You Are Beautiful with Lawrence Zarian

LZ reunites with Chris Colfer, sharing stories about friends like Dot Marie Jones and reflecting on how his podcast began during the pandemic with first guest Jane Lynch and now closes Season 4 with Colfer. Zarian credits Glee and Colfer’s portrayal of Kurt Hummel with healing his own high school experience, while Colfer discusses difficulty accepting praise because Glee was a collective effort and because acclaim was intertwined with intense homophobia and trauma. Colfer describes realizing he was gay in high school, early inspiration from The Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins, motivation shaped by his sister’s severe special needs, and encouragement from his grandmother Fonda. 

They address losses of Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, and Colfer’s mother, grandmother, and aunt, and how grief changed his priorities. Colfer highlights his New York Times bestselling books, his film The Restoration of Grayson Manor, an upcoming adult novel, advice to guard attention and find supportive community, his long relationship with Will, and they briefly sing “Defying Gravity.”

Menu: 

• 00:00 Reunion and Dot
• 00:45 Peaches and Aging
• 02:36 Podcast Origins
• 05:25 Chris Colfer Intro
• 06:58 Glee Changed Me
• 09:20 Praise and Trauma
• 11:17 Coming Out Stories
• 13:42 Wizard Beginnings
• 16:15 Mirror Reflections
• 19:43 Grandma Fonda Boost
• 21:02 Bullying and Kurt
• 28:04 Glee Family Fame
• 31:50 Reboot and Kurt
• 35:26 Loss and Gratitude
• 39:05 Awards and Wrap
• 40:02 Best Seller Breakthrough
• 41:24 Gay Identity And Art
• 44:30 Celebrating A Writing Legacy
• 45:54 Unapologetic Confidence
• 49:34 Restoration Film Deep Dive
• 54:25 Adult Novel Tease
• 55:19 Advice Finding Your Tribe
• 59:09 Relationship Secret Sauce
• 01:00:46 Desert Island Picks
• 01:03:44 Humor And Self Acceptance
• 01:05:40 Singing Defying Gravity
• 01:11:09 Beautiful Because Closing

LZ opens an “across the pond” episode of You Are Beautiful describing crushing his finger in a car door, then interviews 9-1-1 star Oliver Stark, who is recovering from a broken ankle suffered while performing a major stunt involving catapulting over burning cars onto a fire truck; he had surgery and uses a hands-free iWalk crutch, hasn’t missed work, and discusses resilience and identity. 

Stark explains why he said yes to the podcast—greater self-comfort and valuing open dialogue—and talks about British “stiff upper lip,” his emotionally expressive father, and his relationship with his brother. He reflects on love languages (acts of service and words of affirmation), portraying Buck’s later-in-life bisexuality as one facet of the character that has helped fans and families, Buck’s growth and Season 10 fostering/parenting storyline, and how a recent low-budget indie film reignited his creative spark. 

The episode ends with Stark’s affirmation: he is beautiful because he’s still learning and growing.

• 00:00 Across the Pond Intro
• 00:26 Smashed Finger Story
• 02:52 Oliver's Ankle Accident
• 05:24 Stunt Doubles and Safety
• 06:53 Recovery Mindset and Pain
• 08:52 Crutches and Home Obstacles
• 11:47 Why This Podcast Matters
• 14:05 Saying Yes to Vulnerability
• 18:06 Family Emotions and Upbringing
• 20:19 Sibling Dynamics and Growing Up
• 23:14 Finding Common Ground
• 23:57 Needs And Gratitude
• 24:09 Parents And Identity
• 27:04 Love Languages Talk
• 30:04 Playing Bisexual Buck
• 33:33 Representation And Stereotypes
• 39:25 Buck Growth Over Years
• 41:53 Season 10 Fatherhood Arc
• 44:00 Indie Film Creative Spark
• 47:13 Career Pride And Gratitude
• 49:42 Desert Island Rapid Fire
• 51:15 Mirror Affirmation Farewell

Lawrence Zarian interviews Tatyana Ali about self-image at age 46 while working in DC during Black Maternal Health Week, emphasizing gratitude, presence, and being “enough.” Ali explains the week’s role in drawing attention to Black maternal health amid healthcare cuts, hospital closures, and “maternal care deserts,” and stresses that Black women are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth, with over 85% of deaths preventable due to systemic healthcare bias, lack of consent, and inadequate postpartum care. 

She shares her own obstetric violence experience and how respectful care with a Black midwife shaped her expectations and inspired Baby Yams blankets and quilts, which fundraise for doulas, midwives, and scholarships. Ali also reflects on child-actor life, regaining confidence after industry cruelty, memories from Fresh Prince, Broadway work in Fences, and advice to pursue art locally; she ends by saying she is beautiful because she never gives up.

Menu:

• 00:00 Twin Banter
• 01:40 Mirror Moment Enough
• 04:30 Black Maternal Health Week
• 06:00 Care Deserts And Joy
• 08:23 Why Death Rates Higher
• 10:18 We All Belong Story
• 15:05 Baby Yams Origin
• 20:12 Ashley Banks Spark
• 21:23 Finding The Cipher
• 24:44 Early Acting Beginnings
• 26:38 First Fresh Prince Day
• 28:20 Tom Jones Singalong
• 29:33 Fresh Prince Cast Texts
• 30:27 Desert Island Pick
• 31:47 Life as Raspberry
• 32:36 Broadway Fences Memories
• 35:32 Duet Dreams Rejection
• 37:12 Advice for Artists
• 41:45 Surprised by Life
• 44:17 Kindness Much Expected
• 48:55 Beautiful Because Closing

LZ interviews West End leading man Bradley Jaden, recently seen as Inspector Javert in Les Misérables: The Arena Concert at Radio City Music Hall, about the show’s renewed impact and Jaden’s approach to portraying Javert with increasing vulnerability and a visible “slow demise.” 

Jaden discusses moving to New York and feeling lonely and overwhelmed by the sudden shift in attention, navigating introversion in an extrovert-facing career, losing significant weight after being told it would help his success, and living with body dysmorphia. He shares surviving a suicide attempt and how Les Mis has been therapeutic, enabling open conversations about men’s mental health. 

They also cover his asthma as a childhood challenge that became a “superpower,” his stage name’s origin, his support network, and end with a brief lyric exchange and Jaden’s statement, “I… am beautiful because… I love deep.”

Menu:

• 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
• 01:23 Mirror Check In
• 03:44 Les Mis Resurgence
• 05:02 New York Adjustment
• 09:09 Introvert in Spotlight
• 10:16 Weight and Image Pressure
• 13:57 Stage Name Origin
• 15:09 Career Gratitude and Growth
• 18:53 Support Network and Mentors
• 24:57 Why His Javert Hits Different
• 26:58 Javert Foundations and Auditions
• 31:57 Mental Health and Method
• 41:30 Audience Connection and Purpose
• 43:30 No Singing Lessons Reveal
• 44:01 No Sheet Music Needed
• 44:51 Finding Purpose in Small Wins
• 45:24 First Auditions and Miss Saigon Break
• 47:12 Les Mis Praise and Afterglow
• 48:09 Google Rumors and Relationship Truth
• 50:17 Learning Self Love
• 50:39 Five Things I Like About Me
• 53:58 Asthma Turned Superpower
• 55:58 Rapid Fire Broadway Picks
• 59:15 Singing Challenge and Stars Tease
• 01:05:58 Heartfelt Wrap Up and Beautiful Because

LZ interviews Jennie Garth on his podcast, discussing her book “I Choose Me,” its conversational tone, and themes of embracing emotions, acknowledging automatic negative thoughts, setting boundaries, and prioritizing time after loss and grief. 

They talk about Garth’s upbringing in Illinois, her parents’ influence as educators who modeled helping others, self-reliance, and women’s empowerment, and how these lessons shaped her purpose. 

Garth shares memories of her father’s death in 2008, missing his passing by moments, and reflects on the gifts her parents gave her. She recounts being cast on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” the intensity and global fame that left her feeling she missed a decade of personal development, and her bond with Luke Perry, including what he taught her about giving people what they need. 

They touch on co-parenting and healing conversations with ex-husband Peter, QVC work, and close friendship moments, ending with Garth’s statement: “I am beautiful because I love deeply.”

Menu: 

• 00:00 Pre Show Chaos
• 01:24 Outfit Compliments
• 02:32 Book Sets The Tone
• 06:35 Be Emotionful Excerpt
• 08:39 Negative Thoughts Tools
• 10:34 Aging Time Boundaries
• 12:44 Family Roots Midwest
• 14:15 Loss And Lessons
• 17:44 Parents Gifts Values
• 21:11 One Word Seeker
• 23:27 Messy Middle Wisdom
• 26:29 Crush Confessions
• 28:30 Dance Modeling Origins
• 30:50 Headshots And Identity
• 31:58 Dad Sees the Dance
• 32:50 Finding a Future
• 33:51 Landing 90210
• 36:22 First Days on Set
• 37:44 Fame Bubble and Lost Years
• 41:42 Luke Perry True Love
• 48:59 Cast Bonds and Missing Links
• 50:40 Desert Island and Ear Sniffs
• 55:36 Kelly Meets Jennie
• 01:00:25 Divorce Healing with Peter
• 01:04:32 Hustle and Rapid Fire
• 01:06:59 Closing Beautiful Because

LZ welcomes Debra Lee to “You Are Beautiful,” sharing his recent duet with Kelly Clarkson and introducing Lee as the former BET leader behind major cultural programming. 

Lee recounts growing up amid segregation, learning to sew from her mother, and formative experiences with race, education, and ambition that led to Brown and Harvard Law, then a shift from Steptoe & Johnson to BET after meeting founder Bob Johnson. She discusses building BET’s legal department, leading the network through major growth, and the legacy of shows and events including BET Awards, BET Honors, and “The Game.” 

Lee explains launching the Debra Lee Collection of Italian-made handbags named for loved ones, including her late son Quinn, and promotes debraleecollection.com. 

She addresses divisiveness, attacks on DEI, advice on navigating abusive workplace relationships, and her memoir “I Am Debra Lee,” including her abortion decision and Me Too experience, ending with her definition of beauty as caring about people.

Menu: 

• 00:00 Late Start and Big News
• 00:16 Dream Duet With Kelly
• 01:06 Why Debra Matters Now
• 02:26 Debra Lee Collection Origins
• 04:28 Growing Up With Segregation
• 08:19 First Job and Hair Bias
• 12:31 Why Handbags and Luxury
• 15:51 Naming the Bags Family Tribute
• 19:29 Timeless Investment and Quality
• 22:20 Third Phase Reinvention
• 28:33 Navigating Hate and DEI Backlash
• 34:09 Treat Everyone With Dignity
• 36:31 Basic Human Needs
• 37:29 Why BET Changed Everything
• 39:30 Leading BET to Excellence
• 41:36 Programming Legacy Highlights
• 43:24 Leaving After 32 Years
• 44:10 Mirror Question Self Image
• 47:39 Memoir Purpose and Lessons
• 49:26 Me Too and Abuse Story
• 52:45 Advice for Getting Out
• 55:54 Fun Rapid Fire Questions
• 01:08:15 Beauty Definition Farewell

LZ opens the podcast with playful Italian banter and a warm introduction of guest Marco Calvani, praising his work as a playwright, filmmaker, actor, and director, including Netflix’s The Four Seasons (as Cloud) and his film High Tide. They recount meeting at the LA Magazine Pride event, discuss the importance of making people feel seen, and reflect on kindness, dismantling patriarchal thinking, and “surrendering to the unknown.” 

Lawrence shares his sobriety and family history, while Marco describes losing his parents young, finding guidance through theater, later uncovering anger, and forming new ways of connecting with his parents’ memory. Marco names mentor “mothers” Francesca De Sapio and V (Eve Ensler), explains meeting his husband Marco Pigossi during the pandemic, and describes discovering fear, anxiety, and self-love that fueled his writing and career shift. 

They touch on sibling dynamics, rapid-fire hypothetical questions, and close with affirmations of gratitude, plans for dinner, and a promise to collaborate creatively.

Menu:

• 00:00 Cold Open Banter
• 00:19 Italian Greetings Bit
• 01:33 Marco Calvani Intro
• 05:12 First Meeting Story
• 08:28 Finding Your Tribe
• 11:00 Being Seen and Kindness
• 13:43 Surrender to Unknown
• 15:25 Parents and Light
• 18:25 Theater as Lifeline
• 20:50 Anger and Healing
• 24:58 Chosen Family Mentors
• 29:46 Siblings and Notes
• 31:01 Twin Competition Journey
• 32:44 Brotherhood and Dating Twins
• 33:15 How Marco Met His Husband
• 35:33 Pandemic Self Discovery
• 38:12 Meditation and High Tide Breakthrough
• 39:50 Identity Trauma and Choosing Light
• 42:49 Protecting the Writer Within
• 46:31 Four Seasons Character Talk
• 48:52 Fun Hypotheticals and Dinner Guests
• 52:03 Mirror Questions and Beautiful Mantra
• 54:34 Work Together and Warm Goodbye
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LZ opens his “You Are Beautiful” podcast and interviews Tan France about what makes people feel beautiful, personal style, and self-image. Tan shares his daytime and evening go-to outfits, love of jewelry, and his husband’s style influence, then discusses coping with online criticism and the broader culture of cruelty. He reflects on looking in the mirror, gratitude for health after a recent benign scare, appreciation for his Pakistani skin after years of hating it due to racism, and his birth name pronunciation. 

Tan recounts learning to sew as a child to make clothes for his mother and sister, navigating being queer and not fully out to family, and the nuance of being a visibly gay Muslim on Western TV. They discuss Queer Eye’s impact, production time with participants, meaningful and difficult “heroes,” Tan’s struggle with aging, marriage priorities, and advice for finding style by borrowing inspiration and building your own.

Menu:

• 00:00 Welcome You Are Beautiful
• 00:53 Meet Tan France
• 01:50 Signature Style Staples
• 06:09 Handling Online Hate
• 12:23 Mirror Check Self Image
• 15:45 Learning To Love Skin
• 17:11 Real Name Roots
• 18:41 Fashion Spark Sewing
• 21:50 Queer Eye Coming Out
• 25:08 Representation And Stakes
• 27:27 Rock Bottom Realization
• 27:37 Early Attraction Awakening
• 28:00 Dad’s Store Lessons
• 29:14 Watching Queer Eye Hurt
• 30:31 Why Style Matters
• 31:08 Makeover Intimacy Method
• 32:02 Queer Eye Time Limits
• 34:07 Choosing Stores and Stylists
• 36:31 Hero Who Changed Him
• 37:58 When Heroes Resist
• 38:38 A Racist Hero Incident
• 40:53 Favorite Feel Good Episodes
• 42:01 When Self Care Slips
• 44:13 Struggling With Aging
• 46:33 Gay Men and Beauty Pressure
• 48:48 Off Camera Fab Five
• 51:15 Marriage Secret Sauce
• 52:12 Dating and LA Insecurity
• 53:39 Finding Signature Style
• 54:58 Beautiful Because Authentic

LZ introduces his podcast “You Are Beautiful,” born from pandemic isolation, weight gain, and his Achilles rupture, and welcomes Melissa Etheridge. 

Etheridge says she learned “mirror work” during chemotherapy for breast cancer 22 years ago, training herself to say “Hello, gorgeous” and define beauty from within. They discuss oneness, choosing one’s feelings, and course-correcting negativity through gratitude and staying general rather than focused on life’s details. Etheridge describes a major awakening after over-consuming cannabis edibles, later followed by her breast cancer diagnosis, which propelled study of spirituality and plant medicine. She speaks about son Beckett’s opioid addiction and death in May 2020, emphasizing, “I cannot get sick enough to make a sick person well.” 

Etheridge recounts her musical beginnings in Kansas, coming out, early women’s-bar circuit, discovery at Pasadena’s Vermie’s, the “Bring Me Some Water” breakthrough, her bald 2005 Grammy performance during chemo, and writing her new album “Rise,” including “Call You.” They discuss advice for LGBTQ people and parents, and she advises LZ for his upcoming duet with Kelly Clarkson, then sings a snippet of “I Wanna Come Over.”

Timestamp Menu: 

• 00:00 Welcome You Are Beautiful
• 01:07 Why This Podcast Exists
• 03:03 Melissa Mirror Work
• 05:01 Oneness Gratitude Reset
• 09:16 Advice For Angry Mornings
• 13:44 Awakening Cancer And Cannabis
• 18:15 Loss And Loving Through Addiction
• 24:51 Leavenworth Roots First Guitar
• 27:10 Coming Out And Early Career
• 29:51 Finding Work in LA
• 30:12 Underground Women’s Scene
• 30:48 Label Pressure and Coming Out
• 32:36 Breakthrough Single Origins
• 36:07 Chemo and Grammy Comeback
• 39:38 Awards and Artistic Purpose
• 40:57 Songwriting Process and Inspiration
• 43:18 Rise Album and Personal Loss
• 46:13 Strength, Identity, and Community
• 48:29 Advice for LGBTQ People and Parents
• 52:16 Duet Prep and Stage Confidence
• 55:06 Romance, Stalker Song, and Farewell

Over Zoom, Lawrence Zarian interviews Ellen Burstyn ahead of their in-person meeting on The Kelly Clarkson Show, reflecting on divine timing and how his pandemic-born podcast explores how entertainers see the world differently. 

Burstyn discusses promoting her poetry book and her discomfort with “commercializing” something sacred, emphasizing her goal of introducing poetry to people who don’t know it; Zarian shares how the book gave him language for grief, citing Maya Angelou and Rumi, and Burstyn recites Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Love is not all.” Burstyn recalls a childhood split between being popular at school and hiding at home due to an abusive stepfather, and how poetry helped her envision a future. 

They discuss forgiveness, therapy, sobriety, and generational trauma, then touch on colleagues and projects including Cloris Leachman, Jack Nicholson, Alan Alda, Linda Blair, and roles like Lois in The Last Picture Show, ending with Burstyn completing “I, Ellen Burstyn, am beautiful because…” with a memory of her mother.

Timestamp Menu:

• 01:51 Universe and Timing
• 03:04 Mirror Question
• 03:54 Poetry Book Doubts
• 09:01 Poetry Awakening
• 09:53 Two Lives Growing Up
• 15:42 Forgiving Mom
• 17:40 Trauma and Sobriety
• 24:47 Poems for Grief
• 29:33 Favorite Poem Recital
• 32:07 Poetry as Healing
• 33:21 Central Park Cherry Blossoms
• 35:32 Fashion and Self Love
• 37:39 Rapid Fire Film Memories
• 42:43 Internet Myths and Truth
• 44:24 Alan Alda and Friendship
• 48:07 Women and Equal Partnership
• 52:13 Revisiting Past Characters
• 54:03 Longing Poem and Farewell
• 55:55 I Am Beautiful Because