What Is From 'Cast? A Podcast About "From" on MGM+
MGM+ series From, is trippy, terrifying, and mysterious, with great characters and a Lost-meets-horror vibe to it. Come inside before it gets dark and listen along with Lizzie and Alex as we try to figure out what the hell is going on in From!
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What Is From 'Cast? A Podcast About "From" on MGM+
66 FROM MGM+ : "Rookie Cop" Insights w/ guest Samantha Brown – Acting Transitions & On-Set Stories
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Samantha Brown takes center stage as she shares her compelling transition from the corporate world to the vibrant realm of acting. Join us as Samantha reveals how she landed the role of Rookie Cop on the show "From" and her thrilling experiences working with Harold Perrineau. Listen to her heartfelt tales of joining the casts of established shows like "What We Do in the Shadows" and "Chucky," where the camaraderie of a pivotal cast dinner played a key role in her feeling welcomed and integrated.
Immerse yourself in a profound character analysis, as we dissect the emotional depth and complexity of characters navigating isolation and empowerment. A journey of fear, vulnerability, and psychological struggle unfolds as we explore the character Acosta’s decision to reclaim her power by retrieving her gun. The dynamic with Kenny offers a potential romantic connection, providing a nuanced layer of solace amidst the chaos. These character dynamics and storytelling intricacies promise to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
The episode takes an intriguing turn as we delve into the challenges and adaptability required in television directing. Samantha sheds light on her experiences with directors like Jack and Bruce McDonald, detailing the unique styles and collaboration necessary to bring intense action scenes to life. As we explore the evolution of safety practices and Samantha’s bittersweet career moments, we also highlight the supportive relationships formed on set. From unexpected cancellations to memorable horror-comedy roles, Samantha’s journey offers valuable insights into the multifaceted world of television acting and directing.
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Welcome to the show. My name is Alex and I have a special guest with me, samantha Brown, and I'm going to say your character's name wrong. I always want to say Sokka because I'm a big Star Wars fan, but Acosta. I know it's Acosta and it drives me nuts because I always want to. I probably said it in the lives. But welcome to the show. Thank you so much for taking the time.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me. I watch all of your videos, so I am very excited to chat.
Speaker 3:You're still lying, I know.
Speaker 1:I do. We talk a lot.
Speaker 3:You know what I have to say, starting off, when I heard that you were on the season, I reached out to you and you could not have been any nicer. I'm just saying I know that you probably get a lot of requests, especially since you're part of this larger frumily and you have been nothing but absolutely very communicative and just sweet to me in the podcast. So I just want to thank you because I know we wanted to get you on earlier and you're like no, alex, we need to get you on later. So we have something to talk about. So, first off, congratulations on the gig. I was looking through your IMDB and you've been a working actor for a while now, huh.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's taken a while, but from what I understand and please correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm usually wrong you went from sports to the boardroom, to the casting room, so to speak. Is that fair to say?
Speaker 1:That is fair to say. Yeah, I always wanted to be an actor. It just seemed so impal, so I never really told anyone. That was my dream and I took the traditional path in life. I went to university and I got a corporate job, and two years in I said to myself I hate this so much, and it taught me that there's a difference between being able to do something and wanting to do something. And so I was good at what I was doing. I just didn't want to be doing it and so I just quit. I left it all behind, and now I'm talking to you.
Speaker 3:I'm so glad you did, because it would have been a shame to not see you on the screen.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I agree.
Speaker 3:Of course you have been in some of my favorite shows and before we get into all that because that's a whole separate podcast what was your take when you realized one? How did you get the job? But, like all of a sudden, I'm going head to head with Harold.
Speaker 1:Okay, so there's a lot to unpack there.
Speaker 3:I.
Speaker 1:I had heard about the show. It was on my to watch list. My friends and family kept telling me to watch it, and so it was like up next for me. I think I was watching succession, and then I was going to watch from, and then I got this audition and it's all it said was Rookie Cop, recurring on From, and I was like, oh, this would be awesome. Of course I'm not going to get this. It's always the one you really want, you're never going to get. And so I threw myself on tape, I sent it in and then I got a callback episode, I thought, oh my God, I am hooked on the show.
Speaker 1:It is amazing.
Speaker 3:I'm now going to be devastated if I don't get it.
Speaker 1:So I'm happy that it swung my way. I didn't know I'd be working with Harold Perrineau as much as I get to do on the show, so that was a blessing. But yeah, you're nervous, you're excited, you're anxious.
Speaker 3:There's a whole whirlwind of emotions that go on with it especially been on a couple of shows where you have had to come in as the new person and whether it's what to do in the shadows or I can't even think of the other chucky, and all the stuff that you've done. How is that as an actor? Hard, but knowing that you're going to be stucking around for a little bit. It seems like the cast is this pot. This network is started with the walking dead and I have the feeling that the walking dead and um from have the same type of thing where it really from a Lee family. It's really about keeping everybody happy and you're one unit. It's like you against the world, kind of stuff. How is the welcoming from you, from the cast?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, first off, I personally hate joining a show after it's been on for a while, just because you always or for me, I'll speak for myself I always feel like the new kid on the block. You always feel like people are going to be like what are you going to bring to the table? Right, exactly, and you feel that way. But the one good thing about it is that you have material to watch so you can see the vibe of the show. You can understand the style and what's going on, so that helps inform your own performance. But in terms of the cast, everyone was so welcoming, so kind, never treated me like I was the new girl. We had a cast dinner where I got to meet everyone and I look back and I thank God for that dinner, because it's such an ensemble cast that if your character doesn't interact with any other character on the show, you could never interact with that actor the entire time you're filming for.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 1:So and then also I thought there's so many actors that I don't want to get to set. Every time before I have a big scene and then be meeting these actors for the first time, there's always that sort of introduction that you have to go through. So I'm glad that I went to that dinner because I got to meet everyone. They were so nice, it made me feel comfortable and then I could just focus on the work.
Speaker 3:I know it seemed like you just got thrown. In terms of the way you came into the show. What was your training? In terms of the way you came into the show, what was your training?
Speaker 1:in terms of have you ever played a cop before? I've played a lot of roles that require a firearm. So, especially like when I was on why the Last man, we had extensive training for firearms for film and television, so I knew about handling that situation, but I've never played a police officer before. So I did do a lot of research in terms of the Academy and your training and what it's like to be a rookie cop, what they're allowed to do, what they're not allowed to do, and I was told very little by the creative team, as a lot of the actors on the show are, which I've now loved in a way. But what I did do was say, okay, she's a rookie cop and she's from Maine. What does that mean? Maine is one of the lowest crime States in America, especially in terms of violent crime. She's from Camden, maine. The population is, I think it's 5,200 people or something.
Speaker 3:Everybody knows everybody.
Speaker 1:So everybody knows everybody. She's probably never seen a dead body in her life. She's never pulled her gun in the field in a real life situation, aside from training. So that alone tells you so much about her and why she's doing what she's doing.
Speaker 3:I know there's a lot of negative tone towards what happened in the last.
Speaker 1:I can only imagine.
Speaker 3:And you know something. I know I'm going to go out on a limb. They're all full of crap because they have no idea what the heck is going on. And I'm going to tell you I'm an EMT, I volunteer all this other stuff, whatever else and I know a lot of police officers. That makes me not knowledgeable in any way by that is, the first role of a police officer is to never get your gun taken away from you. The second rule is you always have something behind you. You'll know what's behind you. And what really makes me so angry as a fan is they gave you so much crap for shooting Nikki. First off, nikki deserved to die. I don't care what anybody says. You don't mess with anybody in the bathroom. Okay, you don't mess with anyone in the bathroom, but when you shot quote unquote Nikki, you were looking at an effing monster.
Speaker 1:Right, a lot of people think she aimed for Nikki, but nope, it was a monster that she shot at.
Speaker 3:Between you and I. I know you were because the whole bathroom incident, but we know you were aiming for that monster. Yes, and I get that and see. But that's what really bothers me is because and what I love about it is the passion that people have for this type of stuff, but at the same time, it's like are you kidding me? Now, we've been asking this of all the actors and this relates to what your time as a police officer, and I guess I didn't realize that you were a rookie cop. I just thought you were just a cop. Yeah, it makes more sense now watching the show and being part of this season, which could not be any darker than it could be. Do you believe, like love is the Achilles heel for the survivors?
Speaker 1:That's a good question. I would say hope right, because I think the whole, if you don't, if you are not hopeful that you can get out, you're going to stop trying, and I think we're seeing that over the course of the season. So I think it's. I think it's hope. I think a lot of what's going on in the show comes down to hope. People losing hope, people trying to instill hope in others do you think that's why tilly got killed?
Speaker 3:was because she was being hopeful towards fatima at that point and then, or whatever's inside of her killed her?
Speaker 1:I. I think that tilly, the, the main reason that she was killed, is because it's just further trying to break Boyd, because now Boyd you're going to see, it's obvious he's going to be put in a situation of what do I do? This is my daughter.
Speaker 3:I get it.
Speaker 1:Right? So I do think. But again, that's to break Boyd's hope, right? If you don't have hope to get out, then you're not going to try anymore. And that's what I hope Acosta brings to the table is a new energetic vigor of hope to get out. I don't know how long she'll have that hope for. I hope that she holds onto it forever.
Speaker 3:I think that when you went to the Boyd Sheriff's Station, I think two wrongs don't make a right. There was no right in that that, but it was right that you went in there. But I think boyd was, has been totally and utterly out of line. It's not himself. If you had came in one season before, or even season one, this would have been a completely different thing. I guess my my question is when you are playing Ahsoka I keep saying it, sorry, fans, and I'm not editing it I'm sorry. And for those of you that are listening, I think I'm speaking to Samantha Brown when you were in that moment, what are you thinking about this place? Because nothing is making sense and I'm not talking about you. We're going to talk about when you talk to Kenny, but, like when you're talking to Boyd, what is going through your mind and how did you play that?
Speaker 1:So the scene with Boyd. So I'll separate the two scenes, like you said. So the scene with Boyd is it's so much more than the gun to her. So it is the gun, but it's.
Speaker 1:I came into this town this is how I'm justifying the writing, right. I came into this town, I made a mistake. I saw two of my friends' throats get slashed. There are these now supernatural creatures that I'm supposed to believe in. I was physically attacked by Boyd and Colony House I am not allowed to speak and was humiliated in the town meeting when I was trying to defend Tabitha, who I made a mistake in that situation as well. I then tried to come into your office and be a team player and show remorse and try to give ideas and try to move forward and work together. And you've now taken my weapon.
Speaker 1:So every single scene of hers up until this point she has been beaten down and people could agree with that. People could not agree with that. But from her perspective, that's how she feels she's still. It's like you said you can have two things can exist at once. She can have made these dire mistakes, but then she can also be, you know, being a little bit misunderstood in the town, and so I think when she goes to get her gun back from Boyd, she's thinking I have to teach these people that I can't be walked all over on. If I do not stand up for myself, I am dead here because I have no. I have no friends.
Speaker 3:I don't know. You're in the midst of sleep. I don't think at this point.
Speaker 1:Right, no. And I think when I hear people say oh, why does she want her gun back? The guns obviously don't work. Are you kidding me? Of course she wants her gun back because she doesn't know one. If there are other creatures that are out there that the guns work on, she doesn't know. She also wants it to protect herself from humans, because she doesn't know if Nikki's got a boyfriend who's going to come and attack her and seek revenge. She doesn't know if Jim is mad that she handcuffed his wife and left. She just wants that gun for protection and also to stand up to Boyd and say you cannot continue to treat me like this, because then she's literally going to die in this town.
Speaker 3:All I'm going to say is it sounds like you've had to answer that question. A lot I have, I have. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:It's just. That's how I justified it in my mind.
Speaker 3:No, they're so wrong. And it's because people don't understand how police officers work. And I'm not trying to be funny and I'm sorry that I'm going on this because a friend of mine told me not that people need to know this. I teach CPR on first aid for a living, so I know a lot of cops and all this. You want to make sure the scene's safe, you want to do all this other stuff, but when a police officer pulls somebody over, they check themselves, they make sure everything is where they're supposed to be. And you do know the EMTs, you do know all this other kind of stuff.
Speaker 3:And I know I'm going into this because maybe it's a little too personal to me, because, as much as it's frumily, it's also that whole fraternity of police, fire, ems type of stuff. And yeah, you did the dumbest things you could possibly do, but you didn't know what the rules were. And then you go and see Kenny and God love Ricky because he I don't know how he stays his pot. He seems like he's a very positive guy, and all this outside of this because we've interviewed him and whatever else. But the poor guy has been beaten down and I just love the conversation between you and him, and especially it being in the diner. Could you just talk about that scene, because it was so special and he needs a friend that scene because it was so special and he needs a friend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that scene. It would. It encompassed so many things to me, so one it was. If you really zoom out and look at acosta's experience so far as to what we've said, she's gone through. She's murdered someone. I can't even wrap my mind around what that would feel like to be the cause of someone's death. I even had a hard time processing it when we were filming it. She saw her friends die. She's in this supernatural situation. People hate her here and this is the very first time she's able to just talk to someone about it. That would take years of therapy to unravel and this is the first time that you see her. Just let it all out and you see the scene heightens right to the end. And this is the first time that you see her. Just let it all out and you see the scene heightens right to the end.
Speaker 1:And I love the sort of outburst that she has because she's trying to talk to Kenny. She's trying to get information and stay logical using the left side of her brain and figure this out and then, as she starts to feel more and more helpless, she starts to unravel and get almost like a feral animal because she just doesn't know how to process this. And I think you know a police officer is. Their job is to protect and serve and be of service and to help. And I think the singular term that a police officer would not want to feel ever is helpless, because you want to help others. So I think in that moment that whole scene to me was oh my God, this is the first time she's ever felt helpless and that she can literally do nothing. And I think that if kenny offered her a beer instead of tea, I think the scene would have went differently, because I don't think she's a tea girl that's regardless, but I understand what you're saying.
Speaker 3:I know exactly what you're saying now. Do you think there could ever be a love interest between those two?
Speaker 1:I think there could be. Yeah, I think they have a lot of similarities. I also think that they're very different, which I know for me, like people that I'm attracted to, sometimes, like I like that sort of difference. So, yeah, I could see it going that way right now.
Speaker 3:God knows, Kenny needs something because he's just, he's just. It's like you just want to give him a big hug. Now there's another theory out there that I'd love your opinion on, which I know you're like, oh God, rolling your eyes. I didn't even think of this when everybody's like going crazy online about this that you're the long lost daughter of Donna. Oh, you haven't heard that one. No, we just asked Liz Saunders that, because we interviewed her and she's not. To my knowledge and from your face, either you're a really good actress or you just have no clue what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:I think it's both. I'm a really good actress and I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 3:Do we have any backstory more than what you've just said that you can share with us?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 3:That's it. Could you be a little less vague, because I gotta tell you, people are just waiting for you to tell us all this stuff, because the only three people that watch this podcast will won't say anything. Now, I know that John likes to keep everything very close to the vest. I know Jack has done a lot of the directing, but I noticed in the last couple of episodes you had a different director. Yeah, bruce McDonald. Okay, how was that? When you're dealing with those three kind of heads of state, how do you negotiate as an actress? You've got John, you've got Jack, and then you've got other, wasn't it Alexis as well?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Alexandra yeah.
Speaker 3:Alexandra, I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm saying how do you juggle all that as an actor, Because you're trying to keep your job and try to please everyone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a a really great question. I think that's one of the challenges that I find in television is that you do have different directors over the course of a season and so, coming on to the show, even my callback was with jack. So I felt very comfortable with jack. I like the way that jack works. He is very specific and he knows what he wants and he's no bullshit and he'll tell it to you, and I'm very much like that too. So you get used to working that way.
Speaker 1:And then different directors come in and they have different ways of working, which there's no right and wrong. Just like acting, there's never a right or wrong. It's just a different sort of vibe. But I think that creates a challenge for an actor but also makes you very flexible. Like back to what you're saying, like I grew up playing sports and there were always team sports, so I'm used to working with different people, different ways and processes of working, so I find that to be okay. But yeah, it's different. It's even those directors right, like they're still trying to figure out their work on the show and how it can fit in and to meet Jack's vision. So, yeah, it's all very dynamic.
Speaker 3:What was the hardest part of being in part of From? Was it the effects? Or was it because, like I said, this is a pretty dark season? Taking the normal actor issues that you have, it just seems like there could have been some.
Speaker 1:these are some hard scenes that you're doing yeah, I think the hardest was the action stuff that I had to film and just because it always happens to me that my hardest scenes are always the first day of my shooting schedule, always, or like the big dialogue scenes, like the scene with Kenny in the diner that was the first day of that block, like I don't have the the least time to prepare.
Speaker 1:It just works that way. But I would say, yeah, the action stuff. Just because it's winter, it's dark, it's cold, I'm still getting to know everyone. You also don't know when you show up on a set. Am I allowed to improvise a little bit? Do I have to be word perfect, like? And so having to learn the way that they work on my biggest scene on my first day, that was probably the biggest challenge.
Speaker 3:Now, were you allowed to go off script, or is Jack slash John more read what you're told.
Speaker 1:Not off script, like for me, I'll speak. I don't know, about Harold and people that are wild. Like I didn't ever want to like to push those waters because I was new. But no, for me I wasn't creating new dialogue. Some directors it's like word perfect, punctuation, perfect. They're not like that at all. If you, if something doesn't feel natural to you, you could change the inflection on it and stuff like that. But no. I wasn't creating like new lines.
Speaker 3:Now we have the murder and you go into cop mode and I love how you talk to Boyd, because you're talking to him as an adult and he's responding as a kid because he looks so flustered and scared and this is your wheelhouse. Can you just talk about that whole moment slash scene, because I think it's really important to the viewers to understand what happened there.
Speaker 1:Are you talking about episode eight or like when in?
Speaker 3:the green house. When you're talking, I believe it's 308. When you're talking to him about having the investigation, you're in the shed. Oh yes, that whole scene yeah.
Speaker 1:So I love that scene, even though it's I love every scene, but even though it's very short, because we see episode seven, their confrontation, and, yeah, she acted a little bit immature, she acted a little bit out of pocket and she was as, as we said, she felt backed into a corner and she was trying to stick up for herself. And so we have that now, when this murder happens, I love that she's able to just put that bullshit to the side and focus on what she's good at doing, which is this, and I love. You know, when she turns to him and she's are we good? She's basically saying, I think, like they're both saying to each other I don't like you, I don't like you, I don't like you, but for the sake of this, let's figure this out. And so I think it just shows that she can.
Speaker 1:What I love about this show is that the characters are so nuanced. Like you can be, um, two things at the same time. You can be a little bit bratty and immature, but still very good at your job. You can be brave, brave but still scared. So I like that. You see a different layer to her, like, oh okay, she's not just this overdramatic crazy woman who wants her gun back on a power trip. Oh, she actually now can focus on this and figure this out, so I love that scene.
Speaker 3:I really do believe that and again, I know I'm hard-pressed. The whole immaturity thing is bull in a sense. People forget where they came from, right Meaning. Everybody was in the situation that you were in and I said this on the podcast. What does Colony House do with people when they come to Fromm? They tie them up for 24 hours. You need to get 24 hours to process it and you're getting screamed at by everybody. 24 hours to process it and you're getting screamed at by everybody.
Speaker 3:And I love the fact that you're you know you acclimated and that you and Kenny can work together to figure out what's going on. I think that was important. I also I'm a little again, I'm going to talk on both sides of my mouth I was a little taken aback the way you reacted to the whole Sarah thing, not because I would have probably reacted the same way, but at the same time it's like wait, what just happened? She did what and whatever else, but you didn't even know she existed. And, of course, sarah is like I got my own problems with Victor over here and you guys are like going to get the pitchforks for me and I haven't seen anybody in days because I haven't been that long, so I just find it all. I don't know where the question is and all that, I just yeah yeah what you're saying.
Speaker 1:And obviously, from her perspective, she doesn't know who sarah is, she doesn't know about these voices, so she just hears someone say oh yeah, didn't this person like, because you have to remember, kenny just told acosta that his parents have passed.
Speaker 3:I know.
Speaker 1:Wow. So now the next episode is oh yeah, the girl that killed your parents, and she's like what?
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:Why are they out walking around? Let's go find this girl. So yeah, it's all chaos.
Speaker 3:I'm trying to find the questions that we had a couple of viewers ask. And what was your favorite episode?
Speaker 1:Oh, I love episode four, like tabitha's re-entry into from. I think it's awesome. I think the adrenaline in that episode from start to finish is incredible and I love the finale. I think whatever people expect the finale to be, it will surpass your expectations are we going to get some answers? Yes, what I love about the finale is that you're not going to get the finite answer, because then the show would be I get that right, but a lot of people have a couple different theories swirling in their mind.
Speaker 3:You will, it will cut the fat on that and it will hone in on one lane my, my take is I hope that they answer the question of why, regardless of them getting out, I just want like, why, why is this collection of people? Again, I know you're not going to answer that, which I don't want you to, because I want to see it, because we go week to week. We do not watch the whole season, so I don't have a clue what's going on. Okay, so I literally when I say I don't know it's, I don't know. Yeah, does Acosta get her bullets back ever in this season? And are you allowed to say no, I'm not allowed to say.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's fine, that's fine, but let me say that she was wondering this the entire time also, so good.
Speaker 3:And that's fine, jerk. No, of course you can't say how do you identify in any way with your character?
Speaker 1:I love that question. I do and I don't, which. I love that. I think Acosta right now is misunderstood and people will see that she is a good person. She doesn't. She's not on some power trip, she doesn't have this big ego. She's trying to take up space in a place where she feels alone. And I like to view myself as a genuinely good person. Where Acosta and I differ is, you know, I feel like police officers and you would know this from what you said also is like if you're a front of the line worker, you have to put on a mask when you're at work right and shut off your emotions.
Speaker 1:And you are the logical calming force in arguably the most chaotic situations in people's lives. And so I'm not able to do that. Like I, I'm way too emotional. You can read on my face how I'm feeling. It would be very hard for me to be a police officer and show up to a very heightened emotional situation and remain calm. So we differ in that way. Okay, she's a good poker player, me, I get a poker hand. I'm like, oh, that's a good hand.
Speaker 3:Exactly, exactly. It's been so like such a dynamic in this season and so sad, and it just doesn't seem like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. And if it was a train, everything is happening. You know, what can we expect from her in the rest of the season?
Speaker 1:You will. What I love about the writing on this show and what I tried to do and I think you will see it come across is every time you see her on screen, you will see a different side to her, and if you spliced all of her scenes back to back, you would start to see the waves of her entire personality, because we are all so much more than just one thing. Can you explain yourself with one adjective? Of course not, and if you could, that would be weird. So I'm excited to.
Speaker 1:Over the course of the season, you start to see different sides to her and she levels out and you'll see different textures to her and I'm so excited about. We don't know if I live or die. You can't say anything, but I think, with the way that the writing has gone, you really don't know what's going to happen to her. Could she team up with Boyd and start as enemies and as friends type situation? Will she go off and do her own thing? She's in a really interesting spot right now where it could go so many different ways and that's so exciting as an actor.
Speaker 3:Right? No, I think it's a great thing and I'm hoping that you get to go to the next season and I hope that you survive at least this season finale. I know from what we've seen and what we've analyzed everybody has a purpose in this place, like the EMTs. Their purpose was to get you to from. That's all they were supposed to do.
Speaker 1:Your purpose was we don't know yet right you have this or maybe it was to kill nikki, maybe, but because of the bathroom issue.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, but I, you. It has to be something more than that obvious. Yeah, and I why? As a viewer of show, since you had to binge it before you came. What do you think of this whole from? What is your take and what would your friends or family say when they're watching it? They're like what is going on here?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So it's hard for me to share my exact theory because I don't know more than the audience does, but right now I do, just because I know what happens, I understand.
Speaker 1:So that clouds it. But I will say that what I love about the show is how it's so open for all of these series. Like I'll sit and have dinner with my cousin and she'll tell me a theory she has and I'm like that could work, that makes sense. And then I'll go to dinner with a friend and they'll tell me a complete opposite theory and I'm like you know what? That also makes sense and that's what I think is keeping the show alive too, and so engaging for viewers is you can have all these different theories and they all make sense. So it will be very shocking once you get the actual finite answer. But that's a testament to great writing, right? Because imagine you have the show and everyone's like I know exactly what it is to great writing, right, because imagine you have the show and everyone's like I know exactly what it is and they're right.
Speaker 3:Then you'd be like shit. I love when people watch the episode and the first words out of their mouth are like oh, it was the worst episode, or was this. I'm like, first off, it's only 10 episodes. Every episode can't be solving mysteries, solving mysteries. And secondly, you got to look at everything. I think people are. We're so used to getting everything binged, everything so quick. My podcast partner, lizzie, always said it's a puzzle show and I didn't understand what that meant until I started podcasting on this particular show. And she believes every single thing has a meaning, to the point that it's almost it drives me nuts Like you. Flicking your hair has a meaning, kind of thing. I give a crap about it all the time, but I just I really hope that we do get a couple more answers. I know we get some answers about the rope. That was a wacky scene which I think will be very interesting to see how that plays out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, You'll get a lot. You'll get a lot of answers.
Speaker 3:The whole bottle tree. There's a whole lore on bottle trees before the show.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:I don't know if you knew that or not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've been told that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, years ago they would have, they would capture, told that, yeah, in the show has a bottle tree and it was just so ironic and I'm like, oh my god, I just find it really fascinating how the, how, john and the rest of the writers are really pulling from everything who were, who was like your buddies during filming, because I know you're like in the middle of snow, and nova scotia, because nova scotia in the winter is just the place to be.
Speaker 1:Right, Everyone was so welcoming, but I would say the people that it was, Ricky and Kortian and Harold. The three of them always kept me in the know with what was going on socially, inviting me out. I'm a homebody and especially when it's cold I don't go anywhere. But they were always like no, you're coming, let's go. We would do escape rooms, movies, go to restaurants. So I spent a lot of time with the three of them.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, alexa, thank you so much. You are so very welcome, okay.
Speaker 3:I didn't know we had a special guest. I'm so glad that our special guest showed up. She's trying to steal the moment. Alexa, I know you're on Amazon Prime and all, but that's a little ridiculous. Come on, girl, Just to put a bow on just this one part. I just think you're killing it, literally and figuratively. I just think it's so amazing how they brought you in. You have such an ambiguous kind of story and the theories have been going nuts. I don't know if you've actually been on a lot of the stuff. They think you're awful, they think that you're a rookie and you deserve to go in the box. I know you probably had that question Should you go in the box or should you be? No?
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but I don't believe in the box, because that is murder Like first degree, that the person is going to die. I do believe, or I think for Acosta, she believes that there has to be some sort of rule and order and consequence to what you do, because then it would just be chaos. You'll actually see that play out over the course of the season, Like when she's there and people are doing things you know. She knows what's right and wrong and the outside world and what's moral and immoral, and she's trying to bring that into from where it might not work. It's like a what do they say? A square peg in a round hole, right Like she's trying to make the real world fit into from but, is met with resistance.
Speaker 1:So no, I don't think the box, but like maybe a jail cell or some type of situation or a house and everybody goes in that house that has done something wrong. But no box and everybody goes in that house that has done something wrong, but no walks.
Speaker 3:How has the season two new cast members indoctrinated you? Because they came into a pretty tight-knit group and now, all of a sudden, they're not the new guy finally. So between you and how awesome was that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh my God, Robert Joy is amazing and I spent a lot of time with him on set because we had the seat, the episodes three and four, the ambulance stuff. But yeah, I can't wait till I'm no longer the new kid, if that ever happens. But the season two newbies were so great because I think they realized that they came onto the show as newbies. But there were so many of them so you can rely on each other in a way until you get acclimated. But even the first time that I was filming I was alone. Robert Joy wasn't there at that point yet, just in terms of shooting schedule. So I think they took that into consideration and really overcompensated and got me in.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. And again we're speaking with Samantha Brown and she's giving out all the secrets for the finale and all the other scenes. Yeah, exactly. So I did want to talk about a couple of the other shows that you were on, because I am still disappointed about why the Last man? Oh gosh, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:No, I agree, it was such a heartbreak that was the first conversation we had.
Speaker 3:Yes, I was just like dude, that was such a great show, yeah, and I just I'm so sad that they did what they did and so quickly.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I was told I think they canceled it or they announced the cancellation after the third episode. They still aired the remaining episodes, but.
Speaker 1:I believe it was the fastest cancellation in FX history. At the time and I remember oh my God, I will never forget this I went to LA for my cousin's wedding and it was when the show was airing, and so the Amazons, one of the characters that I played, didn't come in, I think, until the third or fourth episode. But when I went to California for this wedding for my cousin, all my family was there and they were like we're watching the show, we're so excited for your episode of when you come on, blah, blah, blah. And then when I flew home, I was at the airport in Los Angeles, flying home to Toronto, and I get an email from the showrunner being like the show was canceled. And I was devastated, of course, but also just mortified because I had just spent all this time with my family having them watch this show. And then now it was in the news.
Speaker 3:It was an interesting concept and I your storylines not just you, but the whole.
Speaker 1:Yeah crazy.
Speaker 3:So it just goes to show you that we're all crazy. It doesn't matter man, woman, whatever it just we're all. When we are up against the wall, crazy things can happen, and I do think I don't know.
Speaker 1:Of course, we'll never know the exact reason why it was canceled. What I've been told is we shot that during COVID.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:So, like the PPE costs and the budget of that show was astronomical.
Speaker 3:Was it because of the cast members so many? I?
Speaker 1:think it was just like the scale right. It's like the army trucks and the location. It was so expensive and then on top of COVID, so I think, just in terms of streaming and like getting an ROI on it, I think that may have had something at play, as we've seen with From. Which I love about this show is like that MGM and Epex, when it was a thing, really gave this show time to marinate and I'm new season three, but I'm sure that all the creatives and actors behind this show feel so fulfilled and grateful that they just gave it time. And now you've seen the exponential growth in the show. You just have to let it simmer for a bit.
Speaker 3:Let the show. I will say they've put a lot of money into this show this year. The FX are crazy Out of this world. Fx guy Patrick, patrick Baxter, yeah, yeah, what he's done this year. We got one or two monsters in the last two seasons. This year they're pulling off even in your opening scene.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I didn't realize as an actor. When I showed up I had no idea. I'm like, is there going to be a green screen? Are we going to act opposite tennis balls on sticks? And I turn and I'm in holding and there's just a monster drinking a coffee and I'm like, holy shit, like it, like the level of detail. And you appreciate that so much as an actor because you don't have to imagine anything, it's all there.
Speaker 3:In some of the scenes and I'm thinking I think it might've been you, but I'm not really sure it could not have been you. It was with the Matthews. They were in the house and that looked real, but the behind. When they were in the house, and that looked real, but the behind when they were talking, it looked like it was green screen. I I don't know, is that common or is that something that?
Speaker 1:so some of the, so the whole town is built, which you've right, right, but some of the interiors are in studio, so that could have been a scene that they shot in the studio and then they put a green screen in front of the window to to simulate nighttime or whatever it is yeah, it makes sense yeah, but in terms of the monsters, everything that you see in the final version of the show is what we as the actors see.
Speaker 1:You just don't see the obviously the transition from when they go from human face to you. That cgi.
Speaker 1:But yeah, when you're doing that kind of stuff, how scary is that my first day was really scary but I loved that because it just fed the scene, because it'd be to me. It'd be so difficult to just be out in the woods at night and for jack bender to be like, look at that tree and be scared. I know that's our job as an actor to do that, I know right he can just be like look at this creature and be.
Speaker 1:And then I think what people don't realize is, even when you're shooting that whole colony house, when she's running up the hill like there's no, there's no air being coming out of that gun, there's no pressure, there's no sound, you are just miming it. And okay I feel like an idiot when you're filming it because you're just like doing this and so then, to see it in the final edit right. All come together with the music and the sound and the sparks effect looks a lot better.
Speaker 3:I didn't realize. You guys don't use blanks or anything.
Speaker 1:No, for why the Last man we did, but I think since yeah, we're not going to talk about it. Exactly so. This is the right way to do it, but as an actor you just have to adjust to that new way.
Speaker 3:I didn't want to squeeze that one particular incident in, but you brought it up. So no, but it is. That's just. It's a safety issue and you have to do that. Yeah, so why? The Last man was a short-lived. You were part of the cast and then you've done a couple of other stints in some of the stuff that a lot of our listeners listen to. How was your experience on Chucky?
Speaker 1:Oh my God, incredible. Just like to work with Don mancini like right and to create a chucky, and I didn't even know when I booked that that in the terms of the story I was the first chucky kill because it was like a flashback to I forget his name charles the, the man that is the spirit in right, yeah, no, I know, it was like a flashback to like him in the 80s and like why he became obsessed with killing, and so I was basically like his first kill, which I didn't know, but that was so great, like chucky is known worldwide, and to work with that team it was awesome, awesome are you in personally?
Speaker 3:are you into the horror stuff or?
Speaker 1:I watch a little bit of horror. Now I'm coming on to it more, but in terms of work, the darker the better. I also have been finding with horror what I love is to me it's like an umbrella genre, because you can have horror but then you can have love elements, you can have adventure, you can have comedic elements, and so I really think that you can stretch yourself as an actor in this genre because it's not especially with from. It's like it's not just jump scares, like no, it is.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of sci-fi horror.
Speaker 1:describing from as a sci-fi horror to me, I understand, but it doesn't do it justice. It's so much more than that.
Speaker 3:No, I totally understand. Now let's get to the one that I love the most, and I and I know it's an ensemble and I only, I know you only were only on one episode, but what to do in the shadows? Oh my God, how are they? Please just tell me, they're as awesome as they seem.
Speaker 1:They're amazing. Like they like there are legend comedians on that show. Right.
Speaker 1:They are so kind, so funny. There's a difference between someone being nice to you on set, just like hello, nice to meet you, versus actors coming up to you even though you're a day player and being like so what's your story, where are you from? You want to go, uh, to craft together and have a coffee, like they go out of their way to just genuinely want to get to know you, and I think it really speaks to how well that show is, because, to me, comedy you have to feel comfortable. You have to feel comfortable to be able to explore and try things and whatever doesn't land. If you're scared on a comedy set, you are dead in the water. Right.
Speaker 1:Because you're not exploring different options and choices. To be funny. So yeah, they know what they're doing there.
Speaker 3:I mean just so the viewers know what was your episode, what was your role.
Speaker 1:It's a very small role. I auditioned for a. This is actually a funny story. I auditioned for a larger role and it was to be a weather reporter throughout the entire episode reporting on a huge flood, and it was hilarious. And for the audition I got all dressed up in like a reporter outfit suit and then I got in my shower and I drenched myself in water because I thought it'd be funny that she's reporting on this, and so I guess they loved it so much. But the role went to an American and so they wrote me a smaller part to be the weather girl, like in the studio, performing in front of the green screen. And that was surreal, because weather reporters in real life there's just a green screen. And that was surreal because weather reporters in real life there's just a green screen. And you have to point.
Speaker 3:Right right.
Speaker 1:So Florida, and so I had to learn. I remember I was up all night the night before like practicing because I didn't know what it would be like on set, so it was fun to film.
Speaker 3:Yeah, now it's just. It's so neat to get the behind the scenes. We've had bob man on a couple of times. Uh, do you know bob at all? Yes, he is the mayor of halifax. I I say that because he like knows everybody, it seems like, and we had him on and he's only had two scenes on the on from, but he gave us such great insight and now we have him on every oh okay, we pre-game him and then we do a post game wrap up.
Speaker 3:He doesn't know anything more than we do. It's just that. He's just a great guy and we love to have him on. Yeah, so what else do you have going on in terms of stuff coming up? Do you have anything?
Speaker 1:I have a couple of things that I haven't nailed.
Speaker 1:They're not nailed down confirmed yet, so I can't tell them yet, but I will say that this entire journey on From it feels like two different experiences. It's one was making it and now the release of it and the press and talking to people and fan theories, and so it's my first time doing all these interviews and press stuff and it honestly feels like a full time job just during the run of From. So this has been a great experience for me me more than I thought there would be happening.
Speaker 3:I'm going to tell you right now I think it was a great, it was a great addition to you have you on, and I hope that I can see why they have your character on because of what Boyd is going through, unfortunately, as as awful as your choices were, you're the only sense of normalcy that they need.
Speaker 1:She's going to call it out.
Speaker 3:She's going to call it out. And again, I want to thank you for at least listening to my messages when you, when we first started, because you never know. No, and so I have to ask what was your sport back in the day?
Speaker 1:Oh basketball.
Speaker 3:Guard.
Speaker 1:So I started as a power forward because I was always a top five eight now but I was always the tallest girl. But then once I got into high school and more competitive and played rep, I was the shortest because some of these girls are six feet. I agree to a shooting guard.
Speaker 3:And how far did you end up going?
Speaker 1:So I went. I basically could have gone collegiate and played in college, but I booked at the time this Disney show called Splat a lot. It was like this is I don't know if you've ever seen the show Wipeout. It was basically an obstacle course, but this one was for kids and so I booked that the first year that I was in university and so I was like I really want to be an actor, like I need to take this.
Speaker 3:So first year that I was in university and so I was like I really want to be an actor, Like I need to take this. So that was my break off from basketball and into arts.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. And then you just saw oh is that?
Speaker 3:Alexa? Yeah, she had her moment again. She had to do that. I just realized I forgot to, and I know I don't want to keep you too long, but I know you were on a little show called the Sinner and I know it was only one episode again, but the only thing you weren't on that you should have been on, but the only reason you weren't is because you were in Toronto, being from New Jersey and New York. Everybody's on Law Order. So if you were on Law Order then of course. Now how is that going on in terms of again, it's the same type of vibe with Chucky, and from what did you learn from that experience?
Speaker 1:So the Sinner. I was on the third season and I was obsessed with that show, Like I watched the first season.
Speaker 1:I watched the second season. My boyfriend and I. We would always talk about it. We loved it.
Speaker 1:And when I got the audition for it for season three, I was like, because I'm a Canadian actor, I didn't know that the third season was being filmed in Canada. So I got the audition I was like I'm never going to get this this is a joke like I will never get this. And I auditioned and two days later they wanted me on the show and I was filming why the Last man? At the time and the dates conflicted and I was like, to my age, I was like you got to figure this out because I have to be on this show. And so they made it work and my scene was with Bill Pullman like the lead of the show and Francis Fisher from the Titanic and it was a great. It opens my demo now. It's some of my best work personally and I'm a very harsh critic of myself, so for me to say that it's a lot, but I just I love that scene. You're just with two heavyweights there and I just I loved it. I learned so much that day. It was a career highlight 100%.
Speaker 3:I'm so glad that when you get to meet the people that you admire and want to work with and all that, it's exactly like it should be. And I'm gonna say this you guys have all been. This whole cast has been the same way with us. We've been really lucky. We've interviewed just about all the cast and this is all we do is this show. So it's not like we do other shows, and I just want to again thank you so much and you know what to add to that sorry.
Speaker 1:One more thing. What you were saying is when I auditioned for the show from and then I I got the callback. It was with Jack Bender and a lot of the times when you do a callback you're doing the scenes multiple times. They want to see if you can stretch yourself. But the majority of my call with him was getting to know each other and now, looking back, I get it Like as much as they want you to be talented of course you wouldn't be at the callback.
Speaker 1:You, they already know that you can do the job, but they really are making sure that the people that are on this show are as kind as you just said they are, and this was the longest I've been away from my home filming a show and you really realize that, like you really want to like the people that you work with, because none of us are from halifax, so we only have each other out there. So I can't imagine like I was homesick. I loved filming there, but you get homesick, you miss the comforts of your home, you miss your family. So I can't even imagine being out there and not enjoying the cast would be an awful experience. So we're all incredibly lucky. But that's the creative team cherry picking people.
Speaker 3:They know what they're doing and that's the key to a good team. Like you from sports and whatever else, so I'm assuming you're a Raptors fan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, my gosh yeah.
Speaker 3:Hey, I'm a Knicks fan and it's the only time we can actually be happy for once, Because it's been as miserable as being a I'm assuming you're a Maple Leafs fan. Yes. So and it's just been like, oh God, one of these days these guys are going to figure it out.
Speaker 1:They are. They have figured it out before and they will figure it out again Exactly.
Speaker 3:That's why the last time they had a championship was in my first year of being born but that's a whole nother being a Knicks fan. So there's always hope, there's always hope, there's always hope. But, sam, samantha, thank you so much for your time and folks. If you have any other questions, please leave them in the comments. If you like what we're doing, please subscribe, do all those wonderful things. You can even get one of these wonderful From Elise shirts, which I know Sam was going to get one right now.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 3:I know we have a Season 1 poster. We're going to be doing a Season 2 poster. I don't know if you saw those on our Instagram. We have one. We can't put you in season one yet, we can't put you in season two yet, but I promise we're going to be doing a season three poster, hopefully by. It's just a matter of getting it all done, yeah, so, folks, the bell is ringing, so we better go home. Get you home, let's go. Come on, get in your house, let's go, come on, get in your house, let's go, come on.
