Michael Benyaer (Sevet) Interview - "The Return of JoJo!"

[00:00:00] This is Michael Benyaer and you're listening to Open Pike Night. Sounds like something good to do with your ears. Sounds like, get it? It's a charades reference. Is this thing on? Hello, hello.

[00:00:42] Welcome to Open Pike Night, the Strange New Worlds podcast where your personal logs are the prime directive. I'm your host John T. Bolds here tonight with an amazing guest on stage and callers waiting in the wings to flip the hourglass and bring awareness of some delicious Vulcan treats.

[00:00:59] Joining me tonight are my co-hosts. First up is our resident reboot fan and order of enthusiast, Jesse Bailey. I cannot wait to try some tasty canapes. And the man who also knows to always load up on the good snacks early at a party because

[00:01:16] you never know what's going to happen. First up is our guest of Greenchart, a new bestrector at TNG, Cameron. What sort of snack? A sacred snack? And our guest tonight is a talent who is part of both the Marvel Universe and the Star Trek universe.

[00:01:31] He knows his union details and he keeps growing as an actor from his role in the expanse as a husband sidelined by his powerful and controlling wife to Star Trek as a husband who just wants to chill with the Starship captain and play some party games.

[00:01:49] Michael Binyere here to share some sacred words with us on the Open Pike night stage. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Wowie, wow, wow. Is that Borat says? Wowowewa. That's what I said when I saw your IMDB list, sir. Oh my goodness. Thank you.

[00:02:06] And I just want to say that was amazing. I don't know if the audience knows I can see these guys and I saw John do the kind of tonight show intro like at his microphone live. I didn't just hear it pre-taped. I saw him do it.

[00:02:20] It was amazing. I felt this is like live television. This is great or radio or podcast. Thank you very much. It's a live podcast. What? Yes. And we just want to say start off congratulations on the episode charades being

[00:02:36] named one of the top 10 episodes of television for 2024 by Rolling Stone Magazine. That's amazing. Well, thank you. I have a little footnote in it and I do want to congratulate the producers, especially the writers of the episode, Henry Alonzo Myers and Katherine Lin.

[00:02:56] Because really the strength of the episode was in the writing and the creating of the situation. And all the comedy and the pathos came from their writing. So I want to give a shout out to them right off the bat. You're not wrong, sir.

[00:03:09] Everyone involved in this episode deserves some part of it being one of the best episodes of TV, according to Rolling Stones. But right in no small part, sir, you and of course your lovely onscreen wife, Elora. I rewatched the episode recently.

[00:03:25] And it is surprising you two are not in the episode very much at all. You show up quite late in 34 minutes in. Yeah. Elora told us was only like two days of filming. Right. But my memory of it was that you guys had a huge part like your

[00:03:39] presence so outweighs the screen time. I had invented entire scenes of to bring an Elora walking through the halls, having a conversation that did not exist. Right. So maybe they will do it in an alternate timeline. There you go. Certainly hope so. It's really interesting.

[00:03:56] I'd auditioned for the show a couple of times. So I'm sure people tell you that it's all these kind of code names. Right? So I'm pretty sure I auditioned for the Discovery show as well as Picard I'd auditioned for in LA.

[00:04:17] But I'd auditioned a couple of times and I didn't get those parts. And then this role came and I auditioned. Everything is during COVID, by the way. Right? So this is like two or three years ago. So there's no going into rooms anymore.

[00:04:33] Everything is at home and everything is self-taped. They give you notes and the casting director. I don't know if people are giving shout outs to casting directors, but the casting director of Strange New Worlds in Canada is a woman named Robin Cook who cast me on The Expanse.

[00:04:53] Okay? So although I've never met her because I'm a West Coast person and she knew of me, I guess through agents and work and I was doing these tapes over the years for her.

[00:05:06] And a few years earlier I had done The Expanse and when I researched it afterwards, I think that Henry Alonzo Myers is friendly with Naren Shankar who was the showrunner of The Expanse. And if you guys know The Expanse, I replaced an actor, Brian George, fantastic actor who

[00:05:27] had originated the role of Arjun in The Expanse. And he was unavailable because he'd gotten a TV series playing a father on a sitcom in LA. So he wasn't going to be able to kind of do double duty because of the flights and everything.

[00:05:43] So they called me to audition and I'd auditioned a few times earlier for The Expanse. And when that came through, I called my agent afterwards and I said, someone's already playing this part. And she's like, oh, I don't know. They want to see you.

[00:06:00] And I was like, okay. And then when I figured out he got a show, I said, say yes immediately because as soon as that other show is canceled, things are invariably canceled. He will come back to this. So it didn't work out that way.

[00:06:13] And I got to do that season with Shoray, Auguste Lu and the fantastic writers on that show, which I believe brought me to the attention of the showrunners of Star Trek Strange New Worlds. So it all kind of is one big universe, as it will. Right?

[00:06:30] So that everybody's, you know, watching what everybody else is doing. And I don't think it hurt that I did play kind of the beta male to a strong woman on The Expanse. Yeah. And they left you holding the bag for Mark or dropping those asteroids on you, man.

[00:06:47] That sucks. Right. It's a great way to get a job where you're not really worried that there's going to be bad blood because, oh, he's just succeeding additionally. So happy to step in for him. Oh, yeah, you're saying regarding Brian.

[00:07:01] Yeah, you know, I haven't seen him since then. I met him years ago at some auditions and I was such a fan of his from from Seinfeld and many things. And I was just so honored that they would even put me in the same kind

[00:07:15] of category as him. So I really hope to meet him again soon. So do you remember what the scene was that you auditioned? Yes, it was the meeting and the eating of the food. And and as you can tell, it was like, do you? Do you fake eating?

[00:07:34] Do you like to all these things to what you do? And interesting, because we don't do it in person. They wanted us to give several variations, which a lot of times they don't want and casting self tape.

[00:07:47] They say, give us two or three takes of how you would do it differently. And I did see that it was a comedic episode, but I was like, how funny do I make this? Right. And when we did end up filming it, you know, that discussion was had

[00:08:01] with with Jordan Canning, who directed it. And I remember there was a discussion is how demonstrative am I? Because I'm a Vulcan and she's like, oh, I see what you're saying. But you know, we can try a couple different ways.

[00:08:13] So we did it different ways where I was less demonstrative and what we ended up with in the end. So it worked. I mean, I think they took different versions of it. If you watch it, I can see myself.

[00:08:24] They did stuff where I didn't really, you know, show too much emotion. Others were I was more emotional, but it was interesting. When did you realize what Star Trek? Allora said she picked up on just the the reads, the aside that she did.

[00:08:38] And how did I know I had a feeling because I had auditioned before and they had the same codename. So and then I'll tell you guys this since we're talking to Star Trek. A few years earlier, I'd auditioned for a movie.

[00:08:53] I believe it was called Star Trek Beyond. OK, and basically I was cast in a role. It was it was a much different procedure. You had to go in person and and they wouldn't again, they wouldn't say what the project was.

[00:09:10] And when it came down to it, they said, yes, we want him for this, but he has to commit now and then not do. You know, I had to commit to a day like one day, like four months in advance.

[00:09:21] And it just didn't work out because of the the scheduling. I was like, I can't commit to that. But and also I was afraid that if I did that it would preclude me from doing other roles in the future

[00:09:34] in the Star Trek universe, because I had that experience doing. I did an episode of The Flash where I played a character and then they created this kind of flash universe. And they're like, oh, you were this guy in The Flash.

[00:09:50] You can't be on Arrow or did it and I'm like, no, nobody knows this. But now they do know this because of the Internet. It's like the comic book guy on on, you know, on The Simpsons.

[00:10:01] Actually, episode four, you know, so it was I just I I gambled and I said I'm going to hold out for something better. And I think it came out with this. So it worked out. I'm so grateful that that ended up that way. Wow.

[00:10:17] Well, thank you. Yeah, I don't I don't even know what the character I have a feeling. But we don't have to get into it. But it was it was an alien character. So so when it came down to this,

[00:10:31] they, you know, they booked you a couple of weeks in advance. And this was the height of covid still. This was twenty twenty two around April. And I was in Vancouver and they shoot the show in in Toronto.

[00:10:45] So they wanted to fly me out and they had me go and do the wardrobe fitting at this, you know, space in this gas town of Vancouver, this funky space. And this guy did more measurements on me than I've ever had in my life.

[00:11:00] It was like it was like the measurements for like 12 suits. He did every, you know, every direction from my nape of my neck to my shoulder, all this and that. It took about an hour and they needed those measurements

[00:11:13] so they could begin on the costumes, which are fantastic, as you know. So then they fly me out and I'm there a week before we're going to film because they need to do the last minute adjustments on the outfit and also to get me there.

[00:11:26] OK, now I get to the studio outside of Toronto and off hand, by the way, I'm having to do covid tests, getting on the flight, getting off the flight every day. And I get to the studio and I off hand kind of jokingly say to a woman

[00:11:42] on the set, I said, I got a thing, I got a lot of covid tests on this. And she says, yeah, we're averaging five positive tests a day. And I said, oh my goodness. And then I got really afraid to kind of get infected because

[00:11:58] if you were infected, you couldn't do the show. Right? So I basically, you know, sequestered myself in my hotel room and didn't see anybody for a week. And the day before we were going to film, it was it was it was a Sunday into the Monday.

[00:12:15] I got a call that someone had tested positive and I was like, OK, what happens now? Do I stay in this hotel for another week? They're like, we're going to fly you back to Vancouver for a week.

[00:12:25] So I go back again to Vancouver for a week and now I'm hyper vigilant. I don't go out for dinner with anybody. I barely see my girlfriend. I I don't want to go to any like family dinners or anything.

[00:12:37] And I fly back a week later and we do film the show and it came out great. And and I wanted to say this as well, the episode dropped or was released on, I believe it was July 17th. Is that correct? If you guys know.

[00:12:55] And it is the reason I know this is it was the day that the Screen Actors Guild went on strike. Oh, so that at noon at that point, I was effectively on strike. So I could not start doing promotion or interviews.

[00:13:12] And I want to apologize to the several people that contacted me from different publications saying, will you do our podcast or interview? And I was like, I can't do this right now. And I didn't want to get into the whole thing. So I didn't respond.

[00:13:24] And here I am today, the strike is over and it was resolved. And some keen listeners or viewers will see that I ended up running into Ethan Peck and Jack Quaid at the Paramount Strike on on on on Star Trek.

[00:13:42] And we took a photo and we walked and talked a bit. But it was just a weird timing. Literally, I could post about it in the morning and at noon Pacific time, I could no longer talk about doing the show.

[00:13:55] So that's the date of this, the release of this episode. Yeah, we had Chris Fisher, one of the other directors for Strange New Worlds lined up and it was like, I think it was the day prior to our interview with him that the writer strike started.

[00:14:10] So I mean, we're just grateful to have an opportunity to finally help you guys talk about your work. I mean, the off season this year is going to be long. So we appreciate you taking some time to sit down with us. Thank you. Yeah.

[00:14:24] Did they ever like test you with the potential actresses for your onscreen wife or to Pril or did they just cast you separately and hope you got along? Yes, it was a long process. We we were scheduled, we were short.

[00:14:37] We went to Los Angeles and did a screen test at Paramount. No, no, they didn't do any of that. We, you know, they she's got she's fantastic allure. She's got a huge career. She was on a series at the time and she is the go to person

[00:14:52] for those kind of mothers of people of that type. And I'm just lucky enough to have been cast as her husband. She's fantastic. And by the way, Gia, fantastic, beautiful, amazing, hilarious, you know, I just rewatched it and I was like,

[00:15:06] it is so hard as an actor, as an actress, an actor to be funny as a as a Vulcan. Like you can't do sitcom reads. You have to do these kind of logical reads, you know?

[00:15:19] And I was watching, you know, Gia playing to print my daughter to bring. I I leaned her, you know, it's so good, so good at that. That kind of off kilter comedy. I loved it. Yeah. So when did you get interested in acting? What was it?

[00:15:34] When did I get interested in acting as a kid? You know, I I love TV. I'm an only child and I have this story that I've told and I don't know if it's true anymore, but I've been telling it so long.

[00:15:50] It's true. I loved, by the way, I watched the original Star Trek. It repeats as a kid and it was around the time of Star Wars being popular. So I was obsessed with anything with the aliens and all that. And of course, Spock was my favorite.

[00:16:04] And I also watched Gilligan's Island. And and I remember saying to my dad, do they film that in an island every week? And he's like, no, Michael, they filmed that on a set. That was those are actors.

[00:16:18] That's there. And I was like, that is the greatest job in the world that you could do that. And and I remember learning as a very young age that William Shatner was Canadian and and that, you know, that you know, Leonard Nimoy was also, you know,

[00:16:37] an actor who wasn't really an alien and all that. And I it was a real favorite show of mine as a kid because they were, I don't know how to say it. It was like it was something you could do like like Shatner was Canadian.

[00:16:53] Right? I was like, oh, we can do that. And I also told this story recently to a friend, which is my other favorite show at the time was was happy days. And my mother bought me the unauthorized biography of Henry Winkler.

[00:17:06] And in it, there was a photo of him as at a private school, you know, as a kid and I realized he was just like me. And years later, I ended up meeting Henry Winkler at an audition for a sitcom.

[00:17:17] And I ended up doing a sitcom pilot with Henry Winkler. So it and he was as a child, the inspiration that you can do this. It's possible to do this. So yeah, as a very young age, I wanted to do it.

[00:17:30] And I started professionally at about 16, 17 in high school because in Vancouver at the time, they had started filming a lot of American TV shows. And the first show was show called 21 Jump Street. And they had done the pilot in my high school.

[00:17:48] If you guys remember what the premise of the show was, was about undercover cops in high school. Only because of the movie. I do I know that. But yeah, you only because of the movie. You're so much younger. I love that.

[00:17:59] So the premise of the show was undercover cops in high school. We're all extras from our, you know, 10th, 11th grade. And we see this guy walking down the hall with a leather jacket and like a five o'clock shadow.

[00:18:11] And we're like, this guy does not look like he's in high school. And that actor was the original actor to portray Tom Hansen, which Johnny Depp replaced him a few months later because they realized that that guy didn't look exactly young enough.

[00:18:27] And I was there, I think pretty much on Johnny Depp's first day when they did the reshoots with him and I met him in the hallway in front of my principal's office. And I started talking to him and he was wearing the same jacket as the other guy.

[00:18:39] And I said, are you an actor? And he goes, well, he goes, I'm more of a musician. I go, what's your name? He goes, Johnny, I got a band. I go, what's your band called? He says the Rock City Angels.

[00:18:50] And I'm like, all right, I'll look out for it. So a couple of weeks later, I got my first part on the show and I got into the transport van and he got in the front and he did a double take

[00:19:01] and he recognized me, says, hey, good for you. You got a part on the show. So that was an auspicious start to this business. And and I don't know what happened to him, but I never did hear his band. And I think the band took off this too.

[00:19:14] No, no, no. Yeah, not so much. Yeah. Well, great. And then you did you go to like acting school after that or how did you proceed? No, I you guys are asking me the tough question. I I stayed in high school. I was doing acting while in school.

[00:19:33] I did my first voice over cartoon at the time, which was Barbie and Ken, which was Barbie and the Rockers. And I was the voice of Ken. And for some reason it got in the Canadian news cycle that an all American was voiced by an all Canadian.

[00:19:49] And I ended up doing an interview much like this on midday, which is like good morning, America and Canada. And after that, I got known for doing kind of cartoons in Canada. So I was continuing to do that. I did G.I. Joe right at a high school.

[00:20:03] I did episode of Sonic the Hedgehog. And then I was still acting in high school. And then out of high school, I was like, I don't want to go to college. Even though you were supposed to do that.

[00:20:14] I won and I started and me and my two best friends at the time. I got us a job writing for a national television show. In Canada called Pilot One. And it was kind of a Saturday Night Live meets, I don't know.

[00:20:29] I don't know, Zoom, if you remember, Zoom, kind of a youth oriented stuff. And we did that for six months. And then and then it got canceled because of a strike. And I was like, this is out of my control. I should go back to school.

[00:20:43] So I went back to university, as we say in Canada. And I studied creative writing while I was still acting. And I did I did movies and voiceovers and TV shows while in in university in Canada.

[00:20:55] And I really had always wanted to kind of get to the next market in my mind, which was Los Angeles. And a year or two out of college, I ended up in LA on a kind of a it was like a pitch trip.

[00:21:10] I was going to go help this couple pitch a sitcom. And when I got there, they said, hey, they just postponed the meeting to Comedy Central for six weeks. Do you still want to do this practice pitch with us tonight with our agent? I said, sure, it's Hollywood.

[00:21:24] It could happen. Who knows? You know what? Who knows what could happen? So at that dinner that night, they introduced me to their agent and they introduced me that I was an actor from Canada.

[00:21:33] And I did a lot of voiceover in this woman looked at me for about two minutes. And she said, do you do a Middle Eastern accent? And I said, yes. And she says, there's a famous cartoon where they need someone who is Middle Eastern to do it.

[00:21:48] Anyway, long and short, I looked into that and the show was Johnny Quest. And I said, he's not Middle Eastern. He is Indian. And and they said same difference. And I said, welcome to Hollywood. And and then I said, they said, do you think you can do it?

[00:22:06] And I said, look, I said, I can do an Indian accent. But I know the show, the kids seven years old. I'm good, but I'm not that good. They go, he's 17 now. I go, that I could do. So that said into motion a couple of things.

[00:22:21] I was doing a show called Reboot at the time. And I asked the casting and the director of that show, Andreia Romano, if she could refer me to an agent in Los Angeles. And they did, which was ICM at the time.

[00:22:34] And they got me the audition and it got me into Los Angeles like I'd always wanted. And that brought me to Hollywood in 94, I guess. Yeah, January 95. I started and then I was starting all over again, trying to do this in LA. And it was ups and downs.

[00:22:52] And I went to grad school while I continued to act. And then I got out of that. And then I I basically at around 30 years old was like, I've not been able to get to the level I wanted to get to.

[00:23:06] And I decided to go to law school. So I applied to law school in Canada. I went back to Canada and one week into law school. September of 2001, World Event happened. And I realized that in a couple of months or a year,

[00:23:27] there'd be a lot of movies that would need a guy that looked like me. So you had that actual. I had that realization. Or sight full of you. Yeah, I mean, it was sad because I would always go to things like, well, you could be this.

[00:23:40] You could be that. But and that's what happened. So I decided to finish my degree. And in my last year of law school, I went back to LA for spring break. And I got a sitcom pilot with Henry Winkler. And and that was it.

[00:23:57] So then the next year I did one with Heather Graham that got picked up and that was canceled after one night. So you're you're you're hearing kind of an up and down story of how it goes. You get it and then it doesn't happen. Oh, it's great.

[00:24:08] Doesn't happen. So that is how I am. And here we are, you know, talking about the latest and the greatest, which was Strangely Worlds. Well, I do want to go back and touch on some of those things you said.

[00:24:21] But let's let's jump to a listener's question because it does kind of tie in with what you were talking about a bit. Sure. Here we go. Here is Jen. Hey, open pike. This is Jen. Thanks for having me for these interviews.

[00:24:32] I like to look up and rewatch previous work in addition to, you know, what we see on track. I didn't realize just how much of your work I'd already seen. Mostly the animation like reboot and exo squad from way back in the day. That that took me back.

[00:24:50] I see that you have a lot of live action and animation voiceover work. What are some difficulties or challenges and going between the two? Is there much of a difference in your approach when playing a character that's live action versus the voiceover?

[00:25:07] And what do you like most about voice work versus live action and vice versa? I know that was a lot of questions. So any who's I hope to see you again in future work and y'all have a good whatever.

[00:25:22] Jen, thank you very much for a well thought out question and for being a longtime fan, as you say. Oh, yeah. I'll tell you the thing I love most about voiceover is that I can play anything.

[00:25:37] OK, so like I was telling you, so often in film and TV, they'd be like, well, you don't look like you could be related to this character. You do look like you, you know, you don't look like we imagine this and that.

[00:25:48] Whereas in voiceover, you just go in and do it. And the other thing is, is that on some of the shows, I get to do more than one character. I mean, how often do you get to do that in film and TV?

[00:25:57] Unless you're Mike Myers or, you know, Jim Carrey or somebody like or Eddie Murphy. So I'm actually just starting a new animated series, which is a famous title. I can't tell you guys yet and I'm getting to play two characters in it.

[00:26:10] So I mean, I'm like I pinch myself sometimes that the kid in me is like, I can't believe I'm doing this. So that's the best part about doing animation is that you can play anything and more than one character in film and TV. You got to get there.

[00:26:26] You got to get there early. You got to you got to get your your makeup, your ears put on in this case. You got, you know, you got to shave. You got to learn the lines and and in voiceover,

[00:26:38] you get a lot more take sometimes like the cartoon that I'm doing right now. They're like, can you just do that line again? We'll pick it up. We'll put it in. Whereas you can't really do that in film and TV. It's more disruptive.

[00:26:49] Like you got to do the whole scene again or something like that. Like she said, you do have a lot of of credit. Do you know how many acting credits you have on IMDB? Well, I do know.

[00:27:00] I think it's like one sixty or something, but that is not accurate. One sixty four according to IMDB. Yeah. OK, one sixty four. But I'm saying some are in there, some are not in there.

[00:27:10] There are some that are not even me that someone else has attributed to me. OK, I'll take it. Take it. Well, let me know if I ask any questions about any of those. I love that. No, I always liken it to Canadian actors.

[00:27:24] It's a volume business, you know, really, which is you got to keep. You got to just keep working because, you know, in the States, one job and you set for life in Canada, you got to keep doing it. So I'm between, you know, Canada and Los Angeles.

[00:27:39] And I'm constantly going back and forth to just keep trying to stay in the game as it were. And I love voice over because it's definitely carried me through of the times where I was like, I don't know if I can do this anymore.

[00:27:53] By the way, that's that's the kicker, which is I had started law school and they called me and they said, hey, Reboot wants to redo the opening monologue of the show for this fourth season of it,

[00:28:07] which is kind of a Star Trek final frontier monologue, if you know. Yeah. OK, of the show. And and I said, well, I'm sorry, but I'm starting law school right now. And they said, don't worry about it.

[00:28:19] We can record you in downtown Winnipeg, which is where I was. And that's the thing, which is I could still do my own thing while still doing voice over like I didn't it didn't disrupt my life that much. I mean, the other thing about voice over,

[00:28:32] well, like you said, as you can play multiple characters in a show like Robot Chicken, where you play both Jesus and Ron Jeremy and Leonard Nimoy. I don't know if any actor has such a breadth of characters. I played Leonard Nimoy at that show.

[00:28:46] I think that's what your website said. Oh, wow. Even then I did, I guess. I don't know. It's a volume game. That's right. That's right. Right. The show with Robot Chicken is a great story, which is I was very good friends with Seth Green's girlfriend at the time.

[00:29:05] OK, friends and we were all hanging out and he decided to do this kind of new online animation show. It was called Sweet Jay Presents. And if you guys know the history, he had done an appearance on Conan O'Brien as stop motion.

[00:29:25] Somebody saw it at Sony and they said, we think we should do a series about this. And he decided he would do it. And I recorded all the first season of different characters of Sweet Jay Presents in this kind of garage in the Hollywood Hills.

[00:29:39] Nothing happened with that show a year or two later. Cartoon Network says we want to do it and we'll buy it from them. But you need to rerecord all of those things because Sony owns that. So Seth calls me up and says, hey, we're redoing.

[00:30:00] You know, Sweet Jay, it's going to be called Robot Chicken. And do you want to do it again? I can pay you this time. And I said, sure, sounds great. And he goes, the thing is, Michael, in the original version, we did the spoof of.

[00:30:15] Enter the dragon about Joey Fatone. It was called Enter the Fat One. You voiced Joey Fatone, Mr. Miyagi and Yakuza number two. We've now got Joey Fatone and Pat Merida. So you still want to do Yakuza number two? And I'm like, yes, of course.

[00:30:38] So a lot of the the voices I did on the original show were we're done later by much more famous people than me. And as the show became more and more successful, you can see as it increased in celebrity guest stars.

[00:30:56] So I think the first two or three seasons I did it. And if you have the DVD of the first season, that whole season of Sweet Jay is there. And I voice a lot more characters in the original. That was cool. Yeah. So.

[00:31:10] Yes, funny. I ran into Seth in an event maybe about a year ago. And I'm like, hey, man, I want to do more robot chickies. Like, yeah, I'm not in charge of that anymore. I don't know. So so Seth, if you're listening,

[00:31:21] I still want to do more. Absolutely. Yes, famously, Seth Green, big open pike night listeners. As far as I know where. Yes. Well, going back to to Barbie, then, I mean, did it feel like a big deal that you got? Ken is one of your first voiceover.

[00:31:37] It was a big deal in Canada. It was a bit it was funny and it was a big deal in Canada. And I think it was basically a pilot. They did two specials to do a series and they ended up not doing the series.

[00:31:50] And, you know, later did they do kind of the the home video movies that mainframe who created Reboot did, which were the kind of the CGI ones, which looked more like the real dolls. So it basically was a way of me starting

[00:32:09] voiceover and people pointing to me saying he can do the generic young hero, you know, non discernible accent. And then and then I was like, I can do other things. They're like, no, you are Ken, you are G.I. Joe, you are Bob Reboot. That was enough.

[00:32:28] That was enough. I that was enough for you. And then when I ended up going to the states with getting Haji after that, I couldn't get out of doing accents. They're like, no, you're Haji and you're going to do all the different accents.

[00:32:42] I'm like, hello, can I do both? But it's worked out now. There's kind of a steady balance. Well, I do have to ask about one of I think your first film role, which is Friday the 13th. Oh, yes, Jason takes Manhattan, not the best Friday the 13th installment,

[00:32:59] but not the worst. I quite like that one. You got to work with Kane Hodder. I mean, what can you tell me about that? Well, you know, Kane and I did extensive rehearsal periods. We really wanted to get to the heart of our characters.

[00:33:14] No, I met him on the set. I believe it was his first movie as Jason. And I will tell you this, I've said it in another interview. It was really interesting because when we auditioned for the film,

[00:33:30] they did not tell us it was a fraud of the 13th film. It was called Ashes to Ashes. And all mentions of Jason in the film were Ethan. And I still have that script.

[00:33:44] And I put up during COVID, I went through all my stuff I had from storage and I put up a couple of the screen caps of the script from 1988, whatever. And it was interesting because they had a fear that the fans of the show

[00:33:58] were into the occult and would come and do things on the set. And in Kane, I remember, was a stuntman that was then kind of given this stunt acting role. And if you've seen the film, my character is killed by having my head smashed into a pipe

[00:34:24] and the steam pipe. And then I didn't do that, thankfully. It was another stunt guy and that guy kind of got a scar from that. So I'm very thankful that it didn't do it. And I still remember that we filmed it over a couple of nights

[00:34:37] and it was the night because I watched it in my trailer that Rob Lowe sang with Snow White on the Academy Awards. That was the night we filmed that scene. And the movie came out very quickly after that. I think they really rushed those into the theaters.

[00:34:53] It was March until a few months later. And I remember those are the days where everybody who I knew wanted to see the movie with me. So I had to end up going to the movie a few, I don't know, five or six times.

[00:35:06] And and I didn't want to sit through it. It's a great film two or three times. OK. That's right. But you know, number five, you know, I walked out to get popcorn and come back at about an hour in when I when I reappear in the film.

[00:35:18] So, yes, it's it's interesting how the the longevity of those films. People still talk to me about it. It's amazing. Yeah, I mean, it's a big franchise and I've rewatched the scene and your face is smashed into a pipe. I don't know if that would kill you, though.

[00:35:34] I think you're in the very small club of people who have encountered Jason and survived. In fact, I want to see gangbanger number two come back in a reboot and you've got like, you know, you're a reboot. Oh, yeah. OK, yeah. You know what? I think you're right.

[00:35:49] I think you're right. His name actually, I do have a name in the film, even though the credits say gang, it's Jojo because the guy refers to me as Jojo. And I think you're right. I think it should be the wrath of Jojo and Jojo versus Jason.

[00:36:03] I think here for it. I'm there. I'm here for it. Yeah. There. Five or six times in the theaters, man, let's do it. So another franchise you were part of, Michael, of course, is the MCU, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Deadpool. Do you have any stories from Deadpool?

[00:36:19] First of all, I would as the comic book guy from The Sims, I would like to point out that it was not actually the Marvel Universe. When I did it, it was a 20th century Fox production of its own universe. OK, so good at that.

[00:36:33] Yes. So they had shot the movie. And they came back to do reshoots. And the movie at the time in production was called, as anybody know. No. Wham. Because they had the George Michael song. And yeah. So this role comes up for this Serbian warlord.

[00:36:59] And I am hearing about this and I tell my agent, I think I could do that. And she goes, all right, OK. And I get the script and I don't know who the scene is with. I'm imagining it is with Ryan Reynolds and I'm taping it.

[00:37:14] And I am envisioning him. And when I get to the set, it is not him. So when I get there, it is the actor Ed Skrine who plays Francis and he was fantastic. And that was one day of filming in Vancouver.

[00:37:31] And I'll tell you what's interesting about, you know, this business, which is I before I agreed to do this, I booked another part on a show called Beauty and the Beast, which was a much bigger part. And it was filming in Toronto.

[00:37:47] And it was going to conflict with this Deadpool. So I said to my agent, I really would like to do both. I really want to do this Deadpool movie. I think it could do something. I think this movie is going to do some because they didn't know

[00:38:02] it wasn't a huge movie. I mean, it was a movie, but it wasn't going to be what it ended up becoming. She's like, OK, so they worked it out. So I filmed that morning and I flew that night on a red eye to Toronto.

[00:38:13] And I filmed the next day. Wow, this is the beauty and the beast. But I made it happen that I wanted to do it because it almost wasn't going to work out. But I'm glad that I did.

[00:38:26] Yeah, did you ever get to meet Ryan Reynolds or I met Ryan Reynolds when he was about 12 years old? OK. At a recording session for a cartoon in Vancouver. And they said this kid has just come from Florida, where he was in this Disney soap opera or whatever.

[00:38:44] And I was like, and I was like this little pudgy kid. And then, of course, today he is the Deadpool and the Ryan Reynolds that we know. And I did not meet him on the movie.

[00:38:53] And I'm sure I will one day on another production or maybe another Deadpool movie. Yeah, my character comes back. He doesn't get killed. That's right. He is not killed. That's right. I mean, I could always ask also how is it working with Michael Bay?

[00:39:08] Wow, you're getting some good questions. That movie was Transformers 2. Revenge of the Fallen. Revenge of the Fallen. So interesting trivia for you, which is I'd auditioned for the film and don't hear anything and get a last minute phone call. Are you available tomorrow?

[00:39:31] I'm like, OK, can you do that? So they and they email me and they like, and can you translate this into Arabic? And I'm like, OK, I'll do my best. And then they said, I said, who's playing the other guy? And they tell me Kaz Anvar.

[00:39:52] And if you know the expanse, Kaz Anvar played Alex Kamal. This is prior to doing the expanse. So I knew Kaz as an actor in LA. We were both Canadian guys here. So I say to him, so I get I said, have him call me.

[00:40:12] So Kaz calls me and he's like, hi, I go. So Kaz, I've translated the stuff. I've got it translated. I'm going to email you the Arabic translation and we'll do this. And he's like, OK, OK, he's being very kind of tentative with me.

[00:40:31] And after a minute or two, he's like, is this Michael Bay? Right. And I go, no, this is Michael. Ben, you're just like, oh my God, they said they want Michael wants you to call him. So we get to the set and

[00:40:50] we we we kind of run over our lines and Michael Bay shows up and he's got a reputation of being an excitable guy. So so we meet him on the set and he says, I understand one of you guys pulled an all nighter translating the stuff.

[00:41:11] He go and I go, yes, sir. He goes, do you do you speak it? And I'm like, not fluently, but I know my lines. He goes, OK, and he grieves me his phone. He goes, this is that this is the translator. Do it with him on the phone.

[00:41:25] So I start doing it with the translator and the guy's like, that's good. That sounds good. That's too formal. Change this change that. And I'm doing this on a handwritten thing. We go over. We do the scene as written and Michael Bay says, OK,

[00:41:41] good, but I don't like this and this. And then he grabs Kaz's script and Kaz has printed up all of the alternates that I've given him, not the lines that we've learned. And then Michael Bay says, I don't like this.

[00:41:54] I don't like this. You take this, you take this. And then the three new lines that we have not practiced at all. OK, and I go and I'm like, what are you doing to me? OK, I'm looking at Kaz. Why did you bring this? Right.

[00:42:06] So so he goes, OK, so we do the scene. Kaz is on the phone. I'm on the phone and I say my line and then I roll my chair over. I say something to him. I come back, I pick up one phone, I get another phone.

[00:42:17] And I don't know what the hell I'm saying. And I'm reading them off of the script, which I've left on my desk. I wear a Egyptian interpole and and I'm looking down. So Michael Bay comes over, he says, that was great.

[00:42:31] That was great. He goes, but you he goes, why are you looking down? I go because I don't know what I'm saying. He goes, I don't give a shit. Look out, look out when you're saying it. I'm like, oh, my God.

[00:42:40] So in between the scene in the middle of the scene, I do the thing and come down. I look at it to try to memorize this thing. I'm going to say a second later and I look out and I do it.

[00:42:49] And a couple of times I invert the Arabic and this and that. So anyway, we come and then they go, we're going to break for lunch. OK, right? I'm like, OK. And then they come over and Michael Bay goes off to do something else.

[00:43:01] And the guys come and they're going to do the close up of me. And then they're kind of angling it. And I say, can you see this in my desk? And they go, yeah, I go, this is my script. I don't want you to see this.

[00:43:12] Right. And I go, OK, so if I move it over here, will you see it? They go, no. So then that close up of me saying that line is me reading it off of a cue card off camera. And thankfully, Bay wasn't there to oversee that.

[00:43:25] And we got through it and we made it into the final cut. And and years later, Kaz, you know, returned the favor and he got me referred to the expanse and I ended up playing Arjun on the expanse, which helped me get Star Trek. So from Transformers.

[00:43:41] Which helped me get Star Trek. Exactly. That's so cool. That is yeah. And consummate professional, right? Like, man, you made it work. You found a way to make it right under pressure. That's why did they ask you to translate into Arabic? It's a two hundred million dollar movie.

[00:43:58] They don't have the money. They got to save money where they can. Right. No, what happened was the the act, the actors, the actors that had been cast were not available because Shia LaBeouf had broken his arm and hand in a car accident the day before.

[00:44:18] They had to reschedule and the two guys that they had originally cast were not available, but they went to their second choices, which was myself and Kaz. It's Hollywood. You never know what will happen. That's Hollywood. You never know what's going to happen.

[00:44:27] So we landed on our feet and we're still here. And those of you out there channeling your inner comic book guy. Yes, there are two other Star Trek connections in Revenge of the Fall. And of course, Rainn Wilson and the inimitable Tony Todd. All right.

[00:44:45] Johnny Quest, I believe you got to work with Mark Hamelon, correct? The first day. What? Yeah. So I. It was a told you it was a big deal for me. I'd moved to California for this job and I didn't know how long it would

[00:45:01] take to get to the studio. Hannah Barbera, the same studio they did, you know, Scooby Doo and the Flintstones, all this stuff. So I drive there and I'm there about 20 minutes early and I'm sitting in the casting office and I'm early

[00:45:16] and the casting director, her name was Chris Zimmerman, said to her assistant, make sure Mark Hamel has all the sides. And I said, I beg your pardon. And she said, Mark Hamel, I said, as in Star Wars. And she said, yeah, I said, oh my God.

[00:45:33] And she's like, what's wrong? I said, you don't understand. I was 24 years old. I said, I said, I'm 24 years old. I said every day of my life from 1977 to 1982 was obsessed with Star Wars. I had the bedspreads. I had the curtains.

[00:45:48] I had the comic book, everything, the trading cards. And I said, and this guy is going to she goes, yeah, he's going to be here today. You have a bigger part than him. She says, do you know who Robert Patrick is? I said, yeah.

[00:45:59] And she says, he's going to be here every week. I said, well, I said in all fairness, I said, he was famous after I was a kid, so it's not big of a deal. But but yeah, that Mark Hamel was there the first day.

[00:46:13] And I just couldn't believe it. And we were sitting in a rehearsal room reading through it. And he was doodling on his script. And then there was a couple of minutes, like a minute walk to the studio.

[00:46:25] We did it. And on my drive home, I said to myself, you know, Michael, you fantasize as a kid, what you'd say to this guy if you ever met him. And, you know, it was kind of like, you know, Chris Farley,

[00:46:36] stupid, stupid, stupid, you should have said this thing. You know, and if you ever see him again, you got to ask those questions. He's there the next day. OK. So I say, I get up the courage in the same time,

[00:46:48] you know, that walk between the rehearsal to the studio. I said, Mark, I said, as a kid, I heard this rumor that when you signed to do Star Wars, you got one piece of merchandise made, everything made in accordance with the film. Is that true?

[00:47:05] He said, yes, it is true. And I was like, wow. And he said, well, when we signed to do the movie, we thought there'd be a soundtrack and a book. We didn't think there'd be toothbrushes and all this kind of stuff. I was like, wow, wow.

[00:47:17] And I said, so I heard that you got so much stuff that you put it into like like an airplane hangar. He goes, well, not an airplane hangar, a storage space. Yes. He goes, I got so much stuff. I was like, wow, is that true?

[00:47:29] He's like, yeah, yeah. I go, so what did you do with that? All he says, well, I have kids. I had a daughter and I gave them the action figures and my daughter shaved Princess Leia's head too. Right? So I was like, wow.

[00:47:42] And this was just before they were going to do kind of the new movies in 96. So he says, they're going to do movie. I said, are you going to be in it? He goes, I don't know. We're talking. I don't know. This and that.

[00:47:53] And then I really gave him this extra credit thing to show what a fan I was. I said, if you were on an episode, I said of amazing Steven Spielberg's amazing stories, is that what it was called? Yeah, I believe. Yeah, amazing stories.

[00:48:08] And you played a guy who was a collector as a kid where this this kind of gnome tells them that one day he'll be rich. He goes, that's right. And I said, and at the you you're a hoarder. You keep all this stuff.

[00:48:22] And at the end of the episode, you're kind of a homeless guy living in the desert with this jalopy with all these things that you've you've you've collected over your lifetime. And then they bring them to auction at the and at the auction,

[00:48:33] the little gnome kind of is the guy, you know, you know, setting bids on it and you become rich as an old man. And he goes, oh, that's right. I go, is that like a reference

[00:48:42] to like holding on to collector stuff and Star Wars and this and that? And he's like, I didn't think of that. But maybe maybe you're right. Maybe you're right. So I think I may have overstepped my star wars stand in that place.

[00:48:55] But yeah, that was basically a bucket list. And the other one was was was Fonzie bucket list. And and there's one more, which is to work with Steven Spielberg as an actor. But, you know, still time for that depth. By the way, Star Trek was on my list.

[00:49:14] And I always wanted to be a Vulcan. Because I always I always had an affinity with Leonard Nimoy and and his performances. I don't know if you guys remember in the 70s, he also hosted a show called in search of. Do you know this?

[00:49:34] Bagley, I'm aware of it. Yeah. So it was basically kind of an unexplained mysteries and he would kind of come out and be the narrator and host of this this show kind of, you know, weird phenomenon and all that. And I used to love watching that as well.

[00:49:47] And I have to tell you this. When I got this, the call that I booked this job, I told my mother and she's never reacted like this ever in my life for anything I booked.

[00:50:01] And the only thing I know this is audio, it's the meme of Jonah Hill from I think it's Wolf of Wall Street. Oh, my God. Like, kind of like, it's happening. And she just got so, so excited. And she she says, I always said you're like a Vulcan.

[00:50:18] So you're welcome, mom. And thank you, mom, that I am like a Vulcan. And so that was definitely a bucket list for me. Nice. That is very cool. And I'll be honest, Michael, I could probably just spend the rest of our time talking to you about Reboot.

[00:50:34] But we're a Star Trek show, so we're not going to do that. But I do. I did notice, I mean, your whole career is like this tapestry of interwoven things that you were interested in and then things that fell in your lap and things that you worked for.

[00:50:49] I mean, Reboot, like you said, it has kind of a Star Trek intro. I know there's an episode with a character who carries a lightsaber and talks like William Shatner. Like, right. I was a huge, huge Reboot fan.

[00:51:01] And I think it really helped bring computer animation into the mainstream for TV, you know, like you can do this on a weekly budget. You can make a quality show. What was what did it feel like to work on that show just kind of overall?

[00:51:16] And was there anything different about playing, you know, like a hero for a younger audience versus, you know, just to throw it out there like gangbanger number two? Well, thank you. Yeah, it's interesting if I played a lot of bad guys and villains on on camera.

[00:51:36] And I think that's because, you know, I explain it to my mom and my girlfriend, which is when it's cops and robbers show, you got to be the robber when you're the guest star. Do you follow what I'm saying?

[00:51:48] Either you're MacGyver or you're the guy that MacGyver fights. Right. So whereas in VoiceOver, you know, I was a young actor. I was in Vancouver at the right place at the right time. And I really approached Bob on Reboot as a Spider-Man-esque

[00:52:07] character in the sense that he was thrust into this position of being a hero unprepared and kind of finding his way into it. Not exactly greatest American hero, but almost almost that kind of comedic sense. And it's funny, they're they're just doing a documentary series about Reboot.

[00:52:28] And I just did the interview a few months ago. And we talked about this a lot. And I especially the first couple of seasons of Reboot I viewed it as a sitcom for me. That my my my reads were Seinfeld, Jr., if it will. Right.

[00:52:45] You know, so there was there was a there was a diner like Seinfeld and Seinfeld was very big at the time. So I I did it like that. And also you were a kid, I'm assuming, watching the show

[00:52:59] that Bob was the big brother, the cool big brother to the audience watching. Yeah. And they were Enzo and there was the kind of the big sister or the mom character in Dot. So I did I was aware of being

[00:53:15] a good role model, as it were, as a voice. And I think that came through. And I think that was part of the appeal of the show. And I've done a few conventions in Canada and got to meet the fans first hand.

[00:53:27] And I heard a lot of that, you know, the people watch it as a family and that they, you know, they had a crush on Bob or they wanted to be like Bob.

[00:53:38] And and I think we did a good job in that sense so that I think it came through. Yeah, that's that's really cool to hear. I mean, that show, I, you know, a lot of kids TV shows are,

[00:53:49] I don't know, I don't want to, you know, pigeonhole that. But they're very simple. And I feel like Reboot was one of the first youth oriented shows that was pretty brainy. I mean, the concepts were, you know, high sci-fi.

[00:54:01] And I credit it with getting me into Star Trek along with my dad because it was like, yeah, I love sci-fi. I watched Reboot and my dad's like, I don't know what that is. But that character is definitely a Shatner pastiche. And I'm like, who is William Shatner?

[00:54:17] Then right. He sat me down and we watched all the movies. So that is that is wonderful to hear. And I can't wait to watch that documentary. I didn't even know that was happening. Yeah, yeah. Definitely want to check that out. You're American, you guys, right?

[00:54:30] You're all American. Yes, sir. Alaskan. So, you know, there's a little bit of value. Canadian. Don't steal Canadian Valor. Don't steal Canadian Valor. You're a hybrid. But in Canada, they played Reboot three times a day on a channel called YTV, which was youth television.

[00:54:45] And it played for five years, three times a day. So in Canada, there's a very large fan base. And in America, it's kind of it was only on the US, I think a couple of seasons on Saturday mornings.

[00:54:58] And then a couple years later, it was on Cartoon Network. But in Canada, definitely a whole generation is really into Reboot. So that's why the producers of this are two Canadian fans that have turned their fandom into actually a docu-series. But it's great to hear that they're Americans

[00:55:15] who are also watching it and being affected as well. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It was a regular Saturday morning for me too. So that's great. Yeah. Well, one more question about your career before Star Trek. And then we'll jump back in.

[00:55:27] And you can answer no comment on this if you feel you need to. I understand. But I have to ask, you've worked with Uwe Boll. And what was that experience like? Wow. I'm postal. You guys really did your research.

[00:55:41] And when I say you did the research, you looked at the IMDb. No, that's right. And Wikipedia. And Wikipedia. Now, Uwe is a great guy. I got to tell you, I did not only one movie where I had a big part in it called Postal.

[00:55:54] I did two other movies for Uwe after that because he just called me up and says, do you want to do this movie? You know, so I think that Postal is actually pretty funny. If you've seen Postal, I haven't seen Postal. I've heard it's it is.

[00:56:10] Yeah, I've heard it's a good time. OK, so as you know, Uwe had been. Called the worst filmmaker in the world at the time, the Edward of that time and that my favorite story about him was that someone registered Uwe Bull.com.

[00:56:27] And then when you went to it, it says, please stop making movies. OK, so I mean, that is a major burn. But he's got the last laugh. He's still he's still working. That's true. He's a great guy.

[00:56:38] But he he was so busy that when he was directing that movie, he was producing two other movies while we were filming. So he was on his Blackberry at the director's chair and like, OK, action like, you know, this kind of stuff.

[00:56:52] So and if you see the movie, there are full scenes there that they were like, he's like, just make it up. And like we kind of like made up this whole sequence. And then when I went to do the looping or the ADR in the movie,

[00:57:05] they're like, well, what did you say here? And I said to the woman, I said, didn't someone write it down? Like like a continuity first? And she's like, no. And I'm like trying to figure out what I remember vaguely of what I had said.

[00:57:17] And I had to kind of figure out what I said in this improvised scene and then kind of loop it from from, you know, a wide shot. It was quite something. But I think Uva is misunderstood. I think he is maligned unnecessarily.

[00:57:33] And he gave a lot of people a lot of work. And that movie postal is pretty funny. It's basically an R rated mad, mad, mad, mad world is what it is. So thanks, Uva, if you're listening. Another one of our big listeners. Yes. You never know. All right.

[00:57:53] So we are going to jump straight into charades here because we are ostensibly a strange new world's podcast. But right, you know, we want to get to know the person, not just not just the role. So I think we're going to start this section off

[00:58:08] with a question from our friend David Jones, who was an extra in season two episode eight under the cloak of war. Is this recorded, John? Or is this a written only? There's just a write in from him. All right.

[00:58:20] He says, hi, Michael, great work on charades, by the way. As someone who is in strange new worlds, too, what was your feeling like when they sat you down in the makeup chair and they put the Vulcan ears on you for the first time?

[00:58:32] And what was your experience like walking on to the set? OK, first of all, I think I remember his work. He was very good as the cloaked figure. That was season one, episode eight. Is that two season two? Oh, no, I'm a soldier. That was another guy.

[00:58:49] It was another guy. OK. No, I kid, by the way, I did extra work when I was younger. There is no shame in that. You got to get in the game somehow. I want to caveat this by reminding everybody listening

[00:59:04] that this was at the height of COVID protocols. OK, so that we would. Be isolated. You could not interact with people. You had to eat your lunch by yourself in your trailer. Like, you know, you were some kid with leprosy or something like that.

[00:59:22] Right. You could not interact with people. So the people putting on the makeup were wearing masks and I don't see their faces. OK, and they were having full conversations with me.

[00:59:35] So but I did record with my my my I have a video of it of him putting on the ears and they also they also do. They adjust your eyebrows. They they do something with the eyebrows. So that was fantastic.

[00:59:54] And, you know, there was a little figure of Leonard Nimoy, a spot kind of sitting in the makeup trailer watching down on us doing it. So that was surreal. I mean, to get to the set, you basically are holding

[01:00:09] because they didn't want to walk us back and forth was the transporter room. So we're sitting in the transporter room in these, you know, actor chairs and it's me, Elora, Gia, Mia, Mia Kirschner and Ethan Peck.

[01:00:27] Now, I have to say this, you're getting me into the flow of things. So Mia, I had met. I'd say 20 years earlier in Vancouver when she was doing the L word and we had a common friend from UCLA, a girl who'd gone to UCLA.

[01:00:45] And we were in Vancouver at the same time when we all kind of got together for like a lunch and I had met her then and she would she Vegas like, oh, I remember that. So we had met years earlier.

[01:00:55] So it was good to see her and we kind of reconnected. And the small, small world is I didn't realize that Ethan Peck was Gregory Peck's grandson until I Googled it. And when I got to the set, I told him, I said, this is a really small world.

[01:01:09] I said, and I know exactly when it was, I said in late 1999, I met Gregory Peck outside the downtown library in Los Angeles because I was producing a pitch reel, if you guys are ex files fans with my friend, Dean Haglund, one of the lone gunmen.

[01:01:29] Oh, yeah, we were going to sell a show about the fear of Y2K. So we were filming something downtown and through our camera, we see there's a couple having lunch on the outdoors. And as I'm kind of zooming, I realize it's Gregory Peck.

[01:01:46] Right? So I go, this is crazy. And I have it on camera somewhere. So I go over to him and we speak to him for a couple of minutes. And probably my mother's favorite actor of all time, Gregory Peck.

[01:01:56] Right? So I said, I just have to meet you and he's like, I'm going to meet you. He's his wife. And when I told this to Ethan, he's like, yeah, he goes, my grandfather used to read publicly at the library downtown. He goes, I was probably there.

[01:02:11] I was there for many of these events. So we we hit it off on that. And we talked a lot about that. And he had a lot of friends that I knew in LA from acting school and all that.

[01:02:22] So it was a good kind of hang on the transporter deck between, you know, filling these scenes. And we're in these very restrictive costumes, as you can see, and and that the walk between the waiting area

[01:02:42] to where we would film in Pike's quarters was about a three minute walk. And then we would have to put on a face guard mask to not infect anybody while walking through and then remove it again and act.

[01:02:56] So even though we were kind of acting with each other, we could not have that up all the time and kind of hang out. You know, this couple of days we were filming

[01:03:05] and it got very late and we kind of got loopy as I think Elora told you. We were kind of we were we were losing it. And yeah. And also, Anson, near the end, he was kind of isolated from us for some reason.

[01:03:19] And then we chatted a lot at the end and he was a cool guy as well. But it was not like filming most shows because of this the protocol of covid at the time. So both you and Elora were tasked with embodying

[01:03:37] a lot of classic sitcom in law troops through that that Vulcan filter. And the chemistry between you two is really what sells a lot of that were you you had mentioned it a little bit, but were you consciously thinking about that in regards to your performance?

[01:03:53] Or would you say most of it was there in the script and just ready to go? Yeah, I mean, it's definitely in the script. And also it was in the she was so strong as that character, you follow what I'm saying.

[01:04:10] And to me to try to do anything as strong as that, it would not have worked as well, the kind of the disparity, the juxtaposition. So I just hung back and said the lines as they as they were written. And sometimes I would give a reaction,

[01:04:26] sometimes I wouldn't give a reaction. And the editor is also a part of this. They decide or the director and the editor decide what to include at the producer of what which takes to use. So it's it's really a collaborative effort,

[01:04:40] if I'm sure people tell you, but it's it's a collaborative effort. And I did have to decide as, you know, I do so much voiceover. I had to decide to do what kind of voice am I going to do for this guy?

[01:04:50] Right. Am I going to do the flat Spock voice? Am I going to do that? And it just didn't seem, for lack of a term, as expressive. If I did that, it would have just been a lot of yes, yes,

[01:05:05] everybody would have been talking this way, you know. So I decided to kind of go with that mid Atlantic. Kind of the 60s style. By the way, I definitely researched this. When I got this, I dove in, I watched a mock time.

[01:05:20] I'm aware of the timeline of what happens later, all this kind of stuff. So I was really pleased with the way it turned out. I mean, it was very, it was very funny. And I and I joked with, you know, we do have a Vulcan family group chats.

[01:05:36] Not a Laura mentioned, it's not her family. It's the Vulcan family. It's myself, Alora and Gia. We have the Vulcan family chat. And I said, I think the time is right for the spin off. Meet the Vulcans. I think that that I mean, listen, it's not crazy.

[01:05:51] It's not crazy. And and I really enjoyed watching it. Just kind of the analogy of intercultural marriage, whether it is a culture or religion, a country, which is people are, well, how you got to know how to do this for my parents? You have to figure this out.

[01:06:12] You have to do that, you know? And and I've seen it myself and my own family and I've seen it in other people's families and they it's just a great analogy. And I was going for a walk yesterday with a friend in Los Angeles

[01:06:26] who some a child was a huge Star Trek fan and he met Leonard Nimoy and told him how much of someone he was of mixed race that he felt that that someone who was mixed race was the first time

[01:06:40] he'd seen it as Spock was half human, half Vulcan. And Leonard Nimoy told him I've never heard that before. I've heard of a lot of other things, but he'd never heard the specific you're showing me as a mixed race person.

[01:06:55] And this episode showed up more than ever, I think, which and I think that that is a big part of why this episode succeeds so much. Agreed. And I mean, another big part of it, of course, as you mentioned, is the to bring to prill Savette family.

[01:07:12] And to that end, we actually do have a question for you from Elora. What? Yeah, there we go. OK, well, I'll give a general one for everyone. What was their favorite part of working together? The to bring family. OK, the main step to any of attention.

[01:07:30] We don't need to mention that we'll talk about just us. We love them, but, you know, like, what was their favorite moment to play, I guess, in the in the episode? This is great because I just rewatched the episode so I can say this with some

[01:07:45] specificity. My favorite moment was not scripted, which I just I just saw it again now, which was where the Laura says. Something and I kind of nod agreeingly. What was it where she's like, she says a good a good Vulcan knows how to hold their resilient bladder.

[01:08:09] I can't believe I didn't ask Elora about that line. And and I and I kind of get that's right. I give this kind of that's right. And I'm like, that's great that that even happened so naturally. So I mean, everything she did was was so great.

[01:08:23] And kind of the because you do it so many times on the set, you don't know how they're going to intercut it. Right. But which is the I think these are delicious treats and then she's like, I don't think so. I'm like me neither.

[01:08:33] You know, that whole thing is it's just so well put together with her performance. It's the cutting everything. So and by the way, I'm and I'm when I'm watching it again, like like Pike's micro expressions, like his eyebrows and this and that, like it's hilarious.

[01:08:53] And yeah, when we got to the the charades and he said he said sounds like what did we do the sounds like? Are you since two syllables? Yeah, two syllables sounds like. And so I think we it was really late when we got to this.

[01:09:09] And then I don't know if, you know, they do like the reverses on me later, like they do different angles. So it's hours later. So then I was like, I think I really wanted to pull my ear.

[01:09:21] But then I but they were like, no, that might fall off or whatever. So but I do want to say this right now for anybody putting conventions. I mean, it's a no brainer play charades with the cast of the episode of charades at your convention.

[01:09:36] Come on, guys, let's do it. So, you know, so, you know, everything I did with the Lord was great. And Gia, she's just a lot of scenes just with with Spock. So we didn't see those while they were filming it.

[01:09:51] And when I'm watching it, I'm like, oh, she's so good. You and and Anson Mount both, I think, ended up in like a similar space with we're going to do a lot of this through micro expressions and just, you know,

[01:10:04] like reactions and yeah, that and how many syllables did this human use? I was like, right. This is as funny as you get in a Star Trek, right? Like for sure. I love that. Yeah. All right. Well, let's go ahead and get another caller question in here.

[01:10:19] John, this is our very good friend and excellent supporter and caller Abby. Hey, open pike and Michael, this is Abby summer from the first flight podcast. First of all, I love that you guys are doing this little mini arc of people

[01:10:33] who worked on charades because what a brilliant episode it has rapidly risen in the ranks of my favorites to watch when I just need something fun and comforting. It has a little heart behind it. So, Michael, I wanted to ask you and something that I asked your space

[01:10:49] wife when she was on previously is could you please talk a little bit about the costuming in this episode and how it helped you find the character and how it helped you feel that vulcaness. And you also had some incredibly good face acting in this changes from

[01:11:06] one opinion to another, depending on who you were talking to. Can you talk a little bit about that? So thank you all for all of your wonderful work. And I hope that we all talk soon and that you're well. Bye. Thank you. That was a great question. Questions.

[01:11:21] I think we've already touched on the facial expressions were I would give variations of it when we did it like bigger, smaller, less, nothing. And it is interesting that she brings up the costumes. As I mentioned earlier, they're very constricting the outfits.

[01:11:40] I could not eat in that outfit. I wouldn't even dare to because you don't want to get it dirty or whatever. But it definitely improved my posture. And it I entered it through the back, if that makes any sense. And then they would zip it up behind me.

[01:11:58] And I also had boots, certain like kind of, you know, very kind of, you know, Jean Simmons type boots. So that was good. And it's like wearing a jacket backwards. Does that make any sense? Like wearing a jacket backwards.

[01:12:15] So you definitely don't feel like you're wearing your regular clothes. And that makes any sense, you know? And when you're standing on the Starship Enterprise, you are aware that you're not just in Vancouver or Kansas anymore, you know?

[01:12:32] So it definitely all of it being there helps to create the reality that this is happening. Do they when you're come on for a day or two of acting and you don't have any scenes onto the bridge,

[01:12:45] should they still let you go on the bridge and send the captain's chair? Oh, yeah, I flew that vessel to like, yeah, Uranus. No, you know, I had it. I walked around, I videotaped it. I I recorded it and I walked all around.

[01:13:00] I went to the different set. I wanted to see it. OK. And I'm trying to think, is it close to when we did the expense? No, it was a different, different city because on the expense as well, I would go to see the different

[01:13:12] sets and all that. And that was pretty cool. Yeah, got it. And we're going to follow that up with another question from a caller. This time is our good friend, Captain Idol from Trek Time. Hello, Captain Idol from Trek Time here.

[01:13:27] Just a quick question for my favourite Vulcan father figure of 2023. In the scene with Captain Pike, Civette seemed incredibly interested in the delicacies that he had been served. If the matriarchal might of to Pring's mother had not been looming over them,

[01:13:39] do you think Civette and Pike would have had a good evening drinking trannia, eating canopies? And what do you think they would have talked about to the wee hours of the night? Thank you. Wow, that's a good voice, first of all, whoever that person is.

[01:13:52] Yes, and I want to answer his question, but I also want to talk about the food that I actually ate. But I will mention that after this. OK. So it's funny, I rewatched the episode and something I didn't pick up

[01:14:10] when I first watched because I was too nervous about my performance coming up was my character was friends with Spock's father, correct? Which is why I'm kind of rooting for this relationship to work. I think that. Had Civette and Pike, you know, hung out together,

[01:14:32] I would be probably my character be more friendly and kind of talk about the culture, the Vulcan culture, as opposed to human culture. And I would probably regale him with tales of Spock's father and very much like my own father talking about, you know, his upbringing,

[01:14:52] telling people, you know, I just kind of like that, I think. Yeah, there was a bit of my father in in Civette when I think about it, actually. And we actually have a question specifically from a caller about that food

[01:15:03] that you got to eat. So we'll queue that up right here. This is our friend and patron, Elizabeth. This is Elizabeth, longtime listener, first time caller on Open Pike and very excited about the Vulcan family interviews that we're getting.

[01:15:17] I can't wait to hear about Michael Binyer's career and stories and what it was like on set. On that note, did anyone actually get to play charades? How was the food? It sounded crunchy, tantalizing, but was it actually that salty? We had such a fun time watching Civette,

[01:15:34] who is essentially the Vulcan version of a golden tree or personality, contrasted with the very typically stoic other Vulcans in the room, which made it really fun to kind of apply that and read more background context into the Prince character

[01:15:49] and how much like her mother she can be and uptight about life and keeping things straight, but has that kindness and openness and willing to go with along with a certain level of hijinks. Wonderful question. She sounds like a nice person, but she really is.

[01:16:04] How was the food? I think we were all wondering. I'm trying to remember what there was a fruit portion and there was a kind of a curly queue. I want to say like a Dorito, which was basically but it was like slightly soggy Dorito texture.

[01:16:23] So I didn't know until I got there if I was going to be eating something or whatever, you know, and I didn't know what it was going to be because in the script it said something and then and then I got there.

[01:16:35] So it was basically like I want to say like a kumquat or like kind of like a round like a fruit that wasn't a common North American fruit with with like a pick in it and this curly queue of a slightly soggy Dorito chip

[01:16:56] like curly cured Dorito chip. So I was like, do I eat a bit of it? Do I put the whole thing in my mouth? And there really was no time to get into the, you know, my new shy of it.

[01:17:06] So we did it and then I did it. And then I actually had a full mouth before I had my line. Like I couldn't eat that like and people were talking, right? So then I'm like making eating sounds and I'm trying not to

[01:17:19] like eat make eating sounds over their lines because everybody, you know. So it was kind of a trial by fire on that. And when I watched it again, I was like, I think they amplified the crunch sound of what I did.

[01:17:35] But I think it was like a hybrid of what it was and what it wasn't. And it wasn't delicious. I'll be honest with you, it wasn't delicious. But I did have to chew it and swallow it to get to my lines. So I did that.

[01:17:51] And that's regarding the food, the actual food that it was. How many takes did you have to do? How many times did you have to eat it? I want to say six. I want to say six. I'm completely wrong.

[01:18:05] I'm sure someone knows out there that someone the book is going to come out. It was not six. It was whatever. So but it was definitely real, you saw a real eating. You saw somebody really eating something and trying to be polite about it.

[01:18:24] So that was that was real. And then, yeah, I've got to say like yours and Pike's relationship. I was so invested in a spin off show again once again. How much percent? Come on. And I was so disappointed that you guys never got to play

[01:18:37] charades together. Was there any charades behind the scenes that you play? I thought that I felt. Like, why wouldn't we play charades? Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Is it just too much? Is it just too funny like for the show?

[01:18:52] Like is it because they had that whole comedy bit with him and the and the other crew members like impersonating him and all that? I think it would have been hilarious. But I guess it just leaves something for us to do in person,

[01:19:03] like I said, at all the conventions. That's right. There was no charades playing once again. We couldn't step six feet closer to each other. Oh, geez. So you had mentioned that you were fully aware of the whole situation

[01:19:20] with to bring in Spock as well as Sarek, that sort of a thing. Was there any other backstory that you kind of built out for your character internally involving Sarek or, you know, how maybe how Civette feels about humans and maybe Sarek is part of that

[01:19:34] interest in humans with the human wife? I think it was all in the script, like you're saying, which is why would this guy? Kind of like a puppy, like I said, go on his own and then be reigned in by this wife.

[01:19:49] So that obviously he's a curious person. He is a friendly person. And oh, by the way, sorry to stop this question, which is the hair. OK, so when I get cast in the role, I'm like, am I going to get the Spock hair? Right, because OK.

[01:20:08] And then I googled are there bald Vulcans? OK. And of course, there were a couple of bald Vulcans. OK. But I'm like, maybe they're going to give me the hair still, you know? And when I got there, they said

[01:20:23] there was discussion. We're just going to leave it as you. Right. I'm like, OK, which is kind of better for my career, which is people will recognize me, etc. But I was kind of secretly hoping for the Spock haircut. That sounds like a sentiment that Alora agrees with.

[01:20:40] She was like, why were there no bull cuts? That's right. Right. Right. But she said that they tried out different haircuts on her. So I mean, nobody even showed me the bull cut on on my listen. I have been aware of Spock's, you know, back story for,

[01:20:56] I don't know, 40 years, right? And I even remember I have the flyer for going to search for Spock. I went to see that as a teenager, somebody invited me. I have the I have the one page that I went a preview screening of it.

[01:21:07] So and as a kid, as an actor, I always felt that that was a role I could somewhat realistically play like someone wouldn't say to me, you can't play Spock. Like, I guess you could be Spock. And here I am. I'm playing a like a Vulcan type creature.

[01:21:24] So I wasn't wrong. But I did the research that was required of the episode, which is I went to see if my character appeared in a mock time. So does he appear? There is some kind of guy that could be him. It doesn't really say anything.

[01:21:46] But her mother character is definitely there. And I'm aware of the original timeline, which is they don't end up getting married. So this takes place before that. A mock time episode, who knows if there will be more storyline, including us up until that happens.

[01:22:10] They've got a few years to go here. I don't know. And someone's brought up the fact that maybe they'll redo a mock time with Gia and him and maybe they'll include us. I don't know. But I definitely did my due diligence, as they say in the law,

[01:22:27] about trying to understand Sevet as much as possible. And they did and they gave a lot of information of the of the kind of the cultural things that they were doing in the episode. There was a lot in it. How they describe the character in the casting.

[01:22:41] They said, we're looking for a Michael Benyer type. Oh, my God, Michael Benyer. How fortuitous. Yeah. I'm sorry, I don't recall. Because they didn't they wouldn't say Vulcan. Right. They say that they're like, this guy is this but this but this, you know,

[01:22:58] I recently auditioned for a show and they said this guy's almost Vulcan like. And I said to my agent, hello. I didn't I didn't get it. But I was like, hello. But sorry, your question was what was that?

[01:23:14] Oh, I was just going to say if there is anything that we as fans can do to help get more to Pril and more Sevet into strange new worlds, please let us know because we are at your service. Yes, absolutely. Likewise, likewise.

[01:23:27] It was great fun and you know, what's better than doing an episode of Star Trek? Two episodes of Star Trek or other episodes of Star Trek. So I mean, I'm glad that I held out like I said, I didn't do the alien guy and whatever.

[01:23:42] Now, yeah. So are we Cameron. Did you want to close this section out? Yeah, well, I mean, you've done a lot leading up to this. A lot of franchises we've talked about that you've been in. You've been in a Star Wars video game even.

[01:23:54] Yes. What's left on your bucket list? I mean, working with Spielberg, he said any any other things you have your sights on? The whole the whole dream was to do a sitcom, to do a series regular on a sitcom. And I've done a couple of pilots.

[01:24:09] I've gotten closer on other things. And I, you know, I want to do a show that goes for several years so that it's, you know, something that I am proud of. Are you actively seeking out Star Wars shows? Star Wars. I did the voice of.

[01:24:29] Canaan, Jarrus, which is as Freddie Prince does it in the Star Wars rebels show. So when they did the Lego Star Wars, I voice I basically voice match what he was doing there. So I've done that and I've done the video game

[01:24:48] and I've told the anecdote before, which is really funny, which is I get the email from my voice agent and it's called The Old Republic and I write back, is this Star Wars? And he writes back, yes, it is. I'm like, holy moly.

[01:25:03] So I get to the studio in Burbank and there's two engineers there and it's kind of an older studio and they give me about 400 pages like this. And I look down at it and it's gibberish, like literally gibberish. And I look at it and I look at it.

[01:25:21] This is a joke, right? And they go, no. And I go, but this is gibberish. And they said, well, you auditioned for it. And I did. And I guess months earlier, I and I didn't know because everything has got top secret names.

[01:25:35] So they played me this reference of what I had done, which was like a lot of luck. Oh, whatever it is. And I'm like, I'm like, oh my God. So I go into the studio and they go, OK, so we're going to play you the proper pronunciation.

[01:25:53] Then we'd like you to do one like that and then one of your own interpretation. And I'm like, OK, so they play me like a lot of OK, and then I go like a lot of and then I go whatever it is.

[01:26:09] OK, and I do this for about, I don't know, five minutes. And I get to the bottom of one page and then I just start laughing hysterically. And they're like, is everything OK? I go, look, I go, I just got to say, guys, they go, what?

[01:26:22] I go there are five reasons I'm laughing right now. OK, and they go, OK, what are the reasons I go? Number one that I'm that someone wrote this, right? This language. OK, and they go, OK, I go number two, that someone recorded the proper pronunciation of this.

[01:26:41] OK, number three that that I'm doing this, OK, that I'm repeating that. And number four, if my father could see how I'm making a living, right? And they're like, OK. And then so and then we do it. I said, listen, do me a favor.

[01:26:59] I said, can we just drop the, you know, the proper pronunciation, the guide track because this is not a real language. No one is going to call in and say you're not pronouncing it right.

[01:27:10] And I am there like, OK, so I just I think I'm going to now burn through this. I'm I'm losing like a third of the time. Right? So I'm going through these lines and it's I'd say I've lost track of time.

[01:27:22] I'd say and I'm going into like, you know, like a yogic state. Like, you know, you're kind of like high from you. I'm like and I'm like because I'm not speaking English. I'm speaking these like made up words. So probably three hours goes by and I'm finished.

[01:27:35] They're like, great. Thank you. And I go like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, there's another language and they bring me another style and it's a different language that I also book. And it's like they were like more like Swedish sound. Ruka, Ruka, Ruka, whatever it was.

[01:27:50] And I was like, oh my God. So then I had to do that again. And so that is literally a true story. So if you play the old republic and you get these planets, that is me speaking as these characters. That's amazing.

[01:28:04] That's that's interesting, though, because I would have figured they just for something like that, you know, say, OK, start making sounds. But they actually like phonetically broke it all down. That's that's impressive. Well, it's because I, you know, growing up, I went to Klingon School.

[01:28:20] So I had a basis. Right. You know, no. But I don't know. Good. It's been fun doing all these shows. And I hope that I that they'll allow me to be in Star Trek and Star Wars. Is that allowed? Oh, yeah. But I'm pretty sure George. OK. Yeah.

[01:28:39] Christina Chong was was in Force Awakens, but I think she got she ended up getting cut. But yeah, I could see an and or I'd love to see. Oh, that would be awesome. They just wrapped filming, so it'll have to be season three. Yeah, sure.

[01:28:52] Unless Michael's not telling us something. Oh, well, how good of an actor am I? Oh, there's a show. And or and or isn't that a Star Trek alien? Right, right. I will have to say, Michael Bagnere Open Pike Night is an open Mike Knight theme podcast.

[01:29:10] And have you prepared a joke for us today? Yes, I have. All right. This is in keeping with the theme of the show, which is Star Trek. How many ears does Spock have? How many ears does Spock have? Three. Right ear. Left ear. And the final frontier.

[01:29:40] I love it. Absolute classic. I can't believe we haven't got that yet. Yeah, one of the few. Yeah, it's one of the few Trek jokes we've actually gotten. That's awesome. Yeah. Thank you. Usually we get like,

[01:29:52] well, I brought a dirty joke and I brought a clean joke or like, here's a 40 second setup for a punchline. And it's I mean, it seems like the Star Trek joke would be the easy win. Right? It's only logical. That's right. Exactly. I love it.

[01:30:08] Well, Michael, thank you so much for your time tonight. We have been just waiting to have an opportunity to extol the virtues of charades and to have you and Elora come and sit with us back to back is an absolute treat for us.

[01:30:23] And we really hope and we know that it will be an absolute treat for the fans. So thank you so much. Thank you and. Live long and prosper. Hey, by the way, you can add this in. You can add this in.

[01:30:35] I was really practicing it and they never had us do it on camera. That's true. Yeah, it's like you would think that'd be the first thing that have you do on camera. And I and as you guys know, the mock time was the first time that

[01:30:51] Leonard Deymore introduced the the Vulcan salute. I mean, how how cool would have been to walk into Pike's quarters? Just be like starting it and then just right to the snacks. You know, just like. It's funny, I think I actually.

[01:31:10] Offer to her suggested that when we walk in, if we do it. And they're like, no, don't don't do it. But but it wasn't necessary. It was about her kind of, you know, Empress entrance. Yes, yeah, that's true. Well, that was a great conversation with Michael Benier,

[01:31:27] continuing on our open pike night charades coverage extravaganza marathon. What do we call it? All of the above. Yeah. All right, guys. It's a charades parade. Oh, there it is. There it is. That's why we paid Jesse the big bucks. Absolutely. Absolutely.

[01:31:46] And up next on our charades parade, if you're a subscriber to our newsletter, you will have already seen. We have a call out to send in questions for charades director Jordan Canning. We talked with her for a few minutes during a junket. What, about a year ago?

[01:32:03] Yeah, it's just before the episode aired. So yeah, nine months, eight months. Yeah. Yeah. So we get to spend some time with her quality. Guys, she worked on the new Fragile Rock. Like I'm excited to talk to Jordan Canning. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:32:17] This is going to be a fun interview. Like we hope you've enjoyed these. Allora and Michael interviews. Jordan is getting to be super fun. And hopefully we'll get G on soon. I hope we can make that happen. Maybe maybe she's busy filming strange new worlds right now.

[01:32:30] Who knows? Your fingers crossed, man. We'll make it happen. We'll make every effort. Absolutely. Jesse, how can folks sign up for that newsletter? The easiest way to sign up for the newsletter is to go directly there, which of course is openpike.substack.com.

[01:32:48] That will send you the calls to action directly to your email. Absolutely free. We don't monetize on Substack, even though they keep pushing us to do that. But that's the easiest way to know who is coming on the show when and how you can get your questions answered.

[01:33:04] Of course, you can also just go to openpike.com to find links to everything that there is to find for OpenPike Night, including hashtag Mortegas merch. If you are lucky enough to have been on the Star Trek cruise, you may have run into our good friend,

[01:33:19] engineer Mark, who would have just handed you a Mortegas magnet for free. But if you're not, you can still go get Mortegas merch at our shop for not very much money. It's it's pretty reasonably priced, I think. Absolutely.

[01:33:33] And for those of you just returning to shore from that cruise, we hope you had a great time. Sounds like it was fantastic. And man, maybe maybe next year, we'll be able to get on that. That'd be pretty fun to to.

[01:33:47] I am really jealous of everybody who got to see the in person reading of the Spock's brain script. Like, wow, incredibly jealous. Cameron. Yes. When you're not on the OpenPike Night stage, where can folks find you? You can find me over at Greenshirt, a new bestrektive TNG,

[01:34:07] where we are starting in on season seven of TNG finishing up that. Well, also, you know, circling the promenade of season two on Deep Space Nine as well, a little mini-soat. So come check us out over there, Greenshirt, a new bestrektive TNG, wherever you're listening to this.

[01:34:25] And we do DS9 in nine minutes. How about giving us nine seconds on the beginning of season two? How are you feeling? So good. Safe to say, much better than the beginning of season seven for TNG. That is entirely fair, Jesse. Where could folks find you?

[01:34:44] You can find me surfing the waves of the social media ocean at OpenPike. That's good on Twitter, that's good on Blue Sky, Instagram. I think there's a couple others. That's also our username on YouTube. We're working on bringing that up to date.

[01:34:57] But yeah, basically any social media that you can think of, just find at OpenPike. They're not all equally updated, but they are all equally monitored. So if you need to get ahold of us in a, you know, a DM or something

[01:35:09] before you make a call, just search at OpenPike. Yeah. And, you know, when we're not here recording, we're out trying to find as many voice credit as we can because Michael Benier has us beat hands down. So be sure to clean up after yourselves.

[01:35:25] Be sure to tip your servers. You can go anywhere you want, but you can't stay here. Reboot!