, too, like that, because it's more storytelling, which I don't think people realize on the outside.

Speaker 111 It's like, this is another opportunity.

Speaker 33 Yeah.

Speaker 9 Well, I'm just saying, like, you and Ari are such perfect people for the scale of this kind of thing because to me, it kind of all began with the Met Gal or with the Oscars and then the Met Gal.

Speaker 101 But just like all the footage out of the Met Gala, even though it's like, you're not really supposed to film any of this, like

Speaker 71 all of it that came out, I was just like, holy shit,

Speaker 125 this is going to be major. It works.

Speaker 140 It works. Yeah.

Speaker 66 We work together.

Speaker 129 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 But you're both such good fashion muses.

Speaker 1 Yeah, we love, I mean, it's terrible. The two of us are like, so did you see this? I'll send her some, I saw this.
What do you think of that?

Speaker 126 For her. Yeah, yeah.
And she'll send me something.

Speaker 1 Hey, I saw this. And I think it's very you, Cynthia.

Speaker 33 Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 1 We're the worst influences for each other because we sort of like get what we need and what we want. And she'll send it to me and she knows I'm going to be like, goodbye.

Speaker 126 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 33 It's fun to indulge.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's lovely. It's lovely that someone gets you that way.

Speaker 33 It's nice to share in that way.

Speaker 1 Yeah. It's another way we can share creatively.

Speaker 95 Of course. You like working with my bestie?

Speaker 84 I do.

Speaker 1 I have to say this, and I say it, I never say it when you're there because

Speaker 126 I'm like always talking and passing.

Speaker 1 But Bowen has to be one of the most astute and intelligent performers I've ever had the privilege of being on a set with. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I mean it.
No, I mean it.

Speaker 1 And I, you know, you have to understand, I'm a Capricorn. I don't like anybody.

Speaker 1 I don't say anything to anyone unless I mean it.

Speaker 130 And I really do.

Speaker 1 Like your ability to pick up on the surroundings and riff on what you see is second to none. It's so fucking fast.
It's amazing. Oh my God.
It is amazing to watch you work that way.

Speaker 1 Just like picking on the surroundings, on a detail on someone's clothing, on just like it just

Speaker 1 some of my favorite moments in the film are things you just say off the cup.

Speaker 96 Oh my god, Cynthia.

Speaker 93 I don't see color.

Speaker 126 Cynthia, I think

Speaker 162 enroll here often might be enrolled here often.

Speaker 33 Enroll here often.

Speaker 126 Anything, anything, anything.

Speaker 96 I mean, Cynthia, thank you so much.

Speaker 1 I just, the details, it's the details.

Speaker 1 She needs a pastry.

Speaker 92 Can I just tell you, like, I was, because John, God bless him, like, gave me a lot of latitude, let's say.

Speaker 71 And I was gladly going to do it.

Speaker 4 But then at the back of my mind, I was always like, this is a bajillion dollar two movies.

Speaker 5 And he's going to let me ad lib and like step on Winnie Holtzman's perfect words. I was like, no way is this going to make it into the movie.

Speaker 9 This isn't going to work. And then I will say, and I, I'm so quick to judge myself and be like, oh, no, that, that.

Speaker 93 Didn't work on a comedy level, whatever.

Speaker 92 I'm like, John M.

Speaker 8 Chu, the director you are, like, it all kind of fits.

Speaker 144 It fit.

Speaker 92 It truly.

Speaker 96 somehow he made my nonsense like work in the, in the world of because it wasn't nonsense.

Speaker 1 Because it was observation that is the difference. Cynthia, you know what I'm saying? Like really detailed observations.

Speaker 1 Every time something comes out of your mouth, it is an observation, which I love.

Speaker 131 It's perfect.

Speaker 1 Like, yes, she needs a pastry. It's funny on the house, but you're like, in the situation, it's like, please.
When she needs a pastry.

Speaker 1 She's, you know, it's so brilliant. You're just spectacular.

Speaker 129 I had the best time.

Speaker 1 And you're so kind as well. So, like, thank you.

Speaker 108 Makes me so happy.

Speaker 163 Well, obviously, you were listening to us. Smart use of your time.

Speaker 74 True.

Speaker 100 Second question.

Speaker 169 Would you rather have an overstuffed itinerary or the freedom to explore stunning?

Speaker 170 Oh, I want the freedom to explore stunning Caribbean destinations.

Speaker 10 Again, I think I see where this quiz is going.

Speaker 171 Virgin Voyages is amazing.

Speaker 172 Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 139 The cruises are kid-free.

Speaker 173 From sunrise yoga to late-night cocktails, every moment is made for grown-up fun.

Speaker 41 Nothing against kids.

Speaker 108 Kids are awesome, but sometimes it's nice to be kid-free.

Speaker 100 And there's so much included value, over $1,000.

Speaker 175 Right, over $1,000 of awesomeness all included.

Speaker 136 Wi-Fi, soda, top-tier entertainment, over 20 restaurants, and even group fitness classes.

Speaker 61 No hidden fees, no surprise charges.

Speaker 68 Virgin Voyages gives you the kind of luxury you actually deserve.

Speaker 177 From wellness-focused sailings to epic holiday voyages, live music, DJs, themed parties, and more, boredom doesn't board the ship.

Speaker 57 Virgin even has their own private beach club in Biveny.

Speaker 6 Yeah, like Aruba, St. Lucia, and Curaçao.

Speaker 145 But it's not all go, go, go.

Speaker 8 Book now at virginvoyages.com or contact your travel advisor.

Speaker 175 Kardashian plays Allura Allura Grant, the most in-demand divorce attorney in Los Angeles.

Speaker 182 Get it?

Speaker 63 It's All's Fair as in All's Fair in Love and War and she's a divorce attorney.

Speaker 27 Love it.

Speaker 54 Naomi Watts, Nisi Nash Betts, Tiana Taylor, and Glenn Close.

Speaker 16 And of course you need a villain, so say hello to Sarah Paulson as the nemesis.

Speaker 19 Her professional life crashes into her personal one, and uh-oh.

Speaker 51 So how does this super lawyer fix her own mess?

Speaker 191 So this series has it all.

Speaker 123 Well, stop.

Speaker 187 Just stop.

Speaker 95 All's fair, now streaming on Hulu, and on Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers.

Speaker 80 The cuffing season storm is rolling in with potential heavy clouds of nostalgia for your ex, windstorms from a current situation ship, and some light drivels of you up text.

Speaker 57 You know them, you love them.

Speaker 16 But amidst this emotional weather, there's one place with a refreshing microclimate of clear communication, radical honesty, and open-mindedness, and that's Field.

Speaker 195 Field is a connections app that asks you to show up and articulate your desires as you understand them.

Speaker 195 The Field community is made up of so many different kinds of people ranging in experience, interests, and desires.

Speaker 197 With Field, you have the space to change, to be honest, and to always be curious.

Speaker 192 So expand your curiosity.

Speaker 26 And you can change. On Field, who you were yesterday may not be who you are today.

Speaker 196 62% of Field members evolve their sexuality, interests, and desires within the first year on the app.

Speaker 200 See what you have in common with everybody else on Field.

Speaker 64 Know what you're looking for?

Speaker 58 Field just rolled out their shared desires feature that immediately shows you what you have in common with someone else.

Speaker 69 That's why Delta Sky Miles lets you do it your way.

Speaker 43 From earning miles on reloads for coffee runs, shopping, and things you do every day to connecting you to new places and experiences.

Speaker 123 If your bathroom routine needs a glow up, Good Wipes will deliver.

Speaker 178 Plus, they're free from chemicals, parabens, and dyes and are totally safe for sensitive skin.

Speaker 198 You can grab good wipes at Target, Walmart, Kroger, and most local grocery stores.

Speaker 208 As a special offer for Lost Colteristas listeners, Good Wipes is giving you your first pack free.

Speaker 209 For more details, head to goodwipes.com/slash Colteristas. Again, that's goodwipes.com/slash Colteristas.

Speaker 205 Snag a free pack of good wipes. Good wipes, because butts deserve better.

Speaker 125 I don't think so, honey.

Speaker 119 Okay, so this is our 60-second segment where we rant and rail against something in culture that's just bothering us.

Speaker 112 And we're going to do it, and I understand they're pointing, but this is happening.

Speaker 33 We have to do it.

Speaker 126 We have to do it. Okay.
We're doing it.

Speaker 98 So, I have something, and it's a musical observation I'm making about the people.

Speaker 88 Okay, great.

Speaker 74 Okay. This is Matt Rogers.
I don't think so anytime stretched now.

Speaker 97 I don't think so, honey, people who don't listen to lyrics and music.

Speaker 111 A dear friend of ours just said, Huh, what's this song about about Sabrina Carpenter's Juno?

Speaker 88 So here's what Sabrina Carpenter's Juno is about.

Speaker 122 It's about being so into someone that you would like them to make you Juno.

Speaker 157 This is referencing the Elliott Page, Diablo Cody team-up Juno.

Speaker 34 Yes.

Speaker 170 This is about being so sexually interested in someone you wouldn't mind if you got pregnant.

Speaker 34 Right.

Speaker 176 I'm going to let you make me Juno.

Speaker 95 You know I just.

Speaker 157 I was like, she's even being tongue-in-cheek after.

Speaker 34 Listen to words.

Speaker 157 If you want to listen to beautiful orchestrations, I think so, honey.

Speaker 124 But the words, it all comes together.

Speaker 84 You're going to just listen to the tunes of when Cynthia sings Alfie.

Speaker 121 Listen to the words. No, the story.

Speaker 157 Especially during the conference of Juno. I'm like, this is a lyric masterpiece.

Speaker 124 I was like, let's give it its due.

Speaker 8 Five seconds.

Speaker 157 You can't just listen to music.

Speaker 70 Listen to words, understand,

Speaker 110 feel,

Speaker 110 then emote. You can too.

Speaker 88 Listen to words, write words, explore words, be words.

Speaker 96 And that's one minute.

Speaker 28 Fantastic.

Speaker 84 Yes, perfect.

Speaker 97 Well, I could never say who, but a friend of ours was like, what is this song about?

Speaker 1 I was like, if you just want to listen.

Speaker 74 Listen.

Speaker 74 Just listen.

Speaker 1 But it's also maybe like a thing about not knowing references.

Speaker 118 Like, not maybe it was that.

Speaker 86 But I was like, this movie was famous.

Speaker 56 It was.

Speaker 135 It was. It was.

Speaker 128 Listen.

Speaker 128 It is.

Speaker 126 Okay.

Speaker 116 So this is Bowen Yang's, I don't think so, honey.

Speaker 111 His time starts now.

Speaker 96 Walker's chips not being available in the United States.

Speaker 101 Oh, it is a British staple.

Speaker 27 Walkers are not lays. It's not the same.

Speaker 33 They have the same logos, but it's

Speaker 170 not different textures, different thicknesses, different flavors.

Speaker 91 I need more British.

Speaker 100 Why is there such a weird barrier between British snacks and American snacks?

Speaker 74 That's true.

Speaker 122 They need to come together.

Speaker 67 We basically have the same palates and the same tastes.

Speaker 122 I think we would appreciate more of a crossover.

Speaker 100 I'm not saying like one should replace the other.

Speaker 150 I'm saying they can coexist in the same market, which is the American market, which, you know, I am biased towards because I happen to live here.

Speaker 106 So I just think Walkers, you can find them in your specialty shops, but I think we need more access to just the wider gamut of Walker's chips.

Speaker 139 Any favorite flavors?

Speaker 1 I love a straight up ready salted.

Speaker 138 Yes, salted Walker's.

Speaker 106 It's simple, but it's good.

Speaker 1 And the salt and vinegar is not the same as the salt and vinegar here.

Speaker 126 It's just not.

Speaker 74 It's just not.

Speaker 99 And we need, we just need five seconds.

Speaker 101 There is, I've rented up Percy Pigs.

Speaker 8 They need to be more widely available as well. And Walker's chips is included.

Speaker 30 And that's one minute. One of the joys of my life was coming back from London, and I was able to gift Bowen his Percy pigs because it's his great distress.

Speaker 113 My sister got

Speaker 105 it from me recently.

Speaker 1 Well, now I know whenever I go, I'll pick you up.

Speaker 156 Thank you. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 89 That's easy. All right, we gotta get Cynthia out of here.

Speaker 74 Cynthia revises, I don't think so anytime starts now.

Speaker 1 My, I don't think so, honey, is onion and garlic in everything.

Speaker 87 I can't take it. I fucking hate it.

Speaker 1 I can't steal with the idea that the way you cook is only with onion and garlic.

Speaker 1 Every time I see someone do a cooking thing, they cut up onions and garlic so much and neglect to use any other flavoring in food.

Speaker 1 As a person who's actually allergic to garlic and my body just does not process it at all, I have had to find out ways to cook food using other herbs and spices and it works.

Speaker 1 You can get just as much taste out of an old bay and a bay leaf and an asafatida, which is actually tastes a little bit like garlic, but doesn't give you the same horrible feeling that garlic does.

Speaker 1 I've never heard of it.

Speaker 1 If you just use your imagination and cook, I think people have stopped using their imagination about how they cook and they use the basic, basic herbs and they always go for onion and garlic.

Speaker 1 And I cannot take it because the worst thing is when someone comes in and they're just reeking of garlic and you can avoid that and still have flavorful food if you decide to use your imagination and that is my minute oh

Speaker 21 also like thank god you're allergic to something that sucks

Speaker 33 like it sucks garlic sucks oh my god you smell awful you feel awful

Speaker 26 different aromatics different flavor bases

Speaker 1 yeah we need i don't understand and everyone's like the amount of people who are like well how do you eat what do you mean what do you mean lots of wise I eat just fine.

Speaker 119 Stunningly talented.

Speaker 1 And you know what? When I walk into a room, you can't smell me first.

Speaker 9 You can't clock me. You can't clock my scents.

Speaker 36 What do you think of ginger?

Speaker 147 He loved ginger.

Speaker 36 He did it on Thinks Tony on ginger.

Speaker 108 Pickled ginger is better.

Speaker 1 Try pickled ginger. It's a different flavor, but it

Speaker 1 becomes sweeter.

Speaker 3 Becomes sweeter.

Speaker 9 And it's just a nice little bit of acidity.

Speaker 88 This has been so, it's so amazing to get to know you and to have you here.

Speaker 120 And you are Alphaba.

Speaker 135 And thank God that you are.

Speaker 105 Thank you, So brilliant.

Speaker 62 We usually end every episode with a song, but I just want to.

Speaker 95 If you have two lines of anything on your spirit right now that you could sing,

Speaker 30 what is it to end this episode?

Speaker 75 Or it could be one.

Speaker 1 This is not to do with anything, but I've been listening to this lately, and it's one of my favorite songs. Why by Annie Lennox?

Speaker 87 Oh.

Speaker 212 I may be mad, I may be blind, I may be viciously unkind, but I can still read what you're thinking.

Speaker 212 I've heard it said too many times. You'd be better off besides.
Why can't you see that this boat is sinking? This boat is sinking. This boat is sinking.

Speaker 87 Oh my god, it is the most beautiful song.

Speaker 84 You're brilliant.

Speaker 113 Thank you, Josh.

Speaker 87 Thank you for indulging that.

Speaker 213 Lost Culture Age is the production by Will Farrell's Big Money Players and Night Heart Radio podcast.

Speaker 148 Created and hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

Speaker 57 Executive produced by Anna Hosnier and Hans Sani.

Speaker 213 Produced by Becca Ramos.

Speaker 7 Edited and mixed by Doug Babe and Monique Laborde.

Speaker 48 And our music is by Henry Komersky.

Speaker 76 Hey, everybody, it's me, Matt Rogers, letting you know tickets are on sale now to see me on tour.

Speaker 77 The Prince of Christmas tour, that is.

Speaker 79 I'm doing my whole album, Have You Heard of Christmas, plus a lot more with the whole band all throughout December.

Speaker 15 Go to www.mattroogersofficial.com, see me in a city near you.

Speaker 21 Want to tackle one of America's most epic off-road adventures?

Speaker 23 Well, Ford and Google Maps just trekked over 5,900 miles to put the Trans-America Trail on Street View so every adventurer can explore the trail.

Speaker 25 How'd they do it?

Speaker 26 By equipping the 2025 Ford Bronco Badlands with Google's new Street View camera, while the Expedition Tremor and Ranger Lariat carried the team and tools that made it all possible.

Speaker 27 So challenge yourself.

Speaker 24 See what you're capable of. Let your Ford handle the rest.

Speaker 28 Find the Trans-America Trail on Google Maps and hit the off-road.

Speaker 29 Ready? Set Ford.

Speaker 80 The cuffing season storm is rolling in with potential heavy clouds of nostalgia for your ex, windstorms from a current situation ship, and some light drivels of you up techs.

Speaker 57 You know them, you love them.

Speaker 16 But amidst this emotional weather, there's one place with a refreshing microclimate of clear communication, radical honesty, and open-mindedness, and that's Field.

Speaker 195 Field is a connections app that asks you to show up and articulate your desires as you understand them.

Speaker 195 The Field community is made up of so many different kinds of people ranging in experience, interests, and desires.

Speaker 197 With Field, you have the space to change, to be honest, and to always be curious.

Speaker 192 So expand your curiosity.

Speaker 26 And you can change. On Field, who you were yesterday may not be who you are today.

Speaker 196 62% of Field members evolve their sexuality, interests, and desires within the first year on the app.

Speaker 200 See what you have in common with everybody else on Field.

Speaker 46 Know what you're looking for?

Speaker 58 Field just rolled out their shared desires feature that immediately shows you what you have in common with someone else.

Speaker 17 Sounds dramatic, but once you try good wipes, there's no going back to regular toilet paper.

Speaker 203 Good wipes clean better and leave you feeling soothed and refreshed, and they're flushable.

Speaker 209 They smell heavenly and come in amazing scents like rose water, Shea Cocoa, and botanical bliss. They're also 40% bigger and stronger than average wipes.

Speaker 206 No tearing, no falling apart.

Speaker 50 Super soft, like a cloud for your behind.

Speaker 160 Plus, good wipes are free from chemicals, parabens, and dyes.

Speaker 61 Totally safe and gentle for sensitive skin and flushable. So, let's bring some beauty to your booty, shall we?

Speaker 158 If you want to upgrade your restroom routine, you can grab good wipes at Target, Walmart, Kroger, and most local grocery stores.

Speaker 209 As a special offer for Lost Culture listeners, Goodwipes is giving you your first pack free.

Speaker 206 Buy any package, text them your receipt, and get reimbursed almost immediately.

Speaker 209 For more details, head to goodwipes.com/slash culturistas.

Speaker 210 Again, that's goodwipes.com/slash culturistas to snag a free pack of good wipes.

Speaker 205 Good wipes, because butts deserve better.

Speaker 149 You can't spell culturistas without R-I.

Speaker 29 That's right. Rhode Island is the perfect place, not just for the culturistas of the world, but all the other Easters too.

Speaker 38 We're talking about the foodists, the theateristas, the natureistas, the luxuristas, whatever you're an Easter for, you'll find it in the ocean state.

Speaker 29 So start packing those bags and be the best Easta you can be.

Speaker 123 Rhode Island.

Speaker 42 All that.

Speaker 8 Plan your trip at visitroadisland.com.

Speaker 25 That's That's visitroadisland.com. Big news: Aldi is now on Uber Eats, and you get 40% off your first order with code NewAldi25.

Speaker 133 So, whether your fridge is empty and you're too tired to shop, or you just ran out of essential ingredients in the middle of meal prep, don't worry.

Speaker 25 Fill your fridge in just a few taps and get 40% off your first Aldi order on Uber Eats.

Speaker 147 For orders $30 or over, you can save up to $25.

Speaker 24 Ends December 31st. See App for details.

Speaker 1 This is an iHeart podcast.

"The Universe Needs To Relax" (w/ Cynthia Erivo)

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Transcript

More episodes from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Introducing: CrimeLess

"Elevated Messy" (w/ Rachel Sennott)

"The Protagonist" (w/ Heather Gay)

“Drinkin' The Soda” (w/ Brittany Snow)

"All Up In The Macabre" (w/ Sarah Paulson)