Off The Beat with Brian BaumgartnerBrian's conversation this week is with rising star Alex Neustaedter. The young actor shares details about his experience as a child model, how he avoided the Mickey Mouse Club, getting to know Meg Ryan over a slice of apple pie, and that time he snuck into the Pittsburgh Zoo. Alex can currently be seen in the second season of American Rust, now streaming on Prime Video.
And we're like, oh, are you guys closed, and he's like, yeah, you can't be in the zoo or I know, you guys missed the animals, but like I understand, Like he was like, I understand why you're here, but yeah, it really can't be doing that. Hey, my name is Alex Oustetter and I'm an actor and I love to sneak into zoos.
Hi everybody, and welcome to Off the Beat. If you're wondering who this is speaking to you right now, well it's me your host, Brian Bumgartner. Today, as you just heard, I have a talented young actor on the podcast, Alex Newstetter. Well, okay, he's older now, but he started very very young, at just five years of age. Now, I'm told that back in the day, Alex was a very cute kid, so cute in fact, that his mom's friend said, well, he's a cute kid and photogenic, and that little comment ended up getting him into modeling and commercial work as a kid, which then became more and more dramatic by the year. Now, well, he's a full blown star and also a delightful person. Next time you tell a kid that they're cute, you should probably check in a few years later and see what they did with that information. They might be just like Alex. Alex Well, he's an incredible talent. I've been a fan of his for quite a while. He played Homer in Meg Ryan's directorial debut film Ithaca. He played Bram in another great great series, Colony on USA, and well personal favorite, he played Billy in American Rust Now season two. Just out a American Rust Broken Justice on Amazon freebe go and check that out. But let's just see what Alex has to say for himself, shall we. Here He is my new best friend, Alex Newstetter. Bubble and Squeak.
I love it.
Bubble and Squeak. I know Bubble and Squeak. I cook get every month lift over from the ninety four.
What's up, Alex? How you doing, Brian Cool?
I'm doing well. How are you?
I'm doing great. I'm doing great.
I'm excited to talk to you today. I have to say this, I was a big American Rust guy season one. I was a big American Rust guy. Excited uh for season two and and to talk about all of that. But it's very nice to meet you.
Oh likewise, thank you. I've been a huge fan of the office and and you doing Kevin and like, I'm such a fan, so I was. I'm really stoked to be able to meet you in chat.
So well, that's nice. You'll find out soon enough, I'm not. I'm not very nice, So it'll it's gonna it's gonna be awkward. It's gonna be it's I'm gonna make you uncomfortable. But where are you now? Are you? Are you in California?
Yeah, I'm in Los Angeles right now?
All right, Well, thanks for stopping by you. Uh, you've been in Los Angeles a long time. I understand. Now I've got a crack research team that has looked into every aspect of your being. You were born in Kansas, is that right?
Yeah?
Kansas City, Kansas City, Kansas, Shawnee mission to be precise, I understand you started in the business at a really young age, but you were also interested in sports as a kid. Is that right?
Definitely? Yeah. I was a bit of a jock. Like I think one thing that my parents did well was like push me into everything. So I kind of tried a bunch of like anything I could. Like I danced for a while, I played all the sports like baseball, basketball, football, soccer, tennis, you name it. And then I kind of also just randomly started doing like some theater and some little acting stuff as well, and that was kind of my first segue into it when I was like six.
Yeah, so what I read is this, at age five, someone said to your mom that you were cute and photogenic and she signed you up for an agency in Kansas City. Is that right?
Yeah, that's really good research.
Did you like it as a kid? Was it just an activity or did you enjoy doing it?
I think, honestly, I don't think I really knew what I was doing. I think it was more of just like a hey, try this out, see what you think. And it wasn't even fully an agency. It was like a middleman agency to try and connect you with another agency. So I remember trying out for this like runway thing when I was five or six, and it actually brought me to LA and I did Runway for like as a six year old, which is crazy. I remember there was one where I know it's wild and then in the audience it's called IMTA and in the audience there's a bunch of agents and managers like scouting, and I tried it for like two or three minutes or two or three months rather, and I actually got close to a couple. Like Zathura was a movie that I auditioned for and I think I met Jon Favreau for it and it was close and I was like, but then I was like, what am I doing here? I want to go see my friends and play sports. And I wasn't like I need to do this at that age, so.
Right, but now runway. So I have an image in my head of what that means. Is it is that? What it is like, you're like you're wearing clothes or you're fashion you're walking back back and forth.
It's the term. It's the It's like you walk it down and you go to the right and you pose, and then you go to the left and you pose and and I was like what is this? And I remember the day before I had a big palleck. I still have a big caalock and it was driving me crazy and I just cut it off with scissors. So I had a crazy like I looked crazy.
But I was.
I did it, and I was like, Okay, this is cool. I didn't really have the self awareness to be like super freaked out about it. I don't think at that age.
So what about your mom and dad? Like were they were they into it?
Was?
This?
Was this fun for them? I mean, obviously this is meaning someone's going with you. They're not sticking. You want to plane at age five or six and to go to La Like, are they are they? Are they enjoying this as well?
Yeah? I think my mom was into it just because she knew that I had an interest.
I was like this.
I wasn't like saying I don't want to do this, you know, And so she was super supportive. And we brought our dog with us, who stayed at a like a holiday inn for like two or three months, and oh my gosh, and like deep Burbank, Yeah, it was an adventure for sure, But yeah, they were. She was super supportive. My dad stayed home and yeah, once I said, it was like time we went straight back to Kansas City.
Right. Do you mentioned you had a passion for sports as well? You played baseball and we're pretty good at baseball. Did you ever consider going into the sports room. Talk to me about the decision, and I know your whole family ends up moving to Los Angeles. Talk to me about the decision to actually turn this from like a hobby into something that you really wanted to do.
Yeah, I think if I didn't come to LA Baseball or probably baseball most likely would have been what I would have really tried to go after, because I've played that super competitively all the way through, and my dad was a coach for a lot of my childhood, so it was just like something we always did. I was thinking about this the other day, like I had a question my dad asked me when I was like twelve, because I essentially I got like a pursued from a manager in Kansas City. I was like passing her in the hallway and she's like, where are you going? And she invited me to go to her seminar and I was leaving another seminar and I was like I just want I'm starving, I want to go home. This is you know, and then she like pursuing me. I went to the seminar. I did it, and it became a thing where became really serious all of a sudden, where she was like, hey, I would love to like represent you, and I was like twelve thirteen, I didn't Still I don't think really knew what I was like signing up for what I was doing. And I feel like my parents and I are kind of we kind of send it. We're a little crazy sometimes where like if we have an opportunity, let's just see how this goes. We can always come back and why not try it if it's something that you actually want to do. And at that time I had gotten in the feed or more. I had done a couple like super indie horror films in Kansas City, and I was like, this is fun. I enjoyed it, but I think at that time I still didn't really know. But I remember we were I was playing tennis with my dad and he just asked me in the car. He's like, hey, like, do you actually want to go do this? This is the kind of the moment where you make that decision. And I was thinking about it, and it's like jump taking the leap of faith. You kind of you have no idea what that other side looks like. And I was kind of just like, yeah, let's let's try it.
Let's go.
And then at first it was like a slow move out, and then after about six months we fully committed, brought all the dogs and the family, and then it took me like three or four years to really get a project. So it was a lot of no's, like hundreds of no's, and getting so close to all these things, and I was like, what is this? What is going on? And I didn't even really know what I was doing until I actually worked on a project and like did a proper project which was called Ithaca that I did this project, and then I was like, this is what I want to do. I fully cooked because it's such a different process, you know, like auditioning versus actually working.
Right, I mean it just occurred to me, and you're obviously way younger, but it's hard for me to remember, know the consciousness there in Kansas City. You know, I've got a lot of friends, a lot of pretty good friends. And at one point during the podcast here I started to make a joke like what are people putting in the water in Kansas City? Because you've got like especially and you didn't even necessarily go this route, in fact, you quite specifically didn't. But in terms of comedy, I mean, you've got Paul Rudd, you have Eric stone Street, Rob Wriggle, Dave Keckner, Jason Jason Sadekas. Right, So when you're growing up and you're even so I mean this sort of is like going backwards a little before you actually moved to LA, Like, are you aware of these guys, some of them and gals that that are from Kansas City. Are they coming back or agents or whatever people you're meeting or do they have some awareness of them being on edel or whatever else? Are you aware of that when you're a kid.
I think I really got more aware of it kind of right when I was moving out, and okay, when I moved out because my parents were like loved modern family and all that. And I also like worked with one of the guys who was best friends with Eric stone Street. He like took his head shots and stuff, and so we were connected in that way. So I didn't know about them, but I I was kind of removed from from it a little bit. I didn't know a ton about all the actors. But yeah, it's pretty crazy how funny they all are and kind of how many came from.
And there's something in the water there and it's like and you know, and by the way, I have all the respect of the world, lots of friends in Kansas City, but it's not something that jumps into your mind. You don't think like, oh, Kansas City, hot bed for Hollywood talent, But as it turns out, it's something something's happening there, that's for sure. You talked about your first experience on Ithaca, which I want to talk about in a minute, but you had some, as you mentioned early experiences as a kid, a couple of projects, Albino Farm, Last Breath. So when you're on set, does it feel to you then like you're just playing? And I say that, like you know again more sort of like oh, this is an activity I'm doing, This is cool? Or do you start to have an experience working with older actors or whatever that you start to feel sort of the depth of what you're doing.
I think for those two films specifically, I was ten, and I remember the Albino Farm one felt more like play okay because it was it was such a small role at the beginning. But I remember auditioning for Last Breath and kind of just playfully auditioning for it, and then I remember the director like actually saying, hey, like what you just gave me is like a three in terms of intensity, Like I want you to actually like put yourself into this and really no, like encapsulate what is actually going on in this situation and give me like a tender give me, give me the full intensity that you can. And that was I feel like maybe the first time that I was like, oh, this is this is play, but it can be a lot more serious. You know, it can get a lot more intense than you know, just joking around. But yeah, I would say the part talking more about like working with actors and the depth was ithaical for me because that was when I got to see Sam Shepard and I didn't know much about him, but then I watched his work before and his plays, and I was just like, this guy a legend.
Yeah, I mentioned Ithaca. You play Meg Ryan's son in Ithaca. Obviously this you brought it up a couple of times. This is like your most important sort of first role. Tell me about getting that role and then the reception that the film and your work got after.
Yeah, I think I was at the point kind of in my career. I had like just turned sixteen, and I was I had like three years of nose. I felt very pretty lost with like what I was doing. Because I moved like my whole family out to Kansas, city essentially, like it felt like there was a lot of pressure and I really didn't have much to show for it, and so I kind of I was it was like I had gotten two little things before that that kind of made it seem like, Okay, I can do this, like I can book projects, but right it really wasn't until this project that I kind of I remember telling my mom before because I had to go to New York to read with Meg, that you know, if I don't get this, like I might just take a break for a bit, because there had been so many whereas between me and another guy, and and like you can only take that so much, I feel like at that age, especially when all the questions are being asked, like what do you want to do? And if what you're trying so hard to do is kind of failing in front of you, it was tough. So I remember, I remember I said that to her, and then she gave me this like dog tag that was her dad's dog tag from World War two.
Oh wow.
And so for me, that like connected it so much to what this movie was about, which was it was on the home front of World War two, and it became a lot more personal to me. And I had always kind of felt this connection to him, even though I never got to meet him, and so I wore that into the audition. I did the audition, and like thirty minutes later, I'm eating lunch in the hotel and I get a call saying that I booked it like that quickly, and then that Meg wanted to have pie with me that afternoon, and so I go like from saying, if I don't get this, I'm done. And then like a couple hours later, I was having pie with her and one of the other producers.
You're eating pot. This is what she She invites you to pie. Well, I guess she can't invite you to a drink. Coffee is even a little awkward if you're sixteen. So she invites you to pie, and then what do you talk about? What kind of pie did you get? First off? What kind of pie was it?
I'm an apple pie guy. I love out there.
Yeah, I'm not a warm fruit I don't I'm not I don't do warm fruit. But anyway, like pie, p can boom nailed. It came right out, okay, apple pie? And so what are you do you start talking about the work or is she just trying to get to know you a little bit.
It starts a bit as just trying to get to know and kind of familiarize ourselves, but then it's then it's talking about the work pretty quickly, and she just made me feel really comfortable. She gave me a bunch of movies she wanted me to watch, specifically, like East of Eden, like a lot of James Dean, early Brando, like a lot of the classics that I at the time hadn't familiarized myself with, and some things that she was really pulling from inspiration wise and music. And then it was kind of maybe a week or two before we actually started filming, I was we just read the script together in a coffee shop and went over it and kind of just really like dove more into it.
But yeah, that.
Was a crazy experience, and like after doing that, I got fully hooked on being on set every day and the connections you make, and it was just something so special that I really got it and it felt so personal and so meaningful because it really made me feel more connected to that era. And I don't know, period pieces are so cool, especially where we filmed them. It was in Petersburg, Virginia where it always feels it feels like going back in time anyway, and then you have the right forties, you know, clothing on, and yeah, it was really it is really amazing.
I'm always fascinated to talk to people like you who started as a child actor. And what I mean by that is that you know, I was acting, but for me it was theater. You know. I wasn't like the film and television business, like, I never did that. And I think what's particularly interesting to me about you is you never did the like kids acting thing.
And I don't.
I don't even know if that if that phrase makes sense, but you know Disney or Nickelodeon or Mickey Mouse fun House, No, I couldn't make a Mouse club. You seem to have gravitated. Now. A lot of times it's like, well that's you asked this question, and people are like, oh, that's that was the job I got. Like I, But I'm wondering if for you did you gravitate towards these more adult projects. Was that interesting for you? Or if Disney had called, maybe you would have hung out with Britney Spears or whatever. I don't know.
Yeah, I think I remember always trying to do the like I think that's probably why I didn't book anything for three years, because I was under sixteen and there's like legal things that they want you for the hours and all that, and I would try. I would on so many Disney, shake it Up, you name it, and I just I couldn't do it, Like it was just so over I remember like having a reading with my manager and she was like, Hey, can we just read this before you go in? And I was like reading it like seriously. I was like into it, and she's like, she's like, what do you And then I think she realized in that moment that like that's not really my strength, you know. I couldn't just I wasn't great at that. I think I've always gravitated towards like deeper, darker roles, even as a kid, which is weird.
I think it's just.
I really like exploring like the depths of like what I can feel, and I feel like those other shows are very surface level in a lot of ways, not that they're not good, but just they're just they're different. And I really was after traumatic stuff, and there's not a lot in that age range that's available to really dive deep and like if it makes me feel strong and feel a certain way, like, that's what I'm going after. I want to go like exploring emotionally essentially.
Well, one, that's awesome too, It's totally understandable. I mean, look, if at age sixteen, you're eating pie with Meg Ryan to do play her son in her movie, and you're talking about these things and you're wearing the dog, I mean that feels like an amazing experience that you had and very meaningful. And yeah, I mean that it makes sense that it would be tough for you to then like sing the Mickey Mouse song or whatever. And again, not that there's anything wrong with the Mickey Mouse song it, but you're but you had had shifted in a different direction. Speaking of which colony, did you get colony because of this film or was this just coincidental timing wise?
Yeah, I think I had just filmed that Ithaca and it was my second audition back essentially I booked, so it hadn't come out yet, but it was like, I don't know, it feels like the industry is very momentum based, you know. Yeah, they love when you're when you just got off a project, you're going into a new one, or maybe we can fit you before another one. It's kind of one of those. So I feel like I auditioned in front of the creators and I told them about this movie, and I think they they were just really excited about it. And but yeah, that happened right after and then that was essentially like a three year process for me with that.
Yeah, well it's I think it is momentum. I mean, what you say is true, but it's also that you know, it's very hard unless you have incredible discipline. Well, it's like in sports, you know, have you been playing, have you been in the gym, have you been have you been working out? Are you prepared? Is your body ready?
Right?
And it's hard to simulate even if you even if you do work hard, it's hard to simulate the like on set experience. It's not brain surgery, but you know that pressure, that intensity of being on set, of doing your work and having you know, one hundred and however many people watching you and hoping you don't screw it up so we can make our day and all of those things. And so it makes sense to me, right like that, you go from that, you're tuned up and you're ready, and a lot of times that can breed other work as well.
Right, totally, Yeah, I think that's a really good point. I also think the industry is so like hurry up and wait and it's and then when they're ready, it's like, all right, now you have to go. And I feel like in a lot of ways that's I always connected it always with like sports and baseball, and like you said, just being prepared for the moment and then when it's there, you got to just let it go and go after it.
You played bram in Colony, fascinating show, a ton of great press and acknowledgment on that. One of the things that I found you. No, I don't I don't want to get in trouble with anybody here, but I do have to say I like science fiction, but I do at times have a problem well, and I'll say science fiction and horror at times, when you see the monster, it's not quite as scary as what it could be in your mind. This is just me, and I thought that Colony did a fantastic job of making it feel very very scary without too much seeing yeah, seeing the monster that was that was in control. Talk to me about that show. You you enjoyed your experience on that show.
I did. I. I think that show really taught me a lot. I feel like the first season I was pretty lost in terms of like what I was doing and how to actually be a professional actor, Like I learned really quickly, like TV is way different than film and you only have two takes. Sometimes I was showing up thinking it was, you know, going to be a little bit more playful, experimental like try, and it was, you know, a machine. And I think the first season really showed me that, Like when we got the second season, I needed to have a totally different approach to what I was doing and what I was coming in every day with. I mean, the whole premise is I think even now it's it's kind of crazily relatable in a weird way, just everything kind of collapsing like so quickly, and some of the parallels to just you know, all the UFO activities that we're seeing now and all this stuff that has so much so many parallels, you know, And I think that was something that was really exciting to be a part of and something that I'm fascinated with. So I love that storyline and those plot lines. And then I also loved the just the idea of like what happens when you only have your family to rely on, and the family it's so split, you know. I think like there's you can make the reference politically nowadays with people's household just being split on their own, you know. And I think there's so many parallels that made that show so great and relatable. And also I really liked that they, like you said, just didn't show the Beast, didn't show the aliens, like conjures up so much more in your mind, and the mind is really what wanders, and that's the fear that that gets you more more likely than not. But yeah, I think it was just a big learning experience for me that show.
So first off, it's not just television versus film, there is a different perspective. But also for you your first real experience working on a character over a progression of time, which is very different. I can speak to it very clearly. There are things about the character that have not been written yet that continue to evolve and change your character as you're working on it. Did you find that exciting or was that difficult for you? It sounds like difficult in season one and you started to figure some stuff out.
It was it was difficult, I did, yeah, because I didn't know where it was going, and I didn't I didn't I hadn't grasped the concept yet of fully creating the character without knowing what the end was going to be for that character, you know, because when you're on a show, you have the whole script and you know what the arc is or you kind of know where it could be going or how you want to play that. And when we were getting scripts like a week before we could start filming, it was like, oh, there's this. So I think in a way it was like discovery on the fly, which made it really exciting. But also I don't think I was equipped enough, right. I just don't feel like I in that first season I connected enough that as I as much as I wanted to, you know, especially coming off like Ithaca and how I felt connected to that, it felt like a totally different process. But it was something that I really I think I did pick up on quickly, and I learned best by doing things and by like failing and learning from my failures. So for me, that was that was kind of the way I think I learned that on that show, especially that first season.
Several more months ago, I had the pleasure of getting to know and talking to on this podcast, Sarah Wayne Kelly's who he's spent a lot of time with. She is the best, right, What was your experience like? And again, you know you're starting, you know, you're starting with Meg Ryan and hanging around Sam Shephard and so forth, but now you have an experience where you're spending multiple years with a cast of actors. Just talk to me a little bit about your experience working working with her A real professional?
Yeah, I think that's what I learned, was how to be a professional with watching her and Josh and Peter and Tory and all the amazing actors on that show. I think there's so much more material and watching day in and day out, Like I just tried to be a sponge as much as I could. I probably I didn't say much the first season. I feel like I think I was like scared and removed from everybody, and I was just like, this is crazy, and so I was really just trying to watch what they were doing and see how they carried themselves and how they interacted and what their focus was. And I picked up on her like rituals that she would have that would help her, and I think that helped me develop my own process and see what was working for me. And one time in the first season that Josh specifically mentioned something to me that really opened up my mind a bit, which was I was giving a bunch of notes kind of every take from one of our directors, and Josh came up to me and he said, hey, man, like you know what you're doing. You know your character at this point more than anybody, Like, you know, take take it, but you don't have to bend everything if it's not feeling right to you. And I feel like that was something that was eye opening because it made me have more confidence kind of in the character and in what I was doing. And I think that's something I really love I learned from them is they all knew what they were doing, and they came in confident and they didn't need five takes to get there. They needed one or two and they were there. So, Yeah, she's she's amazing. Always been super impressed with her. And then in the third season she got she got to direct us, so that was special too, and really cool to see how that process worked and how hard she worked on that. It is just inspiring that fire is still lit and I love to see that.
Several other film and television appearances which then brought you to American Rust. Now this wasn't your character, but I got to tell you American Rust has been coming up, and not just because by the way, which we're going to talk about season two Broken Justice just out here within the last month. Okay, before we talk about you there, there's a scene in American Rust which is discussed in or amongst my friend group, my family has been since. And I don't know if you've checked out Baby Reindeer yet, there is a there is a scene you haven't seen it yet. Okay, there's a scene in Baby Reindeer which then now is making this this scene from American Rust one of the most I don't even know what you call.
It chilling.
Awkward scenes in television ever, the lowing scene from American Rus. I mean the way, the time that they took and when they got there. Yeah, I don't even know. I don't really have a question. I'm just telling it. It's just talking. I just had to tell you that in or around my friends and family group occasionally people low. Okay, I'm just saying that. I'm just saying that there is there's a sound that happens, and everybody knows what we're referring to. Go yeah, And I guess it kind of doesn't get any more iconic than that. I mean that it's sort of as simple as that, Yeah, you're gonna if you're gonna low. And by the way, if you're listening right now and you don't know what I'm referring to, you don't even you might not even know what lowing means. But once you see it, you never forget it.
Never.
I actually have a really funny story about Lowing, about Lowing when we first read that script, because because we were all living together, me David who plays Isaac, and Julie who plays Lee, because COVID happened like two days before we started the first season, and so we got shut down and everyone, like I had just driven out from LA, they had just come from New York, they didn't have places to go back to. I didn't, you know, I didn't want to go back to LA. So we stayed in Pittsburgh and hunkered down and we had just kind of met, so we essentially started like just hanging out and living together, and it was maybe a month in that we got those scripts, which I think I forget which episode it was, and we were like, let's read the scripts.
I think it was like read it out loud together.
Yeah, let's just read it out loud together. We had all the time in the world, you know, we were just hanging out at that.
So the whole cast, not not the whole cast, but just the three of you and you would read different parts or whatever.
Yeah, we would exactly like we would just read the opposite parts right at the time. And yeah, so we were reading the script and I remember it's me. I was reading The business Man, okay, and we started reading through it and I'm like looking back at Dave, I'm like, what is going on? And we just had to stop for a minute and like put our hands in our heads. We're like, what is going on? This is the craziest thing I've ever read. And uh, it was. It was live to do that in real time, to see the reaction.
And but yeah, that's you were a part of it.
You were a part of the lowing. You you were you were the first reader of the lowing exactly. Wow, congratulations on that. I don't know if you'll ever beat that. Quite frankly, I mean, there is the lowing. Wow. So you're in Pittsburgh. I'm done with the lowing now. I just I had to tell you. It's just it's a thing. It's like a thing. So you so you go out to start COVID shuts everything down, now are they? And I'm not getting into your your business. I'm just sort of fascinated by it. So the other two folks, they've given up their apartments in New York probably or they're sub letting them. Yeah, and you've come from LA and La is not a place to go back to. So are they paying for you to stay there? Or you guys are just now you're just three actors living in Pittsburgh.
Yeah. So they paid for like half of it because I had like an X amount that we were supposed to get for the that would have covered the whole thing. And then they're like, well, because all this happened, we can only cover half of it essentially.
So of like your rent.
Rent Yeah, because I essentially signed like a six month because I was going to be there for six months. So David and I ended up staying for six months, just in Pittsburgh during the beginning of COVID, and so like we got like weirdly enough, we got all of us got super close because it really felt like life imitating art a bit. We started exploring Pittsburgh that like there was no restaurants to really go to at that time, so we were just we were like hunkered down really like bonding, getting close and just like you know, figuring things out. The coolest thing I'd say we did is we snuck into the Pittsburgh Zoo multiple times.
It was closed, but you guys just snuck in.
Yeah.
So we went on this hike and where the hike was it was kind of near our house. I was like looking on my maps, I'm like, whoa, the zoo is like just right up this hill. And we went we started walking. There's like no fence. There's a tiny little plastic fence or something that we just could push down and hop over. And We're like, there's no encampment here, like this is there's not lions that we're about to walk into, right, And so at first it was like very like a little intense, but I was there's no way because a lion could have jumped over that little fence. So I was like, we're good. And then we just walked in and like, wow, there's no one here. There's still animals. So we just started like perusing the zoo.
Were there zoo keepers there?
That there's one zoo keeper. And on our way back, we're just walking and we're like, oh, there's a there's a zoo keeper just like coming towards us and we're walking and we just kind of like walked past him. We're just like play cool, you know, just like we're at the zoo. He's like, guys, where you go? What are you doing? You can't be here? And we're like, oh, are you guys closed? And he's like, yeah, you can't be in the zoo or I know you guys missed the animals, but like I understand, Like he was like I understand why you're here, but yeah, it's really can't be doing that. I'm gonna get in trouble. And we're like, oh, shoot, we're so And this was like four hours into the to your experience. Yeah, like we were like it was crazy.
Yeah, well not to like so that sounds like colony or something like suddenly you're just there at an abandoned zoo. You have one person who's taking care of the animals and you guys are just hanging cause. I think that I like a good zoo. Don't get me wrong. I don't always love having to fight into the front of the fence to be able to see what's going on at the zoo. But to be able to sit and hang out and just like watch the gorillas or whatever. That sounds incredible.
It was, man, it really was. There was also a section where it was a bunch of goats and you had the you did. We were in the encampment with all the goats and we're like, there's no one here. This is the craziest. Like we were like hanging out with the goat and they were they were so happy because they hadn't seen anybody. It was, you know, they were essentially an isolation to it felt like like so we were like getting them wiled up and it was crazy. There was maybe like half the animals were there, and yeah, there was lions there. I feel like they looked a lot like pretty sad actually, because there wasn't that interaction with the people. Maybe like there wasn't They were just kind of fully by themselves in these encampments.
But yeah, that was a wild experience.
Oh my god, that's unbelievable. I love that. So you would just go hang out the zoo, you were hanging out with these and so then back to work. After six months, you're still not filming, is that right? So then you then you leave Pittsburgh.
Yeah, then I leave and I drove back. I made a big road trip out of it because I had I got my dog. I brought my dog back to Pittsburgh with me during the middle of the pandemic just because I needed the dogg Oh, and then I drove back, made a road trip out of it. And that was really amazing too, because at that time it hadn't gotten crazy where everybody was road tripping and doing the parts and all that, so it was still pretty empty.
So that was that was amazing.
I don't know if you've ever heard this before or not, but mister Rogers was filmed in Pittsburgh.
Oh I didn't know that.
Oh you didn't know that. Oh that was me. That was me being a smart alec. Anytime you're in Pittsburgh, they're like, did you know you're in the entertainment industry? Mister Rogers was and I was like, oh, really, wow, And then I think I've heard that ten thousand times although you lived there six months and you didn't know, so I should I should just shut it. I was a big fan of the show. You get to work with two of My Face where it's Jeff Daniels, Mara Tyranny plays your mom, and then it's canceled, it goes away, it's dead for like years. Yeah, and now it's back. So, first off, how did it feel were you? Were you happy with the show? Were you proud of the show?
I was, I think I mean, obviously I can always nitpick my stuff to to death, but I was proud of it. Ultimately. I think I think what we were trying to go for and the story we were trying to tell was really dark and and twisted. And I mean it's based off the book the first season, and I absolutely loved the book, and so I think, yeah, I was.
I was really proud of it.
You know, I'm intentionally not trying to give it away because if you haven't checked out season one of American Rust, you should. And so it's over, and then you think it's over, and then Amazon says, hey, let's let's go again. Uh just released this month American Rust colon Broken Justice, which is season two. How was it for you to revisit Billy after after several years?
Yeah, it was. It was really exciting because it felt like we had a big plot of story that needed to still be unwinded and explained. And I think the Wave season one ended, there was so many storylines that hadn't been wrapped up yet that it just kind of felt like we needed to wrap this and explain what happens.
And so it was.
It was a release. It was definitely a rollercoaster because it got canceled and and you know, I was like, okay, I can I'm going to move on to something else, Like I'm going to try and clear this out of my cash, out of my brain and just like move onward career wise. And then it gets real brought back up and and I think it was cool to like get back into that headspace and dive back into that character and kind of see where the creators wanted to take the storylines. I think they brought a bunch of interesting ideas and things for me to work on and play with. And PTSD was something that was really prevalent for my character in this season and the physical ailments and it's kind of how it juxtaposes the character in the first season is really fun to play.
So now that's that's awesome and an incredible challenge to essentially be playing the same guy but have it be very, very different. Congratulations on that. I encourage everybody to go check out O season one if you haven't. There's more than one thing, but there's some things you don't want to miss in season one, and then check out Broken Justice. And now you got a big new project coming up. It ends with us. You play alongside Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. How is it like working with them? Are you excited about it?
I am really excited about it. So my character is like the young version of Young Atlas, and so that's who is like working with Blake, So I didn't Actually I haven't even met Blake yet.
You haven't.
I haven't. I haven't met Blake. So I just really worked with Justin. You was our director as well as you start stars in it, and it was just me and Isabella Ferrara, who plays young Millie, and we did it like right before the strike, and they actually told us, oh, sorry, we're gonna have to wait till after this, right right before and we're like what, So they canceled and then the next day the next morning, we're like, just kidding, you're working on Monday. And so we had I was like, okay, amazing to get to go. So we had two weeks and that was kind of all my filming was.
It was two weeks for that.
Right before the strike, so we were really lucky to do it before that happened. But it was really fun project. I like, the book is is really.
Really Have you read Colleen Hoover's novel?
Yeah, it's it's amazing. That was really part of the A big part of the prep for me was I needed to read that and see really what is going on here, especially the young version which I was playing. And I also was really fascinated with Maine. I hadn't been to that part of the country. So I was already in New York and I had my little tear job trailer that I camp out of a lot, and I just drove up and explored Maine in a kadia and kind of just wanted to get a sense of what that landscape was, the people, the energy. Never had lobster before so out there never No, wasn't a big fish guy Kansas. We don't have a lot of fresh fish.
So yeah, I guess that's true. Did you end up bunking with some of your mates and hanging out for six months in Maine during the strike like you did? Coke sneak into a zoo there in Maine or a marine biologist slayer anything?
No, nothing that exciting for me.
Damn been a good story, just so you know for next time, Alex.
Another one.
Well that win is it out?
It's out? I think in August. I think August ninth, maybe something around. They just changed it.
Oh, they just changed it. Yeah. You know, the strike didn't help us in the movie business. I don't know if you've heard that or not. It didn't.
It did.
It made things a little more up in the air than normal.
Yeah, it did it.
Also, I feel like there was such a bottleneck of things that needed to come out that they were like, all right, we're just gonna hold off on creating anything new for as long as we can.
Right, you're working on anything exciting now?
Right now? Project wise, it's back to auditioning. I got some things that I'm I'm really interested in, so we'll see. Hopefully I have good news soon. I've just been playing a lot of music lately and rock climbing and keeping myself active with hobbies and trying to get better whatever I can.
You are awesome one to watch, two, delightful to talk to. I have been enjoyed you and everything I've seen you in thus far. I can't wait for the new project. And good luck and come back and chat anytime you're Alex.
You're good at this, man, this is this is awesome. I love to chat with you.
I don't know if I'm good at it, but I tell you what, I enjoy the hell out of it. I really do. And having the opportunity to meet guys and gals like you. That was a weird way to say it. I really enjoy it. So thank you for taking the time. And I hope everybody checks out season two and then writes in about the lowing. All right, all right, thanks man, I appreciate it.
Thank you, man, I appreciate you, Alex.
Thank you for coming on. Very very nice meet you and getting to chat with you today. Also, I know you're a big KC guy, So good luck to your Chiefs this year. You got great things coming ahead in your career, Alex, I just know it, So stop back anytime. And to my listeners, well you have great stuff ahead too, so you stop back anytime and check out American Rust, Broken Justice now out on Amazon freeby next week. Well, guess what if you come back here, I'm going to deliver you something. I'm going to deliver you another fan freaking fantastic episode with another well pretty stupendous guest. So until then, have a great week.
Off.
The Beat is hosted and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Lang Lee. Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and our intern is Ali Amir Sahim. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one and only Creed Bratton
