Milton interviews student J.P. McCloskey about his off-Broadway experience in the Stephen Metcalfe play Strange Snow. J.P. identifies a major challenge: after months of rehearsals without set or props, he felt lost during tech rehearsal. The solution involves building specific relationships to the physical environment through "talking out" what you see and feel about the space.

J.P. shares his character breakthrough: moving from himself to the character by giving the character activities outside the play - imagining him at a donut shop, playground, or going through morning routines. This progression from "seeing him in the world" to "thinking like him" to "being him" solved the common problem of character separation.

The discussion covers building traumatic backstory by approaching it both from the character's present perspective and experiencing it as it happened, emphasizing the importance of knowing which elements require deeper investment.