And That's What You REALLY MissedWhat a gleeking treat! Inside stories from the folks who were in the room where it happened!
Glee's set costumer, Jennifer Iizuka Palmer, and the show's sound production mixer, Phillip Palmer, join Jenna and Kevin to share hilarious behind-the-scenes stories from the set, including wardrobe malfunctions, mishaps, and mixups, the things the mic accidentally picked up in between takes and Kevin's apology for an "unprofessional" on-set prank!
Plus, Phillip and Jenn's Glee love story has Jenna and Kevin laughing out loud! From their first words to each other to the location of their first date and what Ryan Murphy said when he discovered their romance!
For fun clips and more inside scoop, don't forget to follow us on Instagram @andthatswhatyoureallymissedpod!
And that's what you Really missed with Jenna.
And Kevin An iHeartRadio podcast.
Welcome to When That's what you Really miss podcast. Kevin, It's Crewe Day, It's crew Day Day, Ride Today. I just love it because when our crew comes on, it feels like family reuniting that haven't seen each other in forever. And then also like they just have so many stories to tell, and I feel like because you weren't there, like it's it's really the people who know who were there can really fully understand it. It's that moment of reconnection. Yes, you get So this is really exciting.
The moving parts obviously, like Glee was a bohemoth of a production to accomplish every day, and to have these two on today, phil and jen Palmer, which is so cute. They have their romantic relationship from the show. They worked in different departments and did so much incredible work on the show, and like Jenna said, their family and so excited for us to talk about their relationship and their work because they're just some of the nicest, most talented, wonderful people. So enjoy our conversation with Philip and Jennifer.
Yes, this is kind of like our our nightly FaceTime when we're in different areas of the world.
Crazy and now we get to just have a peak of the beautiful relationship that.
Started on Glee.
Crazy. We're going to talk all about that.
First of all, thank you both for being here, like two of our favorite people.
Very hard to coordinate with lots of schedules.
You guys are married yet on in different locations currently and preppy for things and working on things, and it's.
Sort of the story of our life. Really.
We we we we kind of have to coordinate where we're going to be.
We have a we have a little.
Bit of a rule that we try and not to spend more than three weeks apart.
That's a good one.
Yeah, very good.
It could probably get really easy to actually spend more time apart than that.
I'm sure it's pretty intentional about it.
You have to you have to plan it.
Yeah, that's so smart. But that's okay.
Let's back it up, rewind.
Hello, everybody, could you introduce yourselves and say what you did on Glee.
I'm Jennifer Music for Palmer. I am a set costumer. I took care of half of the kids and everybody else. I came in season two and was there until the end.
Oh my god.
Yeah, yeah, and I'm I'm Philip Palmer. Uh and I was the was and I still am a production sound mixer, and I was part of the show from the jump. I was there on the pilot and uh, I missed two episodes in the middle because of a weird conflict and then made it all the way to the end real quick.
That's crazy that show starting to like And here's an Emmy for you, sir, immediately, Yeah, deserved, by the way.
Many questions about so many things. Where do we even begin? It's like separately and then together, there's just a.
Lot let's go ically, Yeah, let's Philip, when you got the gig? Like what what was that call?
What?
Like?
What are we doing? What was that like for you?
Okay, Yeah, I got a call from a a person that I used to play on a softball team with.
And you never know who's gonna get you the job.
Never know, honestly, and uh he he knew that I had I was a sound mixer, and that I probably had some music, uh sort of playback history, which is what we do when we, uh, when we do a musical on on film and television. And he called and said, I'm about to do this show with some people that have never done a musical before, and it's all music. I laughed, and I was on a movie at the time, and we and it worked out that we we finished the we finished shooting in the movie, and then I rolled my equipment over basically to almost to to UH to where we were going to do the uh the the pilot, which we was not on stage.
We shot it all over the place that's right, and the.
You know, the the auditorium and much of the school was sort of spread out over like three different schools.
It was like Burbank and Long Beach, And so we did.
The pilot, which took us about a month to do the pilot, and none of us really had any.
I never met Ryan until day one.
Literally, that's crazy, because how vital what you do for that show on a day to day base Like every everybody is vitals from the show on a day to day basis. But like you said, doing playback, doing sound for a musical seems like an integral part of a musical.
Not a meeting, not a single meeting.
And so we were all huddled in this It was sort of a class room. I think it was in Burbank, And the first scene we shot was Shuster sliding the envelope of of right, the weed, the weed, that's right, yeah to Corey. And that was and so I hear a person sort of directing that must be Brian. Oh that's how I's that's how I met Ryan.
That makes so much sense.
Yes, Oh my gosh, that's so crazy. I imagine.
A kind of like made up your own rules of like people came to you or like, so, how does this work? How are we going to do this? And they look to you. Had you come up with a plan or was it this kind of like flying by the seat like.
The your pant? What is the saying thank you?
Yeah?
I had Donald quite a bit of playback and things before, so I kind of knew what we had to do.
But no one else did.
And so and I think the first musical thing we did was brock in the boat.
Yeah, and so.
This was funny. So I got the you know, the play that was before we could download things.
This is a while ago, everybody, and.
So right before we got there that they come to me with a you know, a CD uh a disc of Well, here's the tracks.
I was like, great, and.
We loaded them up and and and everything, and then I remember for the rehearsal, you hadn't nobody had. We didn't do any like we ran through it one time and we rolled the cameras, right.
Yeah, yeah, much for everything.
And yeah, so I had the speakers in there, and Ryan's in there, and.
I forget who our first d D was at that point in time, but it.
Was Danny Danny Silverbrig and Danny looked at me and I went, it's it's okay, I'm good.
And then it was action.
We hit play and you guys did the thing, and then it was cut and then I looked around and and Ryan and everybody went, I guess that's how we're doing our show. And it literally was like discovery for everyone.
And yeah, it was. It was.
It was great.
And when on the pilot when we figured out, I mean they had Ian had a plan and they all kind of had a thing. But when I saw what the show was going to be, what was when you all were sitting in the h in the seats for vocal Adrenaline and then then they did the vocal Adrenaline number.
And in your faces and I went that's our show.
Yeah, that's where we're like, wow.
What a moment.
How cool. We always talk about how because we were all so green and all of you were, you know, experts veterans. Yeah, and then our gauge during that time was your guys' reactions to things and so like you were all so nice and so encouraging from day one, and we're like, is this good? Is this a thing?
Yeah, and you're like, I.
Think this is good. Like, okay, if you think this is good, then it feels like it's good. But I don't know.
But we didn't know.
Enough to be like, oh, this is our sound person. This is like asking them how it works. You know, like we just we were just kind of going along with what everybody was telling us to do and hit a mark and say your line, and you know, do these things and do these moves. So everybody was, I feel like, kind of all in it together. Yeah, which is interesting that Jen came on in season two because the roller coaster had already we were already at the top.
So I'm curious to hear from your perspective.
Because we were little monsters by then you got.
The job, and then what your experience is like coming into the Monsters.
A lot of Philip, like, they didn't used to be like this.
We know we started dating the end of season.
That's free, guys.
You had no intel.
So I came in. I interviewed for the job the first time, sitting on the floor in Barnes and Noble on the third Street promenade.
Wow.
Yeah, because I was a phone interview with Marisa Aboities who was our supervisor at the time, and Lou I reg And then a couple days later I went into the office and sat with lou and Marisa again and interviewed for a little bit longer. But I just remember, because I wasn't there for first season, I watched it as a fan, and I would remember coming in. I was working, I think, I was working on I don't know, the New Class, I think, and I would come into work every morning after the show and we would all stand there and be like, how did they do that? Shoot that show in eight days? Like basically, how.
Did they do that?
We did that?
We didn't I didn't know that. So then I go in and I get this job, and I'm very excited because I like singing and dancing and running around with people and My first day was uh, New York at Bernstein. That was my first day on Man.
That was first day of season two.
First day of season two was it Burns.
It was first day of season two, first day because I remember how I felt in the trailer like, oh, we're doing this. The show's a hit, Like, you know, like we're doing a big number. It felt different.
That was a big one.
Yeah, it was huge. And I'm standing there and I'm like and like Phil said, they just yelled action and everybody just ran and did their thing, and I was like, oh, so this is how we do this. Okay.
Was it chaotic for you?
Yeah?
It was because it was like especially, I mean that number. You guys were essentially all in the same outfits, but like we had to cut Amber's neck out of our shirt, and we had to, you know, do all the individual things to everybody's shirts, like.
The characterizations to the album.
Yeah, all this the thing. We had to make sure that Johnnah had you know, ninety two had gone lids, and Amber had her shirt and seventy five jelly bracelets and yah, you know, Lea's was perfectly fitted to her body, and everybody just had their own little as as Jess would call them their own little nannies that we had to get everything ready, and then we just kind of checked y'all out there.
Yeah.
I just stood there and I was like, okay, so this is my job.
Now, yeah, let's go. Well, there's just so many of us, so like for people who don't.
Know, like, for what you do, you're literally waiting in the wings for every take. In between every take, you're coming, you're adjusting, you're fixing before we go on set. You're making sure we have all of our ninnies and nunnies and things like that you have, and then making sure the continuity is right from scene to scene and making sure we had the same ring on the same nail polish color. So like, there's just so many intricate details that like, people don't realize that you guys are the ones responsible for in theory, even though we go off and get our nail polish chain and that's not your you're not guilty, you.
Know what I mean.
So we take a week off and somebody goes and gets super tan.
I don't know.
When people ask me what my job is, I tell them that I'm a glorified mom because your guys room every morning, and then I scream at you to get dressed, and then I chase you all around all day and pick up the pieces that you've dropped, and yell at Paul Crafty for serving tomato chili and you're wearing white coats, and find all your things when you lose them, and up all of your spills. And then I yelled your shoes on, put your pajamas on, and then you know, pick your clothes up. It's so only a couple off the floor and put them on.
You described the first day where it is sort of chaos, and then it just happens like both of you in every department is operating like their own little world inside of a hurricane. Yes, And it's like all this stuff is flying around you and you're just like, I'm going to do my task and just show up. Both of you are always so calm. I don't know how like either of you would do it like I don't.
There was.
There was. I certainly lost my ship a couple of times. We all did.
We all did.
But honestly that that crew was so unified and so good yes to bottom that it did. I think I of the hurricane is kind of like what you see. Like when people would visit, they were like, what are y'all doing? Because everybody's doing all this stuff, and then it kind of starts to slow down, and then it stops, and then we do the thing and then the hurricane starts again. Right, So true, and so that's kind of what sort of our life is like, that's what you know. But when somebody comes from the outside, they see it and they feel like, you kid.
Even yeah, it seems like an impossible task. Yeah for sure.
Yeah, when you finally when showed up and you finally got to see how the sausage was made, we're like, oh, never mind, I would rather not know how this is done.
Yeah, I just I was so I was so shocked that you just it was just like, I mean, we always joke that like one day we'll get on a real show where it seems like there's a plan and everybody knows, you know, there's never a plan. There's always this ages of a plan.
Yeah, structure.
You know, we just kind of went out and did it and then it was, you know, sixteen hours later we were going home.
Yeah, yeah, and then you realized, oh, we're on day nine.
Of eight, day ten, and a half.
Oh my gosh, she was warned about me.
Yeah, so let's get into this because you know, here's the thing. The point of this podcast really is to talk about you know, in the public and the media, you hear about all the bad things and people don't know about the incredible things that happened on the show. And one of those things is your guys' relationship. So take us back, what happened? How did this happen?
Say what? So?
Yeah, okay, go ahead.
Like you when you start a new job, there's a couple of departments that you always make friends with. Like I always make friends with the guy that drives my truck because I need to know where we're going and what time, and it makes friends with the craft service people because they're going to feed me. And then I make friends with the sound department because I need them to be my friend when yes, Naya's where a teeny tiny dress and I need to be there while they're getting wired or when you know whatever, somebody has a finicky tie or somebody just doesn't like to be wired or whatever. So I always go and make friends with the sound apartment. So I was talking to our trailer person Jessica Pasternick, who was in the background a minute ago and says hello, but I will.
Yes.
But so I was talking to her like, you know, I need you to introduce me to the sound people, and she's like, oh, so, I mean they're great. Our sound mixer kind of hates us because of Jenna's bubble dress last season.
I was like, it's my fat I'll never stop telling this story.
So and I think I think you've talked about it on this show, with the little plastic bubbles and how every time she moved they clicked and I do remember.
Still running out during that.
Something me.
So that was like halfway through last season, and last season was like a year and a half ago by this point. I'm like, it's gonna be all right. And I walk in and I find my spot and I you know, Ark shows me where to set up and everything, and I walk over and uh, I walk over and I introduced myself and I was like, you know, I I'm Jennifer. I'm going to be the set person this year. And he was like, great, as long as we don't have another bubble dress, should be fine. And I'm like to me, that was our first interaction.
Wow, that bubble dress lives on to me.
Yeah, it brings me so much joy and so much pets be at the same time.
Something that came out of it, Jenna.
True God was so funny.
Wow, how I meant, how does courtship work in this situation? Because you know, it's a little it's like a small town.
It's closing and people are talking.
Yeah, like, well, we.
Didn't actually, we didn't start any anything at all until wrap after second season, and she was a summer of love, some.
Of love and some of American horror story.
Also, yeah, the pilot.
So but we were wrapping Glee and it was right before you guys, so you finished season two on the show and then you all immediately went to Las Vegas tour tour.
Yeah.
Yeah, so we were and a bunch of people were going to Las Vegas for your first show and then fell kinds on the on the trailer, which is unusual, but not out of the realm of possibility, you know. Yeah, So he was, you know, talking to us, and then he asked me if I wanted to go grab a coffee. I was like, well, that's weird, but sure, I like coffee. So we went over to the coffee bean on the lot.
Yes, and he knew that I.
Was one of the people that was going to Las Vegas to like see you guys, and he had an extra ticket to the show. And I wasn't planning on going to the show. I was just going to go to the after party with everyone. But so you did first date?
No, No, was your.
Guys' opening night of the door?
This is what Lehanna was singing about, was or.
The insuing after party.
Was riven?
Yeah? Yeah, my Now we did the pilot together.
And a horror story.
The rest is history history.
You can love. At the Glee tour, everyone you hear that.
You can survive anything you beg ever since.
Oh my gosh, what was it like?
Did you guys tell people when you started dating, like within the like because it's such a small town and within our crew and like we worked every waking moment together. What was it like working together dating and then also including everybody else in on the relationship.
Well? I actually called Jessica from the cab on the way home after the Gleat tour that okay, like texted her and she was for some reason awake. It was like four o'clock in the morning. She knew. She knew from the job, because after we came back from coffee that day, she was like, what was that?
She really does, she really does.
And then I did the uh season three I don't remember what they're called, the photo shoot thing that we have to do before recess.
Yeah, yeah, and.
I was yeah with Kelly Mitchell, I don't know, you just were all in each other's pockets all day anyways, So kind of everybody figured it out on their own, for sure, for sure. Funny.
It was funny when Ryan figured it out.
Oh my god, how did tell us that?
Well, we're walking I don't know where.
We were walking to the commissary, walking in the Commary.
And and I don't know, I kind of grabbed your hand or something, and we hear this from from behind us.
Are you two in love?
Very Ryan, very very yeah, And he loves to know.
The gossip.
His days. You make a friend like that.
How long then have you been together?
Now?
What is the math on that?
It's going to be fourteen years in June?
Yeah?
It really ages us too, because when did you guys get married?
Twenty eighteen, so post.
Glee finale dated for a while.
And then yeah, yeah, does this still work after Glee?
Yes?
And have you guys worked together since Glee?
We've dy played together, but we haven't managed you get on another show together. Yeah, because you know, he went to New Mexico and I've never seen him again.
Right right, hardly?
Yeah.
Yeah, I've been doing a lot of shows out of town, which Jennifer does a lot now too, But I started working with a set of producers that like to do stuff in New Mexico and I do that.
In between the.
Season five and season six, I jumped onto a show that ended up going for a long period of time.
Wow. Yeah, you have hits after.
Hits, he does.
I would like to publicly apologize Philip because I did something severely unprofessional one day. Oh and I sometimes still wake up in a cold sweat about it, because Philip does not deserve that.
You've talked.
Yeah, Naya and I it was before Thanksgiving break. I have told the story before, but I need to say this to Philip's face. Nya had sent me a voice recording it was very inappropriate, like earlier in the week, and when we were on like our seventeen, we'd start playing it to each other and I cannot say what it is, because absolutely would I would never ever work again. But it was at the time joke between me and I and some of the cast. And then one day when we were shooting this number, I think it was before Thanksgiving break or something, and we were all like, you know, not going to make our flights home or whatever it was ny and I decided to distract Philip and then I plugged in my phone to play the voice message over the PA system, which is not okay. And I am very sorry because then you ran back like there was a fire, because that was the equivalent of a fire.
Yeah, because here's the thing.
It was.
Philip kept his department very professional. Yes, of all the departments, I feel like sound was the most professional.
Yes, I know, I don't look it was a momentary lapse. It was I didn't like. I woke up the next day after like sleeping, and I was like, what the did I just do to all the people? Of all people? What that? I was like, I am so sorry. I thought that was funny, but I'm a child. That was so stupid. I'm sorry.
Apology accepted.
I knew it was bad when even I was like even she was like, I don't think we should have done that because like because her bar yes of like she really.
Likes like she's like, no, I do that.
And then I looked at her face and she's like, what did you do? And I'm like, oh no, I'm like I read this situation very incorrectly.
Yeah, it's okay. It's very out of character for you. It's okay.
Do you remember when I had to come and apologize to you?
Oh my god, Oh yes, yeah I was.
I was equally as freaked out.
It was so it was so so we were all it was like me, Chris, maybe Amber. There were a handful of us, you know, when we had our cash chair set up in the teacher's lounge and we're miked all the time, but you can speak.
To this can I set the stage? So we're we're.
Doing a choir room scene and you know, it's it's basically a theater set up and somebody in front, right, So we shoot one side and then the other.
That's how we do it in filmmaking.
But when we shoot out out towards say, say it's mister shoe.
Uh.
Sometimes we pluck a person out and we put the camera there and it's my cruise responsibility to let me know when somebody might not be in the in the scene because I'm raising their mics up and doing all these things. And so it came we rolled, and it came time for Kevin's line, his one line for the scene, and I raise up the mic and you say.
I'm bisexual, Kevin or something like that, and then.
Which was not his line.
And then I pulled the microphone down and I broke into like flop slip, and.
We just carried on the scene like nobody heard it. And so we cut and I hear the microphone.
Boom sliding back down, and Patrick Martin's my boom operator at the time, was laughing so hysterically.
Because he was I am so sorry Kevin is not on. Where is he? He said, uh, in the in the other room.
And so I went in and I had to tell the story. And because I have this thing, I'm professional, it's like everybody's wearing a mic all the time. I do not raise the mics up, unless I mean I might just to check it, but I never raised them up. And so I did that, and I could see everybody in video village went, you know, They're like.
I didn't know everybody heard yeah, everybody, Oh my god.
If there's anybody you're going to do that to, Kevin is the right person.
I remember you running up to me and you looked horrified and you were apologizing, and I was a saying like stupid ship about each other.
You were, you were, you were.
Everybody was saying what what their uh new screen name would be, and.
Yours, yours was gonna be I'd be bisexual. And it was like the perfect It was like a perfect cut.
I was like, that is so odd because for context here, like we're not in the same location, we're not that far, but like we're talking freely, like we're far enough away where we can talk freely and not be caught on sound, and like we're sitting in the dark, just like I was laying on the floor. We're all just like sort of like shooting the ship. And then I guess I said that at the perfect.
Time and everybody in the village and I.
Was not like publicly like out at the time. So the film was like very sweet about running over and apologizing.
I was so I was mortified.
It's also like I am Mike and I said something so like you know.
Yeah, you know I try and protect my actors.
Yeah, so you.
Know what you call it, even it feels like it was worse, Jenn, I feel like we had a lot of really wild episodes with crazy costumes, yes, including Jenna's bubble dress.
Yeah. But there was two when Becca tore her cat suit, yes, in her face in that episode because she takes the whip and she does this and she was wearing a latex it's a latex fetish suit, let's call it what it actually is, and it ripped in the armhole here but her face because I don't know where I was standing, but I was in the room, I guess, because she looked dead at me with the widest eyes that you've ever seen on Beca Toobin and she froze with their arm out and she just stood there, and I just remember looking at Leo and going, Leo, we're gonna need a minute.
Well because also there you got that from like what a center store? Probably, and yeah, there was only one.
We didn't there was only one. So we got Becca out of it. We threw Ben in his car heading toward the store in Silver Lake to go get another one. And meanwhile, there's a pic I have a photo somewhere of me on the trailer with our seamstress. But it's latex, so you can't sell it back together or anything. And if you blew it, which you can do, it takes forever to cure. So like there's nothing we can do. And I'm sitting there with like electrical tape pretending like I'm gonna be able to fix this, which I'm definitely not. Weill Ben like runs across town to get another one and hurry back. So we shot somebody else's superhero. Yeah, we got another one, yeah, because there was no background because it was just the band, and so that.
I got her here, right, her and Melissa during that yeah.
Yeah, So there was that one. And then when we did Grease the second time, uh sentence right, Vanessa l cl climbed on top of the sheep shack during You're the One that I Want and ripped her pants, like pants on like I don't even know what they were. They were like, I don't know, some sort of silk, very fitted, and she climbed on top of the shake shack and was like, you know, doing her Vanessa moves and ripped her pants and she game same thing. She stopped and she looked and Chess was on set at that time too, and she looked at both of us and she was like, came down and we had this sower pants back up and more of that. We're on top of the shakeshack. But those are my two, like the yeah and then the pants Leah's pants.
Oh yeah yeah.
It was during Brave Yeah, and we made them last minute because the costume got changed last minute and they were beating Chiffon and every time she moved they shredded.
And it was.
Not during a good it was during it was a bad day, five bad times. Thankfully. It was Brad Beaker directing, and it was I think it was like a Friday or something. It was towards the end of the week because it was very late and it was it was it was after midnight. I think we wrapped. It was super late. And I went up to Brad Meeker afterwards and I was like, I am so sorry because it was a mess. The whole thing. The pants were shredded.
It was bad.
And Brad was like, why are you apologizing?
You didn't do anything.
I was like yeah, but he's like, no, it's fine.
That number turned great. Watch amazing.
I can't watch it. There's that that is when when people ask me what my worst day on set was, it's that one every time. Yeah, it was. It was very, very very bad.
And that.
It was just uh Nya and Leah and some of the other so and dancers. So Rourke wasn't there. I didn't. It was just me in bed and so Ben and I are trying the same thing. Was fun. If you try to sew it, you put in a hole in it into shreds more. I think at one point we had it. We taped it together with gaff.
Tape, just like.
And everybody don't understand, Like everybody's just waiting to finish the scene to go home.
There's hundreds of people there.
Doing their jobs and it's like the pressures on for everybody, just like get it done, just.
Get it done home.
And especially because I think it was a Friday, because and it was so late, and yeah, that was my worst day on set ever.
I have a question for uh for you, Fela.
I we most almost all TV shows, we talked about this a lot.
I don't have a d R.
And for people who don't know what ADR is, acters after they finished an episode will go in and six sound lines, things that you know that didn't get properly recorded during the shoot. I can count on my thumb one finger the one time I had to do ADR. Now, when we tell other people, other actors on TV shows that we did never did ADR, their mouths are on the floor. They're like, how so, I'm curious for you why we never had to do ADR? And was it you figured out the magical thing because you're a magical unicorn in what you do, or was it that we didn't have time and somebody was like, just make it work.
I have to know.
I've been dying too the answers since we wrapped.
It's a fun fact to like brag to other actors about because I think I maybe did it once. Maybe thank you for that.
First of all, Jane Lynch kind of has done that before, or she said that to me and she didn't have to do any ADR and they called her in one time and she said finally and she got there and they said, oh, no, we're adding a line.
Didn't say.
She was like, oh, that means that you didn't wait, you know.
And that's a whole separate thing.
It's a whole separate thing. I don't really know.
I knew early on it had been presented to me that Ryan really does not like a dr I, so I used I used that as a little bit of a way for me to go, I think I need another one or I need this little section.
So I keep.
Very and I do this for every show, not just Lee, but I go through the script while we're doing it. I have like I have my mixing panel, and you guys know, you guys used to come and hang around me, and I would have the sides up, which are MANI versions of the script, and and I literally check them off, like we got that one clean, we got that one clean, we got that clean.
I'm missing these two.
Lines and that and you guys remember me coming in and go, I need a wild line. Yeah, and we go and we'd get that line wild and we go great, thanks. And so I would literally check off every line because it was relayed to me very early on that Ryan wasn't a fan of ADR, and I think it was mostly because they didn't they didn't spend a lot of time working with good ADR people, because ADR can be great, for sure, and it can save a scene. But I don't think Ryan had had great experience with that, and so I took it upon myself to to and it was known.
You know, the producers knew it, and everybody knew it. They're like, oh, yeah, he doesn't like it.
So I would say that, I'd be like, I need two lines and I need it from this, and then usually when I do that, they would say, oh, let's just do it again.
Got it?
And then we would do another take and then it would be clean and I'd be like, got it.
So a lot of the way production is.
Done now and I won't say this all the time, but they will blast through it and because you know, time is money and they know that they can they know with good adr they can fix it, and so it's in my best interest to try and get it, you know, right the first time.
But that was.
Really sort of the rule on Glee from the jump was that, uh, everybody checked with me before we moved on because of Ryan and and I think it paid off because I thought I thought the show sounded really good.
It sounded really good.
Yeah, we also like didn't have the time, Like I can't even imagine in my head then being like, hey, you guys at the end of the day, like you have to go to a dr I don't know when we would have done it.
No, it was even like they built that new like building next to our stages where we're doing some adr we didn't. I remember like the one or two times I ever had to do it. It was so difficult to even schedule for me to walk across an alley basically to go do that. So it's phenomenal that because I remember doing those wildlines and things like that. Yeah, it takes twenty seconds and you're done. You're in the same spot that you just shot in there. Yeah, when it came to the music stuff, because you said you had done music before, because obviously we get asked a lot about were you guys singing live? Were you singing to pre recorded tracks? Like obviously we were lips sinking ninety nine percent of the time. There's a couple exceptions in there. But when it went from you getting CDs to you probably be downloading the files, and I could see like you would have you when you get stems, they send you stems of everything, because sometimes we wouldn't know what we recorded because we record so quickly, and like I remember going over to you a lot of the times being like what are my ad libs? Like, I it down, no idea. I did one take of that and I don't know, and it's like mixed in a way orm like I can't really hear it. And the beauty of it you could literally pull up any vocal, any piece, which was so brilliant as opposed to just you know, starting pressing play and then we just had to do it. Like what was that like for you?
Well, it didn't start out that way.
It started out with I would get a just a mixed two track and so and that happened like the first uh, first thirteen episodes was I was just getting a mixed and so after that when we got the pick because I don't know, maybe you've talked about it before, but.
It took us like two years to do the first season.
Yeah, it was a very long time.
It was a very long time because I we did the pilot and then several months later we came back and did the first thirteen and it started airing and it and it was like a home run. And then so there was like three months off before we came back and did the back nine. So really from start to finish of the first season was like two was.
Like, yeah, it was a long time.
Yeah.
And so when we came back, before we came back for the back nine, I said, I can't we can't have I can't just get a radio version of this. I have to have the music split out because I've got to feed music. If I need the drummer to actually have the intro that is playing on the thing, I got to be able to play that for him smart right then. And I need the backgrounds completely separate because I need to be able to pull the backgrounds out when we're doing y'all's you know, close ups, because sometimes the backgrounds are like there's like nineteen voices and you can't you can't hear what you're doing. And so we would so from the first thirteen to the back nine, that's television talk from.
Uh that's how we used to do TV.
And uh.
So we had a meeting with the music editor, Dave Klass, who's just brilliant and he's had, I think, build a like a new wing onto his house for all of his zammi's and it's like he comes home and read them, you know, but.
He he we developed this sort of.
Work, you know, flow that had you know, I had everybody's everybody in the cast vocal separate, and there the effects on that vocal separate, because sometimes they had all these effects on it and we don't need to hear that. You just need to hear what you're doing. So I could I could change the effects level. Every single one of the cast members was a separate split out, and all the backgrounds were its own split out, and then the music was its own, and and then anything that was weird, like something that was additional, like an intro or everything, they would have that on. And so I had it all split out on a big pro tool session. And so yeah, so we had a rig. And so as you started being savvy to it about season two or three, you guys would just come over the card and go, can I hear my background?
Yeah?
Yeah, we never get to hear any of them.
Yeah. It was like a little cheat code even if I didn't have to. I'm like, what is Amber doing here? Can you just play that one time for me?
Yeah?
Oh, she's doing even more okay?
Yeah yeah.
And Ambers was like a favorite for us to solo and hear because they were nuts.
My gods, was just crazy honor.
That's the thing, like the gift that we got to just go hang out with you and like solo these things. It was. It was like one of my favorite parts of those days. I'm like, I hope I have more things, like an excuse to go, Like I didn't want to bother you. I was like, if I had an excuse to go listen to something, if it was like not my part, it really had to be like worth it. And so I'm like, yeah, like what is Amber doing? Please?
I remember that?
And then I remember you coming by because there was some gnarly background vocals on something, and You're like, I want to hear these backgrounds. So we sell and we play them and they're like who is that?
You know?
It was nobody, these magical people who like we've never met, we don't see at all, but they're singing their faces off and this is the only time we get to experience them.
And then when we would do like you know, one of the big you know, competition things a sexual we would have this massive thing because we want between so we would have this pro tool session and that's like tech talk for you know, music stuff. Uh, And it was this massive thing. So I kinda I got a little sweaty at times, because I mean, pro tools is kind of at that point in time was very famous for shutting down.
And right in the middle of right.
Right at the worst possible moment, when there's like a thousand people there, and so we we always had a backup going. We didn't have a going, but we had it there, so if it shut down, we'd be like, we need a second and then we could.
Swap it out.
Crazy.
Yeah, it was we. I feel like so.
Much to think about that. People don't realize.
We just really we were winging it a lot.
Because there was there would be times, would you know, Beaker would come up like, I.
Know I didn't ask you for this, but how hard would it be to play this backwards?
I didn't know you did good impressions. You know, everybody's like body language down.
And remember when we did, like, uh, the song backwards? You guys saying it backwards?
What song was that?
I forget what it was. It was Michael Jackson.
It was Michael Jackson. It was in the hallway. It was in the main hallway. Doesn't want to be starting something.
I might even want to be starting something.
Ye, I can't remember, but he was like, I want to do it backwards because.
If you do it backwards and then you.
Play it it and then you play it forwards, it has this weird motion.
So we would do all of these things.
Like the double time when they do the song.
Yeah, that was that was.
That was like the first time we did that. They're like, how hard.
I love that. I was like, I've done this before because you were the one.
You were the person that had done that sort of thing, and I was.
Well, and you could always nail it because I think we did the backwards one, and when you nailed the backwards the one, you like jumped up and down like for twenty minutes.
You loved those things. I was just like I would get sent because at first when I first got sent, because there's like a not to get too nerdy about this, but there was like a debate if we do it like one and a half times or two times or two and a half times, and I was like these two are way too fast. I'm like that doesn't sound right, and like I don't know what it's supposed to be. But I was so scared because it also like the early days, I'm like I would show up and do a good job. Yeah, but I'm like, oka, look at it like dancing up myself. I'm like this out there. I loved doing it. The challenge of it was so fun.
It was fun.
And and so when we started doing that, so all of the sessions got even bigger because I had them do a double time. God, a one and a half and a double time, and so like all of these crazy things. And so we we were just like because anytime we saw something cool on a music video on YouTube, they'd be like, let's do that, right, yeah, And so that's and and so you know, we became that show.
We were that, Yeah, we've done it. We've done it all, We've seen it all.
It was a lot of fun.
Do you have any favorite musical numbers that we did, like, either that you were involved it or just like watching dinosaur proms?
Just the ones that I the ones that are near to my heart are the ones that were so awful and that we were standing there. I cannot believe that we're doing this. So dinosaur prom with the heads with which just still has in her backyard by the way, Yes she has the dinosaur heads.
Oh.
It was a Christmas one with you with Jenna and Melissa and alex Y Child.
Never forget that one was were you there for singing in the rain?
I know I wasn't there. I was on the other unit with Carol Burnett and.
All right.
Then you were lucky, lucked out because that.
Was the water.
The water was something special by the time we fit with the amount of stuff they put in it so that it wouldn't fall.
I mean we were the water was boaming, We.
Had rain boots.
Probably immune system is so bad, Kevin, sitting in the water basically.
Just getting sitting in the back, are just collecting in my lap.
Oh we would like cover our take our roomoods and just like the water would pour out.
Or the slushies for both of you, Yeah, my god, good question, Kevin.
Well, for him that's so bad because the minute we said slushies, you took the wire.
Off years out because it was weird. But for me, I mean, oh my god.
So well you got more anybody, the two of you.
We really did, Kevin, that one with the hockey players, and you got I don't know what was it, like fifteen slushies poured on you. You were sking, you were blue, which is ironic because the slushies were red, but we would set up like me, like costumes and hair and makeup would set we'd find wherever the closest room was to where the slushi was going to happen. We would shove everybody out of the way and we would declare it hours because what would happen. And you guys have talked about this a little bit is after are you pour all the slushies? Everybody has to wait so that we can take photos in case we ever have to match this, which sounds insane, but we had to match Jenna when she got Carrie at the prom because we shot the after part where she changed dresses before we shot the prom part, before we shot the actual thing.
So yeah, so we'd have to freeze like so they would say action slushy and then.
They would be standing there like shaking from cold and eyes closed, scrunched face because you're cold and it's in your face and it's in your eyes and because you don't want to get at your mouth yep, and die. And we were learing there taking pictures because we're horrible people, and.
Also tried to fake slushy at one time. But it looks so bad.
It looks so bad.
It was.
They were like would just bounce right off.
I appreciate the thought that they but I just wasn't the same effect.
So then we'd shove you into a room and like you know, Kelly would have hot towels and I would just start like pulling your clothes off because you'd be so cold, and then we'd wrap.
Rip down your body, like all the way down to your.
Your undergarments, like everything would be. It was.
I always felt so bad. I was like, they shouldn't have to rub us down, Like this shouldn't be part of your job.
Well, no, because then we just have to get you dressed and put you back out there you do it again.
Yeah, but they were like I just remember people like fully cleaning off my like limbs because they were dyed red.
Yeah, like that's not fair, So like it's yeah, it.
Was like it was in your chair that day.
Was that I never felt worse for a human in my life than Kevin McHale And with seven teams off your leg.
I had never been slushy before.
I never. It was absolutely my fault.
Brand.
Yeah, he's like, well I'll take care of that one exactly.
Waiting for those photos to be taken was the worst.
Didn't hurt when it hit you from for carry at the problem because it was so high up.
Yeah, it was like a buckets word, so it hurts.
And it felt so like like shards of ice, like your face down your dress, like it came straight down on me and it just felt like I was being hit with icicles.
Basically.
It was terrible and of course it so it's right in and just sat in my dress. It was awful. It was awful, and we did it twice. I thought, like for sure this one they weren't going to have.
To do again, and they did.
We did it twice, Yeah, we did.
Then like at some point got smart and like if you had to work the rest of the day, they would offer the gym, the paramount shower. But at some point I think we were all like whatever, just like wipe me down and keeping shaving cream and oh yes, we we learned that you guys learn was it makeup that learned that the dye comes off with shaving.
Yeah, so they were.
Just cheap old kind like the fancy new.
Job the old yeah white because it also.
Gets off it gets movie blood as well.
Oh interesting science. Fair enough.
I got to work with Jen again.
Yes, which was.
Oh yeah, that was honestly, Like Ryan called and asked if I would do this American horror story things. Yeah, of course sure. But the best perk, to be honest was like seeing some of the and Melissa, Yes, it was. I was, I'm like a professional what I just wanted to be like, so tell me everything, what's going on?
It was. I was so excited when they told me that you were going to be on that I I don't know.
I was.
Ben and I were so stoked. We couldn't wait for that episode.
I think the fam is back together.
Yeah, and the rest of the guys that were in that episode, we were so fun. And it was just like where I could just like yell and be like, hey, somebody go get catch so somebody will go wake Kevin up because he's sleeping on the ground in the corner.
In that room. And I mean people that didn't know us would like look at us, and She's like it's.
She keeps talking to him like that like he's one of.
No no, no, no no no, she knows this.
I yelled at Kevin from across the parking lot one time to go change his clothes because I wanted to go home like.
We have here. It was great. I really loved it. And also to like, you know, so step into somebody else's show, even though every episode was different. It's like a weird thing. And to be able to like be there with you who just felt like, oh, we're doing this again, and then we put.
You in a tub and we poured ice on you.
Well, I was like, fine, nothing.
I asked the prop people and I was like, wait, is it real ice or is it silicon ice? And they kind of looked at me like why is she asking this?
I don't want to.
I just have to know for sure you don't know. So we asked everybody this question separately, together however you want to answer it. What is the feeling that Glee leaves you with?
Oh, I mean, go ahead, Bunny, go ahead, Bunny.
We're married.
It's like you guys know each other or somethings.
I mean, there's there was this statement constantly by the feeling of joy. You know that that was what being a part of a glee club is. And I honestly feel like being a part of that crew from start to finish, I mean what it was like a family, family, like I've never experienced. And we talk about it a lot about how you know everybody.
I mean, the last night, the last song in our reception was I Lived Yep, yep, because it was and it was our version, because of course it was. It was like the cheesiest thing that we did. But I had we met on the show. Also, the lyrics to that song are actually quite good for the final song of your wedding reception. But yeah, like that, this is I still work with these people. They're still my people. And I mean, I I know you guys are all grown adults, but you're still my kids.
Total.
Every one of you are still my kids. Great, and I am so proud because that was such an It was an incredible show. Yes, was a dramatic Did we all fight, Yes, because we're our family and we all fight with everybody, but nobody else is going to fight. Nobody else is going to say anything bad because.
The exactly we protect that. Yeah, I mean it is like.
I can't say that I can no, no, I can't, but you cannot.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, it was That's so sweet. Yeah, it's really really sweet. Yeah, we feel the same.
It's kind of why we view the show is like, yeah, just to make sure that people know that the real story, you know, not what you hear, because there's a lot of I.
Mean, there was definitely a tragedy and drama and anger and fighting and everything, but we were together, you know, seventy hours for seventy hours a week for six years, really more than that. But like, yeah, you don't fight with people that. You don't not fight with people you're with.
That much to not realityating's just like taking out on the people that were closest with, you know, exactly that kind of feeling where you get it.
We're all going to have bad days.
But everybody had a great time if you ask them. Everybody talks about how much fun it was, and everybody was at their their best. And the crew that we had, I mean from our pas and up until you know, our dps and the producers and everybody, like you know, they were all bringing their best every day. Yeah, that's I also had really really really talented people.
This this feels validating, you know. It's like we always say this, and it's nice to hear other people other departments who were on the show for as long as both of you were. Yeah, to say the exact same things that we always say to each other.
Oh it was.
It was, I mean one of the most enjoyable periods of the time of my life. I'm always going to talk about it, you know, I talk about it like it was yesterday. And then when people also, when people find out that that I or we were on Glee, they they're like, how did you do that show? Because honestly, so many other shows have tried to do it not well right, And it's really it was really hard, and it was a little bit of lightning in a bottle that we managed to be able to kind of keep going for a while. And I'm incredibly you know, fortunate. We are incredibly fortunate to have been part of it.
Yeah.
Same, Well, we were so lucky to have such a great crew truly, you know, everybody was really the top of their game, but also just.
Like really good people.
So to have that, I think that was part of lightning in the models, like the chemistry of all that.
Yes, and it dated what it was people just see, you know what's on the TV. But that chemistry was around.
The thousands of things happening and the hurricane you or the tornado. Yeah, well we know you guys are so busy, literally like on sets prepping to do other things. So we really appreciate you taking the time to come on the show and talk with us and share your story. And it's just so cute and we really love you guys, and we miss you and it's so good to see you and thanks for something on.
Yeah, of course, I'm so glad to do it for so much too.
By they were such integral parts of our show. I mean everybody was, but like such integral parts and like so many memories I have include them, oh yeah. And then also like their story of how cute they are and how they met and they dated and they got married and like their story continues that started on our show is so special.
There's not every department that you interact with so often with every show too, but yeah, we interacted with them specifically personally, yes, every day, all day.
Yeah. Yeah, well, thank you so much to Phil and Jen.
They were even in separate locations, both doing their own work, because that's how the industry works, and they took the time to talk of this.
So thank you guys so much, and I hope you guys enjoyed this episode.
That's what you really missed thanks for listening, and follow us on Instagram at and that's what you really miss pod. Make sure to write us a review and leave us five stars. See you next time.
