Actor, writer, and producer Isabelle Fuhrman is our guest on the podcast this week. She and Brian talk about playing pretend, Leonardo DiCaprio, villainous motivations, and horses. Plus, we get Isabelle's recommendations for fancy cheeses and whether or not the Swiss know how to barbecue. Currently you can see Isabelle in the Kevin Costner-directed western, Horizon: An American Saga.
And you know, I think the ability to be alone and play alone has kind of been my biggest asset as a as an actor, but also as like a person growing up. And maybe that's also, you know, an attribute of some serial.
Killers being able to.
I don't know.
I'm just saying here, hide something for you.
Hi.
I'm Isabelle Ferban. I'm an actress and barbecue enthusiast.
Hi, everybody, thank you for joining me once again on well my favorite podcast, Off the Beat. This is your host, Brian Bomgartner. If you are a horror fan, well, guess what you probably have known my guest since she was ten years old. Isabelle Furman started her career very young by being the absolutely terrifying Esther in the horror film Orphan. Since then, she has continued her reign of terror in movies like Don't Let Me Go Down a Dark Hall, The Novice, Stephen king Cell, and she even returned to the role of Esther as an adult in Orphan First Kill. Yeah, she was twenty five playing a nine year old. We discussed that today and much much more. Isabelle also well, she was a fan of the Hunger Games and we were all a fan of the Hunger Games. She played Clove in The Hunger Games, then Tessa in a series I adored, Masters of Sex. Then she's even cleansed our palets, if you will with some lighter fair salvation Boulevard Dear eleanor Shiros. And now you can see her in The Wild Wild, Western Epic Horizon and American Saga, Kevin Costner's latest work. There will be four films. The first one is out, the second one is right around the corner. Isabelle and I grew up in Atlanta. We were both Westminster Wildcats, and then we made our way to Hollywood for this thing we call acting. I feel like we can both still pass as children. Some may not agree with me. There here she is. I have enjoyed getting to know her today. Isabelle Furman. Everyone, Bubble and squeak.
I love it.
Bubble and Squeakna, bubble and squeak.
Cook it.
From the people. What's up as a Belle?
What's up? How are you?
I'm good? How are you?
I'm great? I'm really excited to talk to you today.
Actually, well, I mean thank you one. I am excited to talk to you. I've heard a lot about you. You know full disclosure for those of you listening, we we work with similar people, though to my knowledge we have never met before.
Is this is this correct?
We've never before, but we do work with similar people.
So I'm glad that you've heard you've heard good things about me, because I've heard great things about.
Our people. Are doing good jobs.
They're doing they're doing a good job. You know.
I I have researchers. They deep dive into every corner of your being, and on the document they apparently researched you, but have forgotten about me. There's no acknowledgment about this. So let's you're born in Washington, d C. Yeah, you moved to Atlanta. Yeah, and you attended.
The Westminster Schools.
Now, I attended the Westminster Schools as well. We're roughly the same age, so we must have run into each other there.
So you went to Westminster too, I did, Oh what I mean, how long?
We don't ask? Don't ask? Okay, all right, well that must be why you never heard of.
Me there, because you're only in elementary school.
I mean, I do you know? My intention was this is a funny story. My intention was, it's not in this room. My intention is to bring today to show to you the Hall of Fame trophy that I had. It's very large. In fact, it's so large it doesn't fit on my shelf. My Hall of Fame trophy from the Westminster Schools. But let's be honest. They gave it to me. They gave it to me. You know, Ed Helms went to the Westminster Schools as well, both of us, and well so she knew.
That and now.
Oh got it, got it.
So you know, they they gave us awards basically so they could raise money.
Let's be clear about this. I believe that the awards were.
Not uh I don't know, I don't know what do you call it. That It wasn't out of the kindness of their heart. They were trying to raise some money. But I have it, and I still have it. I was going to show it to you, but you were only there in elementary school.
Yeah, I was only a wildcat for a short time.
Wildcat. I'm surprised you remember wildcat.
I do because high School Musical was the first time wildcats were like in a movie, and I remember being like, but I'm a wildcat, a wildcat.
A Westminster wildcat. So why only elementary.
School So when I went to Westminster, I was in first, second, and third grade, and when I was in third grade, shout out to Miss Milly Priles. That was when I first went shout out Milly Priles. I went first went to LA during my third grade year at Westminster, and that was when I started acting. And Westminster actually was like, look, you can't just leave in the middle of the year for like two months to go and pursue your dreams.
Even if she's doing school work.
So they said that they would like hold a place for me the following year if I wanted to leave for fourth grade and then come back. And ended up kind of negotiating a deal with my parents to go to LA for a year and if nothing happened, I'd just go back to being a wildcat.
And I ended up booking.
Orphan and Miss Millie Prile told me that I have to give her a shout out because it's because of her that she fought to allow you to go and pursue my dream while I was installed in school.
So so you did, so you moved to LA.
So you were that at that young of an age, you knew what you wanted to do.
I feel like.
I've always known that this is what I wanted to do, which is really crazy. My I have a I have an older sister, and so anything that she did I subsequently did because I was just the tag along. So like she was going to be a professional professional tennis player and then a swimmer and an ice skater and I did all of that. But I started singing in school at Westminster funny enough, and ended up doing musical theater. And that was how I kind of got introduced to acting, was through like a musical theater camp. And that musical theater camp, one of the women who ran it was like, you know, Cartoon Network in Atlanta is always casting kids to do little shout outs and for TV episodes, and my mom took my sister and I. I was too little to audition, but they thought I was cute, so they cast both of us, and my sister just hated it, and I just loved it because I just got to play pretend with a bunch of adults who were I didn't know. I wasn't getting paid, but they were getting paid to play pretend with me, and I thought it was amazing. And then through that I actually the casting director there set up, you know, which he said was an appointment, but it ended up being an open call for an agent in Atlanta, which was the only agency Atlanta in Atlanta at the time. Hot Shot Kids and I went for an audition there and got signed and ended up one of my audition tapes ended up in LA. It really kind of like all happened in a really wild, crazy way because both my parents had full time jobs. This was not what they probably set out for their seven or eight year old.
To be doing.
Right. Were they into it though? Did they?
They were supportive?
I mean I think that my mom thought that my mom and dad thought that it was kind of like, you know, kids go horseback riding after school and my sister was playing tennis, so like, yeah, she does, you know, acting and auditions after school, like the thing crazy, And then I don't. I don't think it was until I actually booked Orphan, and this was after I had done some commercials and we had been in LA for a couple of months in my third grade year that I think that was the first time that my parents kind.
Of were like, oh, this is like a real thing, Like this is like a real job that people have.
A Yeah, and it was actually I think that my mom's is the big moment was so Leonardo DiCaprio produced Or, which a lot of people don't really know, and he is the reason that I did that, Like he he was the reason that I was cast. He saw my audition tape and he said that he would pull the movie from the studio if they didn't hire me, and I had no experience at all, and because he stood by my audition, I was cast. And so over the winter break, halfway between filming, he took my mom and I to lunch, and I think the look on my mom's face when he said, you know, yeah, she could actually have a career doing this was like huh, Like, well, if Leonardo DiCaprio's saying that my daughter could have a career to maybe this could be a thing.
And they've always believed it.
How old How old were you here?
Because of course I see when the day when you filmed it, I mean I see the date that it came out.
How how old were you when you were filming? Third grade? So you're like you were ten?
I was ten and I turned eleven.
Yeah.
We moved to la for a year when I was nine, and it was like kind of running out of time. I booked Orphan when I was when I was ten, we started filming. I turned eleven while we were filming, and then came out when I was twelve, which.
Is now your parents have full time jobs. Now see, now there's something that's not quite sinking up here about what you say, because they they have full time jobs.
And I get what you're because see for me, when I.
Was a wildcat at Westminster, yes, it was exactly what you're saying.
It was a hobby. Like for me it was hot.
It was at this is a hobby that I'm doing these plays and I wasn't in film and television at all, Like I'm doing these plays and this is this is a hobby. And then for me happened much later, between junior and senior year of high school. I was like, oh, this is a job like that. Much later later for you, I was like, oh wait, like oh like building characters and like creating. Oh yeah, I could get into this. So then I made that decision, which again is still in the grand scheme of people and careers at a relatively young age. But here's the Okay, you're doing these auditions, but your parents do they quit their job? Are they working remote? Are they how are you moving to LA for a year. They must have known that it was at least somewhat serious.
So my dad and my sister stayed in Atlanta for that year. My mom and I went just the two of us to LA. My mom at the time, she used to be like a war journalist and did you know broadcast for CNN in Afghanistan. She was like a you know, very series journalist, and then transferred into kind of writing travel, lifestyle and celebrity pieces. And because of that she was able to come to LA And I remember when I was there, she was interviewing like Kim Kardashian when the show was just coming out, remember Paris Hilton, And we got her album before it came out, And we're listening to like Stars Are Blind as we were driving through Lang auditions, which now is so funny when I think about it. She interviewed Jessica Simpson when her clothing line launched. Like all of this stuff was happening while I was, you know, auditioning.
All the people that are your friends now, all the people that are your friends now.
I don't know if I've actually crossed I think I've crossed paths with Kim Kardashian once because she's a big fan of Orphan, which is really funny. But I haven't actually met Paris Hilton or Jessica Simpson since.
But Paris, Paris is great.
My mom said that she was one of the smartest women that she ever interviewed in coming from Atlanta.
She had no She was like, I had no idea.
I was like, only expected like what you see of Paris, And she was like, oh, she is smart.
Okay, so now this is starting to make more sense. So really, your mom used you as an excuse to further her career as as an entertainment celebrity writer, using you as an excuse to move to.
La for a year. Yeah, all right, I get it. I get it.
So you book Orphan, this is this is a big deal. I mean, this is a cute. How do you What do you remember about the audition? Did you meet Leah?
I asked you like seven questions.
I didn't meet Leo. I didn't meet Leo during the audition.
I just saw your tape.
Yeah, so I remember like the first audition the script.
First of all, I remember reading it because my mom had to black out all the like at words and like bad words in it. And I do a lot of stuff in the movie, my character. And I remember reading that script and there was so much sharpie in it, like I couldn't really decay for like what was going on in certain parts. And I did my audition. I remember my mom and I bought a dress at ross, like a frilly, girly dress, and she curled my hair and we put like a ribbon around my neck. Because the description of the character was so specific, they were asking people to dress up and the main descriptor was like blonde hair, blue eyes. So I was like, I had no shot in hell, but may as well try. So dressed up, went for the audition, and I.
Remember the ribbon in the script too, the.
Ribbons on the neck. Yeah, the ribbon was very specific. They really had like an idea of what they wanted and and that'sd all of that up for them, you know. But I went in for the audition and I did. There were like three scenes. It was like fourteen pages, which was a lot when I was nine. I remember that was like, you know, when I was ten, Sorry, that was like a big amount to be memorizing.
And did you memorize it?
Yeah, yeah, word for word, every single bit of it. And after doing the three scenes, the casting director got up and left the room and she came back with like two other people, and then we did him again, and it was the first time I ever.
Had that happen in an audition.
And she called my mom into the room, of which they do when you're little. They're like, we're going to bring your mother back here, and they said that they were going to bring me in for a callback and that this was probably going to be a long process because it was a big studio movie and I had nothing on my resume and all of that.
So went home.
Was you know, got the callback, curled my hair, went and met with the director Drama, who was still a dear friend of mine to this day.
I laughed so much because I remember after my.
Audition scene he had me like scream like you know horror movie scream, like in the trailer, and we did like some kind of like an improv where he had me like try and keep the Bible away from him. It was so funny, you know things you do like I gi'd like, really it would be good.
For this job. I don't know, and then I went home and my mom went on a work trip.
She was writing about a safari in Africa a little far away, and I was with my dad and my sister at home and I remember doing my English homework when my agent called and said that I booked the movie and I then, you know, the best was my dad wanted to call my mom and because she was out in the middle of in the bush in Africa, there's like, you know, they run to her with the phone in the middle of nowhere, and she thinks, like something horrible happened, because it's like, why would my family be reaching out to me in the middle of nowhere on this trip, And it was just really really exciting. I just remember being it shocked, but also completely unaware of what that meant, like what was yeah, what was going to be? And it and it really was probably the most rewarding but the hardest working like work I'd ever done to that point, and even still to this day sometimes I work on movies and I'm like, how did I do that?
When I was ten, I had.
Dialet coaching, I had stunt training, I had you know, like all of these crazy costumes.
I was the lead in the movie. I was acting every single day.
I was working six days a week, and I was doing school and I still to this day don't know how I did that. When I was a kid, fuddy, I had a lot of help and support.
So you know, yeah, so your mom has sharp eyed out parts, but you're aware of what the movie is about, like you're okay, like from the beginning.
Yeah, My mom actually was really freaked out by the fact that I came to her room after I read it, and my mom was like, so, what did you think? And I said, she just wants someone to love her, and my mom's like, that's what.
You got from? And I think it was because I just I just saw this character who was like so mangled and animalistic and sad that she was like having to go through such lengths to get somebody else to love her, and how sad that must be. And maybe that's what got me the job.
Was like this is just very human, childlike response to like someone's trauma.
You know, well, you have you have to be able to identify with the characters that you're playing, regardless of what they do. Yeah, I mean I think that's I mean, I think that's vitally important and likely Yeah, why why why you didn't end up getting it? This is like boring, stereotypical question time. Now, I'm sure I've been asked this a million times, which I'm very sensitive about this.
But did you have.
Like what did you play with as a child, Like were you into barbies? Were you or was there like a darker to you as a kid. I'm not obviously you're not the character, but like did that? Were you drawn to that?
All I know is that I loved playing with dolls, but primarily my main play like playtime was just my imagination. I mean I my mom and my dad always used to say that, like they could leave me in a room for five hours and know that I could entertain myself, which is true.
I loved to play pretend.
And I wouldn't say that I had imaginary friends per se, because I don't like not to call out like inside out.
I didn't have like a big bong for example, you know what I mean.
I just could like sit in a room and imagine scenario and play and talk to myself and all of that for hours on end. And I think that's kind of been something that I still do to this day when I'm preparing for a movie or I'm even writing scripts and things like that. Is you know, the ability to just kind of sit on your own and imagine a completely different world or a different scenario and step into like a completely other realm. And I find that that has kind of as I've gotten older and I've gotten into like meditation is like a sort of spiritual thing, you know, where you can like call in different sorts of energies and things that don't necessarily exist. And I think that's that's something I feel like with every movie, I feel like I kind of create this person within me that kind of takes over for a bit and it's not like they are, you know, running around with a hammer and and I have killing people every time, you know, but like I'll take on certain attributes of like a character. I remember when we were doing when I was filming Orphan, I painted all the time. I was painting constantly, and like when I did, you know, the novice, Like I had to row for the movie. But I also was like working out like a mad woman every single day. Because I think that those things kind of anchor you into the character that you're playing. And you know, I think the ability to be alone and play play alone has kind of been my biggest asset as a as an actor, but also as like a person growing up. And maybe that's also, you know, an attribute of some serial killers to being able to.
I don't know, I'm just saying, just here, Brian had something for you.
Well, part of I mean, part of why I ask is for me, and you know this is this has not been a significant part of my work at all.
But I don't know, this is very weird. I don't even know if I've talked about this before.
But so when I was a kid, I was obsessed.
With the villains, all of them.
And now so at my time and my age weirdly, which I'm not going to get like social political on this or whatever, most of the time, not even my age, because but stuff that came out and that I was watching was all women. It was all the bad guy was all women. So you like you talk about the and I'm not that old, but we're watching like snow White, there's the Witch, There's Cruel Deville, there's you know, Maggan, there's all these like bad guys, but even the wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz, Like we're watching that once a year when it's on TV. For me, the reason why, which is fascinating to me that even as a child, you were saying this about this character.
Like for me, those are the characters that are interesting, right, So for me it wasn't.
Really about like horror or being bad or like any of that stuff.
But I could see those.
Characters and they were so much more interesting to me than like Prince Charming or whatever, like I don't know, like there's just much more going on. There's a backstory like how did they get this way? That was always just very interesting.
I agree.
I think that's part of why I'm drawn to those sorts of roles or movies is that I think in general, you want to try and find the humanity in people, even people that have done horrible things. There's always this question of why would they do that? Or how did they get to be this way? And I think very often in life we actually don't get that answer, And in a movie, you have the ability to give an audience that answer, which I think is something that's pretty cool about a movie is that you can really dive into the world of another person and show show a different side of someone's terror and why they are that way, you know, but not necessarily make them the good guy.
You know, they're still the bad guy. It's just you kind of have a little.
Bit more of an intrigue and understanding of like who they are, and you're more fascinated and intrigued by them and the villains gets have so much more fun.
Yeah. Were you able to see the movie when it came out?
Yeah? I did.
I I remember my parents covered my eyes during the sex scene that for me and Peter sarsgart out.
That was like the only thing I wasn't allowed to see.
But I remember going to see the movie in the theater, and I saw it at the premiere, and I the first time I saw it was actually at a screening at Warner Brothers with my parents and my sister, And that was really cool because you know, I got to go to the lot and where I had the audition and sit in the theater and they presented it to me and I just I remember seeing the credit and my credit at the end and being like, this is so cool.
I made this. It's crazy.
Yeah, it was a very magical experience for me, and I've been really fortunate that that movie as successful as it was, and it kind of found this like cult following after the fact, and I really feel very thankful that as much as it would have been great for it to be this like huge number one hit, I still got to have a teenagehood and childhood right even though to this day, Orphan is still what people recognize me for everywhere, Like I will go to the store, I'll go to the restaurant or yeah, and I mean just even yesterday, I'm in the middle of nowhere in Switzerland and I picked up, like I picked up a like a takeout order, and the woman's like, are you in that movie Orphan? I'm like, oh my god, I'm just gonna look ten years old forever hopefully.
I don't know.
That is fascinating that they are picking you out now. I mean, you did go back and do the prequel. You reprised your role prequel. I was gonna say, seql and I knew that was wrong. Orphan first kill. How was that for you going back playing a role that you had played when you were ten And obviously there's a lot of exterior factors to you being in a prequel, but yeah, go ahead, I mean.
It was first I was.
Questioning if it was even possible, And then the entire time I was filming the movie, like you know what it's like on set, So Julia Stles, who I love and adore as a human but also was like obsessed with her when I was younger. It's playing my mom, and then you know Ross of seven one who plays my dad, and we're like in scenes together and they're wearing like stripper boots, like giant platform because you can't buy them just playing black. No, they're fringe or glitter or something like that. And I'm like squatting or I'm sitting in this like chair that they made me where I'm you know, on like a butt dolly, and I'm having like very serious scenes with them, and I'm just thinking constantly, this is gonna look either great or this is gonna be horrible. Like I'm either gonna look back at this movie and it's gonna be like Snakes on a Plane where it's so bad, where it's just gonna be like no.
One's gonna buy it. And yeah, I remember the first time seeing the movie. I was so scared.
I was sweating so much when I went to see it, and then I was like turned to Alex our producer, and I was like, oh my god, we did it, like it actually actually does make sense. So I don't know, I felt like there was this sort of magic. So many people came back. We worked with a lot of the same crew, which was really cool. We used a lot of the old you know, original costumes is inspiration. And I had the same dialect coach that I had when I was ten, which was really cord. Yeah, yeah, that was actually something I really I really thought for I was like, we can't do it without Eric because he he made that accent and he remembers what I sounded like when I was ten. He had all these audio recordings of working with me, so I was like, we have to have him. And yeah, and every single day I just felt like we were we were trying to make it, like we were trying to figure out if this was gonna work, and and it really was like a creative, collaborative process. And when the movie was done, I was just really really genuinely proud of us, but I was also semi shocked.
Really, I was like.
You know what, I was like, I'll do it for the fans, but you know, hopefully it was COVID I hadn't worked, and like the whole year, I was like, if this is the one thing I do, better go out in a bang.
You know this will be it. And it worked.
That's awesome.
Do you feel like, well, look, I mean you're the lead of an iconic well now I can say horror franchise. It's brought you other opportunities in this realm as well. Do you like working in horror? I'm talking about Don't let Me Go down a Dark Hall Sell.
You know it's I do and I don't. It's kind of like a combination of both. I like it because you get to you get to explore the things that, like I said, darker parts of humanity that you don't really often see. And I love the characters, Like sometimes I find the most interesting characters and movies are written in those films.
I don't know what it is.
About people being like, look, we don't have to worry about scaring anybody.
We could just do whatever the heck we want.
That, Like, all these characters come out of nowhere that are like wild and crazy, and sometimes you see you read movies and you're like, this person's just so blah, Like they're just kind of you know, you need an actor to like come in and create something within that. And I love when I read something on a page and I go, oh, I know I can make this so much better too, Like this could be really fun to play with and sink my teeth into.
And you know what's funny. I don't watch a lot horror movies, believe it or not, but I've gotten I don't know either, by the way, Yeah, yeah, I mean I don't.
Why don't you.
I don't really love being scared, if that makes sense. But I love working on them. I really love working on them, and I love that. I love the fandom of horror films. I actually think horror movie fans are unlike any other fan base there is. They they really love these movies because they, you know, they experience a journey with these characters. And uh yeah, I mean I would. I would love to do more horror genre stuff. But I also feel like it's a genre that I've explored a lot, and I'm I'm right now trying to see if I can try other avenues and see what other you know, what other avenues I can explore.
I mean I did.
I did a movie called The Novice that was not a horror movie, but it did. It was pretty psychological, and that's something I really.
Yeah, I was going to ask you about that.
Yeah, I mean like a psychological thriller maybe we would call it. Yeah, but a sports movie. You mentioned before working out really really hard for that role. Was that was that difficult for you?
I mean, I love I love exercising, and I did that. I had run a marathon like marathon before, and then I had done an ultra marathon and I actually part of I think what helped me get the job is I wrote a letter to Lauren, the director who wrote the script, who's a dear friend of mine now, but I wrote her this note after I sent her the audition, which is basically like, you have to hire me because not only am I going to do a great job, but I have a positive attitude and I know what it's like to be exhausted physically. And I sent her like pictures from this race. I had done an ultra marathon relay race from Santa Monica to Las Vegas with my friends was three hundred and forty four miles, and so I sent her, Yeah, I sent her pictures of myself like literally sweating and crying in tears and then smiling and like all of this stuff just to be like, look see, we're gonna have a great time together even though we're going to be exhausted. And when we talk about it to this day, she's like, as much as your audition was very impressive, she's like that note was exactly the try hard kind of attitude that I wanted for that character.
That is kind of who I am, you know.
I really just wanted her to know that I was I was the best person for the job. And there were a lot of moments on set where I think it came in handy that we were, you know, in the freezing cold and the dam had been opened by the by Peterborough, Ontario, and all the boats were floating downstream and we're like way behind, and I would just look.
At Laura and I'd be like, we're gonna be fine, and she's like, oh wait, I'm like, we're gonna be fine.
We're gonna be totally fine.
Oh that's awesome. We don't know each other well enough for this, but I got a joke for you. How do you know if someone's ran a marathon, what they.
Don't stop talking about it.
Yeah.
Yeah, they tell you about it, which in this particular situation worked out perfectly for you.
But I literally don't.
I'm talking about it.
I just heard that joke yesterday. It just suck. Perfect timing.
Let me tell you.
The reason why that's so true, though, is because when you're training, for one, you literally are waking.
Up every day and that's all you do.
But the thing that's funny, since I don't do that anymore, I'm so much more aware of my friends that do that.
I'm like, God, was I like that?
Was I like, you know, I see someone for breakfast and I'd be like, I woke up at five and.
Ran six miles and I totally was that person. Which sucks.
Boy.
Anyway, it is all right, oh god, sorry Jack, I can't.
I mean the luck about you're a joke and being able to tell the next day to the person who said it, it's amazing. All right.
I'll have that thing where I'll think of a joke and I'll write it down and then I'll you know, have to save it until I can use it again.
I'm not as quick on it.
No, let me tell you something. No, this is not this is not a joke. I'm horrible. I'm horrible at it.
And it's the worst because one I play golf, I'll tell you about Yeah, you talk about people who like to talk about what they do.
John, let me let me go, let me go, let me go through my eighteen holes. I played today. I'm seventeen. I had this shot. It was really weird. I had the awkward life.
Yeah, oh no, but that and you know what I do for a living.
People expect me to be a joke teller. They're like, hey, give us a joke. I'm not. That's not what I do. I don't do.
That, and I don't and I don't remember them, which is why this was just so perfect. I don't remember them ever, and so yeah, it's just it's it makes things very difficult. So I have actually wrote down jokes as well my notes on my phone and I have it, and so then I won't tell anyone. I guess I'm telling people now. I don't typically tell people at the time that I'm like that I write it down because I'm embarrassed about it. So like I'll be like, you know, they'll ask for a job. I'll be like, no, no, no, I'll give me that phone let me look, let me see.
If I can one that's appropriate. Is this appropriate? Oh yeah, I think this is work anyway.
All right, well you guess what You've also done non horror roles as well. We're going to talk about your latest project. But you you were.
In the Hunger Games.
I was, Yeah, that was really fun.
Was that was a big That was a big deal.
Also it was also a massive deal for me because I was such a huge fan of the books.
I remember when were you?
Oh my god, I'm a huge fan of the books, and I it was really my audition process was so confusing because I auditioned and met for Primrose for Catness's little Sister, and then I was too old to be Primrose, and then they had me auditioned for Catness, but I was too young to be Catnus. And I remember, I just really think that I was lucky that Debraz and the casting director, I think she just liked me and she just kind of she's awesome, and she she was like, why don't you come in for Clove? And I just felt so lucky to be a part of that cast, to be a part of that group. I mean, to work with Gary, to work with Jen I mean, it really was. It felt like summer camp. I was fourteen and we were out in North Carolina in the mountains with you know, everybody was like, you know, age thirteen to nineteen, and I think Jen was nineteen or twenty ath time, and we just had so much fun. I mean it was like, I honestly, it's really cool that that movie, in that whole series is so huge. But I'm such a huge fan of it that I forget very often that I was in the first one because I just so loved those movies that in those books.
So you know, it's really cool to have been.
A part of that, and I loved working on it.
Masters of Sex was a show I don't even I can't even explain why. I was very very into it, And I'll be honest with you right now.
I thought there was a lot flawed about it. I thought there was a lot of stuff that didn't fully work about it. But I loved that show and the performances in it. This for you kind of your first major recurring role on television. Did you enjoy working in television? What was that like and how was it different for you?
I did it.
I mean, you know, I think what you learn and being on a TV show is if you're not like a part of the main cast all the time, like you never know what's going to happen with your character. And I think that was you know, I loved being a part of the show. I loved working with Lizzie and Michael, and I.
Was lucky to my scenes were with them.
I felt like every time we went on set, you know, you would work with a new director who was so great and learn something new, and as you know, I felt like I learned a lot from them. I also feel like I learned, though, too, that when you're working on a show, if you're if you're not like a part of the principal cast, you really don't know what happens to your character. And I think that was like the sad thing that I started to realize is like I was kind of I came into the show with a specific kind of arc that they had spoken to me about and I was really excited with it. And I think as the show was evolving, they started to change it. And there's nothing you can really do. You just you know, go to set and you say your lines, and you stand on your mark and you do your thing. But I really I loved being a part of that cast, and I think it just kind of gave me a little bit more of an understanding of like when I do a TV show, because I would really love to do a TV show. I would love to be a part of, you know, what creates the show and telling that story with the writers and being able to talk to them, because I remember sometimes I would get a script and I was like what.
I was like, she's doing what in this episode? And it was just like there's something you can do.
You're just like, Okay, well, you know at this point you just go in and have a good time. But I think that you know, the the story of you know, the two of them, and how how they you know, kind of were in charge of the whole modern sexual revolution.
I mean that was what really got me into the show.
I was a huge fan of the show before I got to be a part of it, and Lizzie Kaplan is probably one of the funniest people I've ever met in my entire life. We had I had one of the first scenes I had in the show was like the day after my eighteenth birthday with Michael Sheen, and I had to like kiss him, and he's like pushing me off of him because I'm drunk. And she was outside the door when I opened the door to the soundstage, spoke a cigarette and she.
Goes, Happy eighteenth birthday, kid.
I love Lizzy Chaplin's awesome.
You start a production company if now, is that what you want? You want to develop television? What kind of projects do you want to do? I mean movie because you.
Want to have a hand in it, Peter, Yeah, you know, I think right now, I'm I'm just kind of getting started with, you know, producing projects that I've that I'm acting in and my I've written some projects, but I'm also developing some things myself as well. And my my hope is to kind of create my own sort of lucky chap Like Margaret Robbie. I really admire what she's been able to do with not only creating projects for herself, but producing projects for other people too. You know, I really love storytelling. I loved love what I do, and I love being around you know, people who have creative ideas that are way smarter than me. So I really would, you know, hope that in the next couple of years I can kind of not only create some of the projects that I've written myself, but also help make some products for people that I know, friends of mine, people that I think are really talented. Scripts that I've read that I mean, there's so many scripts. I'm sure you've probably read scripts that you loved and then the movie never got made and they're still dancing around sometimes. And there's you know, a number of them that I've kept tabs on because I'm like, this would be an amazing movie. And I'm not fifteen anymore, so I can't be in it. But I think this would be an amazing movie. And and my go for you to make some of those Yeah, what if.
You know that name?
I came up with a really long time ago, and now I'm like, maybe I should change it, But I think it's you know, it's okay.
Is it right?
Well?
Well, I know, I mean I think it does speak to what you just said. What if what what if we just make the damn thing?
Right?
What if we just make the damn thing? Yeah? Maybe maybe that's that's the missing ingredient. Ingredient.
Well, no, I mean that's what it implies. I think, based on how you've explained that, I think that's I think that's.
Great, thank you.
It was the Isabelle was the you know, but I I think it's you know, it is the dream, the dream?
Why did you get that?
Now?
I like it? Now I like it better.
Okay, there we go.
Yeah, what Isabelle Furman?
I'm glad?
What if? All right? Yeah? Do we have a do we have a logo for what if? You know?
I probably should ask my sister to do that. She's really good at doing those things.
You can incorporate.
Let me tell you, Yeah, you can incorporate a lot of this Isabelle Freman in there.
Yeah you can. You can do a lot of things with you know what.
I want to actually do a barbecue collaboration with you, because I love barbecue and I love.
I don't know if you're aware, but you know what I have.
I know you do.
I just held it up. Why you you do you make barbecue? Are you like eating it?
I a first love, love to eat it.
I also I make very good side dishes for barbecue. I make very mac and cheese, I make very good corn bread, I make really great desserts.
What if you know? I just think there's collaboration that we could totally make. I really do I.
Think there is side dishes? Yeah? What if?
What if we collaborate on this? I think this is no. I think this is really this is going to be really good. Are you a TikTok star?
No?
I actually I don't have a TikTok. My grandma has a TikTok.
I made a TikTok for my grandma, but that's because my my grandmother is probably one of the most flarious people I know. And she's eighty two and she reviews alcohol. That's that's what she does. She loves she loves to enjoy different kinds of wine, and I just record what she says about it, and she kind of says the same thing about everything, which is kind of awesome, and I just kind of cut it together.
Yeah. Does grandma have a big following?
I don't.
I think if I was more dedicated to this I would it would probably grow.
But I don't know.
How many followers she has.
I'm really not so social media savvy in this time of social media savviness being important.
Well, I was.
I've been told for years to make a TikTok page and I finally did. And who knew that people liked barbecue? So much on the TikTok. They love barbecue cookbook. Oh, they love it on the TikTok. I just posted a video this morning that makes sense.
I feel like I get a lot of recipes from Instagram, which are all TikTok videos because I love I love to cook. I love food, and I love to eat food that I make, especially so it's.
Like, you do you book mark them the recipes you find there?
Yeah? I save all.
Do you ever go back and make some?
I do, actually, And you know the best what I do is I usually like change and modify things, like so good. Right now, I'm in Switzerland and I want I'm gonna make like I have this mac and cheese recipe I found, but I'm going to change it and use the cheeses that they use in fun do here, which is greir vast honk, because I think that it would be really good. And I also think Swiss people are really snobby about their cheese. And when I said I was gonna make mac and cheese for our next barbecue, my friend said with cheddah. I said, yeah, with cheddar cheddar cheese, American cheddar cheese. They were like, oh, you know. I was like you know what, fine, I'll use the green air, I'll use the local.
Wait, so you have barbecues in Switzer with people.
Love a barbecue Switzer. It's very very common here. It's you know, what's funny is a lot it's a lot of little villages and like the things that I typically do and with my friends on the weekend is we'll go over to someone's house and will barbecue, and we'll just sit in the backyard and drink wine and eat barbecue for a long time. It's great.
Wow, all right, I'm happy to hear that. What to you is a.
Barbecue, What to me is a barbie?
Like if if someone says, I want you to come over, We're going to have a barbecue.
What does that mean to you?
If it's at my house?
No, if someone invites you, what is your expectation.
My expectation is good classic hits on the radio. Okay, the grill going for a long time usually typically typically it's like you know, the you know, the gentlemen of the group, of the ones usually that are doing the grilling.
I don't know what it is about a grill that attracts men, like lots of a plan, you know, like all around, you know.
And we look at it, but what what kind of meat? What kind of meats?
Usually burgers, like you, I usually think the burger meat because I really like to fix things around, make it flavorful. I don't particularly love a veggie barbecue, but sometimes like a good like plant on the barbecue is really good with some onions, those.
Really don't go well. Sausages are always good.
Like I'm not a hot dog person, but I really love like, you know, the Mergez sausages or like here the they call it so ces devot like veal sausages really pop here and really.
Good yeah, and sounds delicious.
I love a good grilled steak, like a good big yeah steak with the bone. I always eat the bone. That's like my I always take the bone. I'm that person when I go to a restaurant actually, because it's not it's not really appropriate here in Switzerland or in Europe to like take the bone and eat it at the table. People look at you really funny. So I'll usually ask them to wrap it up for the dog. And I don't have a dog, and I go home and I eat.
It a lot, eat the bone. There you go.
It's the best part.
So I had a person that said to me, this was in coming out with this book, that if someone asked me to come to their house for a barbecue, yeah, this is a woman. She said, that means you're doing.
A whole hog.
WHA.
I was like what she.
Was like, Yeah, barbecue means whole hog. I was like, that is a that's a huge expectation to bring to everyone. Now, what she's referring to is which I know and have learned and discussed in the book. Barbecue is slow cooking. Yeah, right, so really barbecue all of the things. See, I think of a barbecue the way that you think of a barbecue, which is like just calm, you're gonna hang out. This girl's gonna be going we're gonna be cooking a bunch of different things. Barbecue is like it's got to be on the fire for like six hours. So that's what we're gonna do. What if what if we collaborate, Yeah, we make up, we make up. We make a barbecue a slow cooked item your choice. Cool, and then you're gonna put the sides because we're gonna have plenty of time because it's gonna take like six or seven hours, put the sides together, and then we're gonna and then yeah, I don't know. Then then I'm gonna launch your TikTok page and you're gonna be a TikTok star based off our one barbecue.
I think this is going to be amazing.
What if?
What if?
What if? Uh?
Your newest project so exciting, Horizon and American Saga, the newest adventure with Kevin Coosner Western Epic.
If you will. Were you at Cohn?
Yeah?
It was Potato Potato? Did you see this standing ovation that happened that everyone talks.
About was the craziest was My view was like Kevin and like all of our cast was on one side and his whole family was on the other side and watching his kids, his grown up kids cry watching him receive that standing ovation.
I lost my shit. I was like and then you know, I was like, oh my god, they're going to take pictures.
It was leaving and I've been with Scarel running everywhere down my face because it was just such an emotional moment for him, but for us too. I mean, these movies were are so big, and we've read all four scripts. We filmed two out of the four of these movies. I mean, this has been like a huge undertaking. It's been a part of his life since the eighties, since before.
I was born. He's been working on these movies.
And I think that for him, that applause was more like this, you know, kind of culmination of all of this hard work that he's had and that he's done. To be there and to celebrate the movie in such a way was just it was so cool. It was like one of those moments that you don't really believe is happening in the moment, and then you're like sitting afterwards and being like, wait, that was real and.
That just happened, and that's pretty cool that I was a part of it.
Yeah, that was that made its way back here to the States. That was a very very cool moment to watch. So you guys have filmed parts one and two. Yeah, I know that you have a significant part of the story in part two.
When are we releasing it?
Weird and this film festival for part two next month?
Okay? Yeah, when is it out for the rest of us?
I actually don't know. I gotta ask, I gotta ask. I have no clue, I have no idea.
I do know that we're going September seventh, the movie's premiering in Venice Film Festival.
He's really excited about that.
I think this movie for him has been a lot about like full circle moments with his career, and Can was something that he always said he wanted to release the first movie in Can because that was a festival that always really you know, honored him and took good care of him. And he had never been there for a movie of his He'd only ever been to the festival, and it was just important to him that the movie presented there and for Venice. Venice was the first film festival that really kind of you know, took a liking to his movie Fandango, and that was he was there for Silverado doing press when everyone kind of went crazy about Fandango, and that was the movie that kind of launched his career. And so he's very very proud and very emotional as well about the movie going to Venice. I think he feels like this is like, you know, big full circle moments happening one after the other, and and I'm.
Really proud of them too. I Mean, there's something cool about watching.
Someone that you've looked up to for so many years as an actor, as a creator, as a director, and watching them like pour so much passion and love into something and be such an incredible person to work for, and then to see them, you know, celebrate something that they made and really feel like, you know, I don't know, like honored for what work they've put in. And then to have seen that behind the scenes, I think really just it's emotional for me too, because you know, I think we all kind of feel like Kevin's kids working on the movie, Like he's got to like dad for all of us just want to do them proud every day and you know, make sure that you're up to bat.
Yeah, no pun intend there's going to be four.
It's gonna be four. Yeah.
And so when are you filming the Are you going to film the other two back to back as well?
I think we're going to film them back to back, That's the conversation, and probably gonna go next year. I've had all four scripts since before that, right before he cast me, So I'm really excited. My character spans the whole saga, and I start movies one and two as like seventeen eighteen year old teenager and grow into a thirty year old woman, and so there is this you know, huge kind of you know change that I get to show and kind of like we were talking about with TV, it's like I'm like not knowing where my character is going to go. I know where my character's going, so I get to like plant all these little easter eggs throughout parts one and two, and right now, I'm just very excited to get back to doing part three. I think Parts two and three are really big for my character in a huge way. And I'm so honored that I get to work with Kevin but also Will Patten and Giovanni Ribisi. I get to have scenes with some of the most talented actors ever, and it's I just really feel really lucky and grateful that he picked me.
You know what an awesome opportunity. You ride horses, I do.
I didn't I ride horses until I was you know as well as I do now.
You know, there's a difference. There's a difference between riding a horse and like riding a horse like it's a car.
That was the big thing that our wrangler, Scottie was amazing and Anne, who taught me how to drive my wagon, they kept reiterating is like, this is your primary means of transportation, the same way that you get in your car and you like, you know, sit back in the seat and you know your rear view mirror and your signals and everything. You don't have to worry about it. You're like, yeah, I'm just getting in the car every day like I do every day. That's how comfortable you have to be on a horse or driving this wagon.
And that was a really.
High benchmark to achieve in such a short period of time. But now I feel really comfortable on a horse and driving a wagon. I mean I could probably drive a wagon, you know, a couple of miles I think.
I don't know, on the street.
You know, the wheels are not exactly super robust. I'm just gonna say. The wheels are like wood and a little bit of steel, and they do not handle.
Like the suspension on those things is not.
There's not a great suspension.
Especially in LA.
You hit one pothole, I feel like that wheel is just going to bounce right off, you know, horses a breakout.
It's actually I love that story that you just told about that because that is so much about what we do. There's oh, I can ride a horse yeah, or I can swing a golf club. We talked about golf or or whatever, but like can you do it? Like it's what you do. And I think that is that it's a very interesting distinction and something that I think would be really cool, Like, yeah, there is no car to take you home. This is how you're getting home, So own it, live it, you know, be there. Yeah, that's that's very cool.
Even to the point where like Kevin legitimately had his horse that he rides in the movie at Video Village and when he would want to direct us, like we're in these massive landscapes in the middle of nowhere in Utah, and if you drive a gator across the set, you're going to see the tire marks.
So he would get on his horse and he would gallop across the field towards us, and you're just staring at Kevin Costner's hair blowing in the wind, galloping across the field to tell you what to do, and you're just like, gosh, this is crazy, like like he's that comfortable up there. This is just what he does, Like.
He just didn't right.
Yeah, it was pretty pretty insane.
There were a lot of moments where I was like, Wow, this is really my life right now, this is really happening.
Like I've always looked at doing movies.
And since I was a kid, is like playing pretend with a bunch of adults who are just like, you know, joining in on my delusion and you know, appreciate it as well and like to co create this like imaginary world in landscape. But I still to this day cannot believe like the people I've gotten to work with, the places I've gotten to go with this job, and just how much fun it is, Like truly.
That's awesome.
Yeah, that's awesome. Congratulations on Horizon. I can't wait to see part two whenever you decide to give it to us. And good luck with three and four. And uh yeah, we got a collaboration. We gotta we gotta figure it out.
We've got a barbecue just like it's just like what you do, you know, six hours.
Just like what you do?
I mean, how long are you in Europe? I don't know if I can do this in Switzerland.
This is honestly, the metia is incredible and the cheese is unbelievable.
I'll tell you that.
Well maybe so then.
I'll be back in the US.
In September after Venice. All right, so it's totally possible, be I mean, I will say sw cows.
There's there is something.
I don't know if this is like appropriate for the podcast, because it's when we barbecue you at my friend's place.
One of my friend's parents every year.
Buys buys half of a cow because it's cheaper than buying yeah, you know, and.
So that's what you do in Nebraska here.
And when it's really good, we're like, oh my gosh, this is amazing and he's like it's margerite and you're like, oh no.
No, oh, no, delicious.
I mean, oh, you can't say that though in the US people people get really touching out in the whole thing, and I don't know, there's it's a little different.
Yeah, congratulations on Venice, good luck, have a great time.
Thank you.
There's a lot of water there. I'm just gonna warn you.
Yeah, I hear, I hear, maybe sinking my I went to Venice as a kid, and my only other memory of Venice is standing in the square with my arms stretched wide with food on my arms so that way all these pigeons could like it on me.
And now I look back at your memory with such.
Like God, oh no, because.
A kid, it's so cool, But when you grow up you're like.
Who seriously, seriously, seriously, I have one favor to ask of you. Would you please recreate this photo? Would you please recreate this photo? It has to be recreated side by listen as a TikTok try to make you a TikTok star.
You have to recreate this photo.
I think it would be best done if I could somehow do it in my dress that I'm wearing the premiere. That would be iconic.
Yes, that would make me TikTok famous. If I you sit premiere?
What time is the premiere?
I actually all I know is we get there by boat. I know that because because there's a lot of water.
In ves Yeah.
I don't know if you've heard there's a lot of water. Yeah, a lot of water in Venice. Congratulations on not just the movie, but the series, the saga.
That's what we're.
Calling it, the American Saga.
Congratulations. It was so nice talking to you.
It was great chatting with you too. It's really good to beat you.
Thank you, Isabelle. It was so nice getting to know you.
Let's barbecue when you're back in the US of a Let's Barbecue. I look forward to our collaboration What If Horizon and American Saga Part one is out. Now go check it out, and then also come back next week and check this out another episode of Off the Beat. Until then, everybody, 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 Emily Carr and Seth Olanski, and our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary.
Our theme song
Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one and only Creed Bretton