Dan is joined by actor, Matt Passmore who as appeared in multiple film and television shows over the years including The Glades, Playschool, McLeod's Daughters, Underbelly, Satisfaction, 13 Reasons Why, and Jigsaw to name a few.

Matt is a lot of fun so strap in!

We chat about living and working in America, coming from working class routes, acting 'as if', having a great gift of naivety, getting an education in how American television operates, how to make the story better, knowing the landscape of what you're dealing with, respecting and understanding everybody's role, becoming the leader of a TV set, dealing with the end of The Glades, learning from falling flat on your face, always being attracted to an ensemble, working with Tobin Bell on Jigsaw, being a firefighter, thriving on uncertainty, thinking that you're possibly mundane, finding freedom from self, quitting drinking, doing a game show, expecting the worst, finding additional purpose, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan is joined by actor, Derek Wilson who has appeared in multiple television series including Future Man, The Boys, Gen V, and Preacher.

We chat about working on Future Man, ending the show, being an anxious person, getting reassurance you're on the right path, making a big swing & bold choices in performances, feeling the pressure as a guest star, working crazy hours, starting out as a series regular, the quick turnaround time from finishing with Preacher to commencing work on Future Man, the freedom of creating the character of Wolf, wanting to be an optometrist, being cast as a dog, facing the fight or flight moment before performing, the thought of doing stand up comedy, worrying about loosing the talent, needing to more active of self producing, fighting the guilt of not creating, finding balance, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan is joined by actor, Omid Abtahi who you've seen in TV shows including The Mandalorian, 24, Better Call Saul, Shameless, American Gods, Fear the Walking Dead, and The Boys to name a few.

We chat about working in genre television, conventions, working on The Mandalorian, meeting Jon Favreau, keeping secrets, the pressure of carrying an episode of The Mandalorian, having a love of soccer, finding acting therapeutic, bleak world circumstances leading for career opportunity, external validation, having a steady flow of work, finding a home as an actor, everything being temporary, having a sound foundation of doing your best work, allowing for failure, always pushing yourself, working in casting, being curious about people, appearing on 24 twice, not knowing what you want, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan is joined by writer and producer Mike Royce! I've loved Mike's writing work over the years on TV shows including Everybody Loves Raymond, Men of a Certain Age, and Enlisted, so it was an absolute thrill having him on the podcast!

We chat about creating Men of a Certain Age with Ray Romano, the devastation of the show's cancellation, casting Scott Bakula, cast chemistry, the potential movie idea falling apart, moving on from Men of a Certain Age, working as a comedian prior to branching out as a television writer, opportunities coming from being a comedian, doing warm up for Spin City, being limited by persona while performing stand up, transitioning to a writer's room, having a mediocre taping for his first episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, sitcom tapings, getting a head start with breaking stories, the gigantic episode order, not always being the guy with the answers, using nervous energy as fuel, getting creatively heartbroken, keeping irons in the fire, Norman Lear, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan is joined by two legends of the theatre world, Raphael Wong & Sally Bourne, and the third round of guests who are currently in Sister Act!

We chat about bringing Sister Act to Melbourne, the joy of the show, the fun Eddie song, the intensity of the rehearsal period, the fast turnaround of putting the show together, illness and injuries, pre-scene routines, each nun telling a different story in the show, stage door reactions, theatre etiquette, becoming accustomed to routine, social life, aspirations to work with animals, having the fallback of teaching, a brief stint at an advertising agency, standing side by side with Julie Andrews, the highs and lows, the survivor's game, one woman shows, flubbing lines, anxieties being part of the job, tech week, imposter syndrome, always thinking there's more work to do, forever restarting your career, constantly learning no matter how long you've been in the industry, working in the opera world, imparting something to the next generation of performers, last minute performances, walking the streets of Melbourne pretending to be Shane Warne's Mum, life changing roles, picking up where you left off, falling asleep on stage, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan is joined by musical theatre sensations currently in the Australian production of Sister Act, Cara Bessey & Sophie Montague, the second set of guests from Sister Act!

We chat about the moment they found out they got the job on Sister Act, the surreal experience working with legends of the theatre world, learning on the show, Monty's first performance, Cara's professional debut in Mary Poppins, settling into a show, being an onstage swing, discovering new things in the show, the importance of a supportive environment, dancing down the aisles as the nuns during the intermission, audiences filming on their phones, the technicality of working on Mary Poppins, growing up in Canberra, finding guidance from teachers, dance & movement calls, knowing your abilities, mental health being the most important thing, body diversity, emotionally touching reactions from audiences, not dwelling on auditions, stage fright, the eight show week, finding what makes you happy, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan is joined by Opera Australia conductor, Brian Castles-Onion, and the first conductor on the podcast, finally!

Opera fans and up and coming conductors will love this one!

We remember Brian's friend Robert Andrew Greene, and then we go and chat about putting his own spin on The Mikado overture, the emotive artform of conducting, the role of a conductor, the types of conductors, clicking his fingers at the performers, taking charge of a production, the importance of eye contact, inner workings of leading an orchestra, working on Sydney Harbour productions, building trust with performers, getting along with people, visiting Italian conductors, being told he was not good enough to be a conductor, the cut throat opera world, always having the drive, being responsible for Heather Begg getting her Damehood, writing his book, aiming for excellence, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan is joined by actor, Brian Markinson who has appeared in quite a few television shows over the years including Stargate SG1, Star Trek: Voyager, The X-Files, Supernatural, Psych, Continuum, and Fargo to name a few. Brian's words in this episode are so inspiring for a lot of up and coming artists out there!

We chat about his work on the Star Trek franchise, auditioning for Godspell, being a single threat, not having a backup, chasing balance, teaching a professional acting class, doing theatre for no money, a career being a series of forward steps, sustaining the love for what you love to do, believing we can all get there, things always getting better and better, being informed by failure, the idea of success, no impulse being wrong, the stupidity of criticism, reframing the negative story as our super power, meeting whatever comes at the door, the Stargate experience, gratitude, things not being perfect right away, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan is joined by actor, writer, filmmaker, musician, James Morrison probably best known for playing Bill Buchanan on 24!

We chat about the process of filming 24, the benefit of settling into a character for a long period of time, learning from every experience, having one acting teacher for forty years, playing a child's game as an actor, having a supportive family, driving trucks, finding focus with acting, in search of an alternate reality, piecing everything together in finding a career as an actor, getting little breaks along the way, being plagued by performance anxiety, getting reminded to have fun, the difficulty of easing into jobs, not having any control over the end product, knowing when you need to recharge, not having room for doubt, constantly being triggered as actor, creating opportunity for yourself, writing a very personal solo show about his son and making it universal, yoga, exchanging ideas being the greatest form of meditation, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan is joined by documentary filmmaker, Alexandre O. Philippe! Alexandre's work includes The People vs. George Lucas, Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist, and more recently the William Shatner documentary, "You Can Call Me Bill".

We chat Alexandre's biggest takeaway lesson about life from William Shatner, working on You Can Call Me Bill, practicing mindfulness and gratefulness, longevity, being inspired to create, getting to the true essence of someone, simplicity, accepting you'll never please everybody, nerd rage with The People vs. George Lucas, getting better with every project, perception being a funny thing, collaboration, having clarity, reviews, having no shortage of stories to tell, not waiting for the money, always finishing a film, doing a TED talk, giving yourself one opportunity per day, and a whole lot more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.