Hi, everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to this bonus episode of Work in Progress, exclusively for our wondering plus listeners. I want to take a moment and thank each and every one of you for supporting the show and this week give you a little something special. I don't have to tell you all this. I think we're all in it together. This year has been pretty tough, and now that the world's opening back up, I thought it might be fun to sit down with you for a little one on one time to catch up. I've mentioned in the past that I really love seeing people interact with Work in Progress online, either through their comments or shout outs on social media. But I also love when you ask questions, whether they're about me or the podcasts, are guests, or any and all. I've had so much fun answering questions from you before that I thought we should do it again. I have some here that I'll get to in a moment, and if you think of anything you would like to ask, feel free to shout out your questions on Twitter or Instagram, or if your old school, write me a letter. Who knows, maybe the next time I answer a listener question it'll be one of yours. So today we've got some questions from people with a wide spectrum of curiosities. They go from what I do in my day to day to my experience with work in progress. So I'm just going to dive right in, and since I'm in control of the order, We're going to start with the easiest ones. UM. A couple of you actually on our Instagram Q and I asked me what my favorite color is. That is such a toss up for me. I love orange, like love it, I think because of sunrise and sunset, but I'm also a huge fan of that sort of mustard shade of a nineteen seventies yellow. I know these are no one's favorite colors, but they're mine. Um. I also had a couple of you guys asked me if I have any tattoos, and the answer is yes, I actually have seven, but most people have only seen one because my first six tattoos I got in white ink so that they could really just belong to me, and my seventh is actually in black so it's quite obvious. It's also on my left forearm. It is the pulsar compass from a Golden record. It's um a piece of what we sent up in the nineteen seventy two voyage Er spacecraft, when NASA finally had the technology to go and photograph the outer planets. It's also the era when Carl Sagan was working with NASA and wrote that incredible poem A Pale Blue Dot, which makes me sob every single time I read it and reminds me of how much I love this place and love humanity. So I have that on my left arm and I look at it every day and I just think about the universe. Casual. Um, when was I most star struck over a celebrity? Okay, a couple of you guys also asked me versions of this question. I think because some of you know me well enough to know that I'm a deeply starstruck person and I feel attacked, slash known. I don't have any chill with people that I'm a huge fan of. And one of my best friends Jenny Smart and you've all heard on this podcast, we did our season one holiday episode with my my two best friends and former roommates. Um, oh my god, she makes fun of me all the time. And it's like, Sophia, you are famous. You have to calm down. You cannot behave this way, but I'm like, I'm not famous. Jennifer Aniston is like famous, and I don't know how to talk to people like her because I don't know if as an actor, I'm supposed to just be super calm and act like it's no big deal. We all do this job, or if I'm allowed to admit that I've seen, you know, every episode of Friends, in every movie she's ever made. It's like two. I just I don't know understand how to do it. So I have a lot of sympathy for people who are big One Tree Hill fans or Chicago beat vans, or who you know loved movies I've worked on, because when they kind of lose it, I'm like, I totally get it. I feel you don't worry. I have the same reaction. Um yeah, oh man, I'm really working on this, but it's hard for me. This is a good one. If you could only recommend one book, what would it be and why? I think that that changes in this present moment. I think that the most important book any of us could be reading is Cast by Isabelle Wilkerson. It's such a profound study on the way that systems of class and race and economy have really oppressed people in America, and I think it's incredibly a illuminating when we talk about how to build a more just society, when we talk about designing a better future for all people, we have to understand how things work and how systems are failing us so that we can change them. So, while I'm sure that sounds like a rather heavy recommendation, I actually think that it leaves you in a place where you will feel unbelievably motivated and hopeful. So that would be my recommendation. Now. Oh, this is another question that I know it comes from a true fan because you're asking what are my favorite national parks? Oh my goodness, I feel like that's like asking a parent to pick their favorite child, Like they're all unique and special and I love them and how could I dare? But I think some of my favorite memories in national parks, who would probably tie between being in yellow Stone or being uh in Denali in Alaska. I just that mountain, My god, it is so incredible, and the Alaskan wilderness is just so pure and expansive and beautiful, and it's the kind of place now that I've visited different parts of Alaska twice, once in the summer and once in the literal dead of winter. I've never been colder or happier, to be honest. It's the kind of place that really, for me, immediately resets my energy and reminds me of what's most important. You know, we've got one planet. We have to take care of it. And to see nature that is that wild, exists in this incredible harmony where everything works together and nothing is wasted, and and I don't know, there's like a hum to it. It's so beautiful. So as I'm saying all of this, I realize maybe maybe that eats out just over yellow Stone. But yellow Stone, I love you. And where am I hoping to travel to next? Oh my gosh, this question feels crazy because you know, we haven't really left the house in a year, and the idea of traveling again just feels so exciting. And I would love to get back into any national park. I would just love to get on a plane and go somewhere. I'd love to go visit family in Italy. I'd love to go back to Spain. I just want to get out and and see some people. M Wow, this is a good one. What keeps you motivated to post political content even when you get hate for it. Well, the fact that I have the privilege of a platform is not lost on me and all. I guess I wouldn't really dare to say, oh, everyone should do this. You know, we all live our lives in the way we want to. For me, personally, I can't imagine having a platform like the one that I do. I can't imagine existing in a space where I can speak to so many people every day and not do it for the greater good and for people out or who might say, well, you can talk about causes without being political. Everything is political. Every system that we live in exists because of a political decision. Every way that our world functions exists because someone won an election and somebody didn't. And I think it's really important that we not be divided or separated or or even dissociated from our politics. I think we need to understand that if they're functioning well, they can help everyone, and when they're not, it's our job to, you know, hold the figurative feet to the fire and change things. And for me, yeah, the hate sucks and the threats suck, but advocating for other people and making sure we're doing better at telling the truth is a literal purpose for me. So it's like breathing air. I couldn't live without it. And so I don't know if it's about motivation. I I really think for me, it's about passion and it's about purpose. And you know, I'm learning to navigate how I also take care of myself and my mental health. And I'm learning to figure out how to call out online abuse without motivating the abusers. I'm I'm trying to figure out how to do this in a way that is healthy for me. But I don't think I'll ever stop because I can't imagine leaving people behind like that. So yeah, that's um, that's why. Oh and this is hard? What have you learned on work in progress? Everything? The podcast is such an incredible space for me because it's a place where we get to ask questions of each other and and learn from each other. And I think so much of the Internet exists because people share opinions. And now there's this expectation that if you're sharing anything online, it's a fully formed that you've made a decision about something. And and I think we're missing some nuance. I think we're missing the permission to admit that we don't know everything yet. And for me being able to sit in this space and talk with all of you and interview the guests who come here and ask questions about how people got to where they are, how they learned lessons, how how they're learning lessons. I think I'm learning every single day, and so for me, the podcast is truly a place of learning. Oh my gosh, an upcoming project that I'm excited about. There are so many, it's so interesting. You know, this year was really kind of insulated, working from home and doing all these things. And all of a sudden, as as the world seems like it's beginning to come back, you know now that we all have the privilege of being on this vaccine journey and and protecting public health, and you know, still I hope clapping for our health care workers because they deserve it. Um Suddenly it feels like for me personally, all of these things are coming to fruition. This phenomenal movie called False Positive that I worked on with a lot of Glazer and her writing partner John Lee. John also directed the movie and they both produced it. That's coming out June on Hulu. It is a psychological horror. It is so dark and twisty and scary and um and really for us, was kind of a an expression, a metaphor for these threats against a woman's agency over her body and that larger thematic conversation about you know again, political control, misogyny, internalized misogyny. My god, my character, and this movie is dealing with that. Was set to the backdrop of one of my favorite genres, a psycho logical thriller or something that that makes you ask questions and when you hear a bump in the night but you don't know where it's coming from kind of a vibe, that's the kind of scary movie I love. So I'm really excited about that, and it was just such a joy. We made the movie in April and May of nineteen and you know, we didn't know it was coming at the end of the year. We were working in New York. We made the film with a twenty four, which just I think makes some of the best kind of content out there. And it was a hustle. You know, it was a quick shoot. It was like a really small, little independent budget and everybody just showed up with their a game. Alana crushed it, and Pierce Browsning is so amazing. Justin Thurreaux is amazing. Um, it was just it was a trip working on this thing for sure, so that I'm really jazzed about. And likewise, good Sam, My new show is coming out on CBS. I can't believe it after all this time. You know. The conversations about that started over summer of twenty nineteen when I had my first dinner with Katie Wesh, who wrote the show, who is a legend. She is so smart and so funny and just such a good human. Um. Katie and Jenny Erman who is our executive producer, and Joanna Klein another of our executive producers. All you know Ran Jane the Virgin, and I think they just have such a great um lens for you know, real on screen empathy and moments of comedy and and god, they they just did such a good job putting this show together. And in in January was when we began all these conversations with CBS. And then in February, I'll never forget it, I flew to New York to do an event to talk about the e r A finally getting the equal Rights Amendment ratified and it's thirty eight state in Virginia. After decades of work trying to get, uh, there to be any legal requirement for women to be paid the same people in this country. I think that's the law. It's actually still not. We're we're close, uh separate conversation. But I flew to New York to do this event to celebrate it being signed into law in the thirty eight state, which would then mean it could be ratified into the Constitution. And uh, we thought everything was pretty normal. We knew something was going on um and that everyone should probably be using extra amounts of hand sanitizer. That's kind of where we were in the beginning of February in New York. Oh my god, it blows my mind. And we were celebrating this, you know, monumental step towards equity for women. And the next day I flew up to Toronto to start working on Good Sam and we were in prep meaning you know, table reads and fittings and getting the whole cast up there there and casting the last couple of parts, and and then suddenly within a week we were shut down. COVID was everywhere. We all had to leave Canada and come home and then we just had to wait. Um, I guess it was longer than a week. It was a couple of weeks because I came home in March. So yeah, we did probably two weeks of prep and then suddenly we were just back and sitting here. And it was a long year, you know, wondering what was going to happen, and other shows that were meant to shoot pilots were scrapped, and of course we were all so nervous, you know, what does that mean for us? And what we get to make this show? And we really believe in it. And I really have to thank our partners at CBS and and everyone really who put their heart and soul into this project, because everyone agreed that this was special and that we were going to do it whenever safety would allow. And that turned out to be the end of January, and we flew back up to Canada. We all quarantined in full isolation for two weeks um as their health protocols require, and in February we emerged and we prepped and rehearsed and got ready and then we shot our show and came home in March and started, you know, the big process of editing and scoring, you know, meaning getting a soundtrack and music written and all of these things. And here we are, you know, just a couple of weeks ago, in mid May, it was announced were picked up and we're going to be on the air I think this January, and so we'll start filming early October. And we're just so excited. And after all this time, to have this incredible group of people who believed in each other enough to hold on for a whole year, you know, be together and be working on this just feels like such a joy. Everyone really busted their asses to make this happen, and I really can't wait for that. So I'm excited for you guys to meet Sam when she hits your screens in January. And I did get to do one other project during the pandemic that I'm so excited about, a film called Debrah. That is Oh. I think I would describe Deborah as the big chill meets an episode of Black Mirror. It is so unsettling and also cozy, which are weird words to put together. But you know, when you when you have that get together with all your best best friends that you haven't seen in a long time and then something just goes a little sideways. Uh. I think it's an incredible space to be exploring, and it it really deals with all these things that I think humans are often too nervous to talk about, but we get forced to as a group in this film. Um. And that was another one that really had to change. We were slated to do that in summer of We were going to be at this uh Lake house and upstate New York for three weeks. Again, you know, a little independent film that the shoots are just such a hustle on and oh my god, COVID changed everything and the producers really worked so hard to find a place where we could go and the movie was reset in the winter. We shot way out in the middle of nowhere in Utah and literally everyone drove themselves there again super isolated. We had to quarantine in this house and then the entire cast lived in the house we filmed in with one of our producers and our director Noga, who also wrote the film. She is a legend um, such a talented writer, such a talented director. My god, I think it's one of the smartest scripts I read in ages, and she and the rest of the crew lived in the house next door, and it was like, I mean, it was like skeleton crew. We really kept it small and tight. We got COVID test did every day, and you know, we worked through these safety protocols and we made this movie and all in we were all together under one roof for four weeks, including over Thanksgiving, so our whole cast have this Thanksgiving dinner together, you know, locked in this house just looking at this tun drub snow and we were like, man, we really love what we do because we do some really weird ship in order to make movies and tv UM. But it was great. It was really special, and I feel super bonded to all of those people. So I'm excited to see Deborah start hitting you know, the cool festival circuit and see what you guys all think. Many exciting things coming up. Oh and this is a good question. Actually, this is a follow up about good Sam the show. Um, one of you wanted to know if I actually learned how to play the piano for good Sam. So fun fact, I have always wanted to learn to play the piano, and I've been talking about it for a really long time and I'm learning much like the piano and my bees, who showed up because I talked about wanting bees for so long that they just came and built a hive in my backyard before I was even ready for them. If I say something out loud enough times, apparently the universe and I are really in good communication this year, because it shows up and here came a show that required me to actually start taking piano lessons. Um, so I did. I started taking lessons and learned how to do a bunch of scales and and all sorts of things that would really make it look like I was proficient at the piano. And then the really incredible overhead shots um where you can see my hands playing this song We're actually done by a concert pianist, because I did not feel at all capable enough to do that. But the fun part is is that now for this job, I will continue um taking these lessons and hopefully not only learned the skill of tying one handed surgical notes, which I also did for good Sam, but hopefully I'll walk away being able to play the piano and you know I have learned to new skills. Oh uh, what is one piece of advice someone gave you that you will never forget oof. I think it's more in in terms of the kind of theme of m Actually, that's funny. I was gonna say, and I don't remember who said this, but it's it's a it's a piece of advice that gets shared a lot. That that quote that says, you know, be yourself because everyone else has already taken I think is so great because so many of us are trying to emulate what we think successes or a great career is, or the perfect family or whatever. And perfection is such a lie because it doesn't exist. So if you if you have that sort of bug of perfectionism in your ear, you'll actually always feel like a failure. So I think that reminding ourselves that we should just be the best versions of us is really important. And the other thing that I thought was so profound, uh, And this, this piece of advice was given to me because me and some friends were talking about our sort of shared struggles with anxiety, and a friend who's deeply wise essentially said, and I'm paraphrasing, but he gave us this great piece of advice. And then the thing that I began writing down as my lesson was don't suffer something twice. And what I mean by that is, if you are a person who tends to get anxious and is nervous about the future and worries about an outcome, and uh says, well, am I going to get that job? Is that going to work out for me? What you're doing is you're kind of preemptively suffering the loss of it. So then if you get the job or the thing works out, You've put yourself through all this anxiety and stress, You've raised your cortisol levels, You've probably had a really terrible couple of weeks of sleep for nothing, And if the unfortunate thing happens and you don't get the job or the thing that you really care about doesn't work out, then you actually are heartbroken and you go through the full response of it not working. But you've already been stressing about it, You've already been suffering the loss, so then you suffer it twice. And there was just something about that that felt like another Aha moment to me, realizing that the kind of distillation of this advice was don't suffer something twice, because I realized I do that a lot. I'm I'm nervous a lot, and I I think I don't want to get overly excited about something unless I'm sure it's going to happen. But all that that does is decrease my joy. Nobody else is suffering while I'm having an internal panic attack, and why do that to myself anymore? And so those two things feel important. Be yourself because everybody else has already taken. And really on that, on that sort of end of the spectrum where we're all trying to be nicer to ourselves, don't put yourself through suffering something twice. I think those feel those feel good, those feel worth not forgetting in my estimation anyway. And I'm laughing because now I'm just looking at all the versions of this and I make I mean, we all make fun of people who are like so many of you guys have been asking me about my skincare routine, but like genuinely, so many of you are asking me about my skincare routine. And I think what must be happening right now is that I just haven't been outside in a year. You know, I'm I'm a big proponent of sunscreen, and I think sitting in this little cave podcasting with all of you, um probably has been like the best natural sunscreen ever. Also, to be honest, I just started doing a lot less. I think there's a pretty big industry that wants to sell us all a bunch of crap we don't really need out there. We can all agree, right, Um, And I do love I love a great skincare product. I love you know. I love good quality things, um when they're available to me. But I don't think we need forty things. I'm not one of those people who does a twenty step routine. I just don't have the time for it. I definitely have learned from this iconic woman, Joanna Check that massaging your face is important. So whenever I put moisturizer on at night, I try to spend like I usually count to thirty. I don't have I don't have it in me, Joanna. I'm so sorry to do it for a whole minute. But like just rubbing my moisturizer into my face for at least thirty seconds I think has made a difference. You know, you stimulate your your blood flow. Um. And yeah, I just I try to use stuff I believe in. Tata Harper came on the podcast Her really Clean skincare is beautiful. My friend and makeup artist when I'm actually you know, working outside of the home. Amber Um, who is a legend, got me using two things that are really great. They're both ludicrously expensive, but I don't use anything else anymore, so I don't know. I stopped buying like a whole bunch of stuff and just use um one cream from Lamare and one cream from Augustina's Boder and then some things that Tata was nice enough to send to me when she came on the pod. I love her I cream, It's great. Also, Oh my god, Shanny Darden, your I cream is incredible. Shanny is a is a friend and a facialist here in l A. And she is the o G. She knows all of things. But what I will say is, you know, I'm also a grown ass woman who can use nicer stuff now, um that I'm at this stage in my career than I certain than I could when I was like in call Ledge and you know, broke all the time. So I think you've got to give yourself a break, figure out what works for you. Um. One of my other favorite skincare lines out of l A is O C A O S E A like O C like the ocean. UM. My girlfriend Melissa, who I've known since I was in my twenties, makes the most beautiful organic products here in l A with her mom literal like generational woman owned business, and there's just just beautiful and it um. You know, it's an investment, but it's not like the highest end of cost as far as skincare, and I love it and I definitely see a great kind of benefit boost what's the word you skin people out there, Probably no, you're like Sophia, you are failing at this um. But yeah, I definitely feel like my skins boosted better. I don't know when I use. There's stuff too. And since we're talking about skincare and my love for Rosa, I should probably mention to you guys that now they're one of the sponsors of our podcast, which pretty much feels like the coolest thing for Melissa and I. She gets to support my business and I get to support hers. But that means we have a promo code for you guys. You'll get ten percent off your first order with the code w I p AT O C M Malibu dot com O s E A M A l I bu dot Com. Code is w I p take ten percent off, so that's kind of it. I try to keep it clean. I'm always game to try something, and I will say I feel pretty lucky, um doing my job because sometimes I get to try really fancy things that I would never just like experiment with for myself. When I was working on Good Sam Up in Canada, the makeup artist on that show kept giving me all these different kinds of really fancy um Korean paper masks, and I was like, where did you even get these? It was like this mystery of of skincare that she opened for me, and that was so fun. Um. So hopefully when we go back there, I can use more of those. But I think the things that really make the biggest difference honestly, wash your face every night, like every night. Some some nights I want to be lazy and use a makeup remover wipe, and in just thinking about sustainability, I've stopped doing that because I'm like, I can't just use this thing and throw it away. This is ridiculous. Um. So I've gotten really good at not being lazy and and no matter what, washing my face before bed, and I'm telling you, my skin is better and I probably only used a makeup wipe like once or twice a week before, but every single night washing my face is a game changer. I splash water on my face in the morning and use a toner. I don't actually wash it in the morning. I don't know if that maybe makes a difference to I'm kind of realizing in this moment as I'm talking to you about the is that I have more thoughts on skincare than I thought I did. At first, I was like, just I don't go outside, but that's actually not it. I've learned. I've definitely learned some little tweaks this year, you know, taking longer to rubbin some moisturizer or no compromises. Made definitely fully washed my face every night, and that has definitely made a difference, because y'all are asking me this question a lot lately, even like on Instagram lives during the election, I had to start turning the comments off. Not that I don't adore you, I just was like, this has nothing to do with what we're talking about. But so many people were like, what's going on with your skin? And I was like, I don't know, actually, but thank you. So I think if I really consider it. Those are probably the things that you know have changed this year. Also, I'm sure that being an actor and having a couple of months off not having towhere makeup at all, I think definitely helped my skin because you know, there's nothing clogging it up. So those are my deep thoughts on that, guys, I don't I don't know. Next time I work with a professional, I'll ask for better tips so that I have more specific things to share with you all. Oh the other thing, sleeping with a humidifier makes a big difference, and it makes a big difference for me, um I find with my voice, especially when I'm working. You know, doing dialogue for fourteen to sixteen hours a day can be hard on your throat. So it's really good, you know, for your for your vocal cords and your breathing, and also for your skin. So that's my hot tip humidifiers. I have a dison it's great. That's not an ad by the way, but I do just really love them. Yeah. So those are our ten questions for today. Thank you guys for submitting so many great ones. We have some saved for next time. Keep them coming. Uh. We also really love seeing the question do you all ask the most, then I know I have to answer those the next time we do these, and I want to give you what you want. Thank you all for being here, thank you for the deep questions, and for making me interrogate my skincare routine. I realized I really need to get some some better details out there for everybody. And uh, I just adore you all, you whip smarties. You have a great day.

Hi, everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to this bonus episode of Work in Progress, exclusively for our wondering plus listeners. I want to take a moment and thank each and every one of you for supporting the show and this week give you a little something special. I don't have to tell you all this. I think we're all in it together. This year has been pretty tough, and now that the world's opening back up, I thought it might be fun to sit down with you for a little one on one time to catch up. I've mentioned in the past that I really love seeing people interact with Work in Progress online, either through their comments or shout outs on social media. But I also love when you ask questions, whether they're about me or the podcasts, are guests, or any and all. I've had so much fun answering questions from you before that I thought we should do it again. I have some here that I'll get to in a moment, and if you think of anything you would like to ask, feel free to shout out your questions on Twitter or Instagram, or if your old school, write me a letter. Who knows, maybe the next time I answer a listener question it'll be one of yours. So today we've got some questions from people with a wide spectrum of curiosities. They go from what I do in my day to day to my experience with work in progress. So I'm just going to dive right in, and since I'm in control of the order, We're going to start with the easiest ones. UM. A couple of you actually on our Instagram Q and I asked me what my favorite color is. That is such a toss up for me. I love orange, like love it, I think because of sunrise and sunset, but I'm also a huge fan of that sort of mustard shade of a nineteen seventies yellow. I know these are no one's favorite colors, but they're mine. Um. I also had a couple of you guys asked me if I have any tattoos, and the answer is yes, I actually have seven, but most people have only seen one because my first six tattoos I got in white ink so that they could really just belong to me, and my seventh is actually in black so it's quite obvious. It's also on my left forearm. It is the pulsar compass from a Golden record. It's um a piece of what we sent up in the nineteen seventy two voyage Er spacecraft, when NASA finally had the technology to go and photograph the outer planets. It's also the era when Carl Sagan was working with NASA and wrote that incredible poem A Pale Blue Dot, which makes me sob every single time I read it and reminds me of how much I love this place and love humanity. So I have that on my left arm and I look at it every day and I just think about the universe. Casual. Um, when was I most star struck over a celebrity? Okay, a couple of you guys also asked me versions of this question. I think because some of you know me well enough to know that I'm a deeply starstruck person and I feel attacked, slash known. I don't have any chill with people that I'm a huge fan of. And one of my best friends Jenny Smart and you've all heard on this podcast, we did our season one holiday episode with my my two best friends and former roommates. Um, oh my god, she makes fun of me all the time. And it's like, Sophia, you are famous. You have to calm down. You cannot behave this way, but I'm like, I'm not famous. Jennifer Aniston is like famous, and I don't know how to talk to people like her because I don't know if as an actor, I'm supposed to just be super calm and act like it's no big deal. We all do this job, or if I'm allowed to admit that I've seen, you know, every episode of Friends, in every movie she's ever made. It's like two. I just I don't know understand how to do it. So I have a lot of sympathy for people who are big One Tree Hill fans or Chicago beat vans, or who you know loved movies I've worked on, because when they kind of lose it, I'm like, I totally get it. I feel you don't worry. I have the same reaction. Um yeah, oh man, I'm really working on this, but it's hard for me. This is a good one. If you could only recommend one book, what would it be and why? I think that that changes in this present moment. I think that the most important book any of us could be reading is Cast by Isabelle Wilkerson. It's such a profound study on the way that systems of class and race and economy have really oppressed people in America, and I think it's incredibly a illuminating when we talk about how to build a more just society, when we talk about designing a better future for all people, we have to understand how things work and how systems are failing us so that we can change them. So, while I'm sure that sounds like a rather heavy recommendation, I actually think that it leaves you in a place where you will feel unbelievably motivated and hopeful. So that would be my recommendation. Now. Oh, this is another question that I know it comes from a true fan because you're asking what are my favorite national parks? Oh my goodness, I feel like that's like asking a parent to pick their favorite child, Like they're all unique and special and I love them and how could I dare? But I think some of my favorite memories in national parks, who would probably tie between being in yellow Stone or being uh in Denali in Alaska. I just that mountain, My god, it is so incredible, and the Alaskan wilderness is just so pure and expansive and beautiful, and it's the kind of place now that I've visited different parts of Alaska twice, once in the summer and once in the literal dead of winter. I've never been colder or happier, to be honest. It's the kind of place that really, for me, immediately resets my energy and reminds me of what's most important. You know, we've got one planet. We have to take care of it. And to see nature that is that wild, exists in this incredible harmony where everything works together and nothing is wasted, and and I don't know, there's like a hum to it. It's so beautiful. So as I'm saying all of this, I realize maybe maybe that eats out just over yellow Stone. But yellow Stone, I love you. And where am I hoping to travel to next? Oh my gosh, this question feels crazy because you know, we haven't really left the house in a year, and the idea of traveling again just feels so exciting. And I would love to get back into any national park. I would just love to get on a plane and go somewhere. I'd love to go visit family in Italy. I'd love to go back to Spain. I just want to get out and and see some people. M Wow, this is a good one. What keeps you motivated to post political content even when you get hate for it. Well, the fact that I have the privilege of a platform is not lost on me and all. I guess I wouldn't really dare to say, oh, everyone should do this. You know, we all live our lives in the way we want to. For me, personally, I can't imagine having a platform like the one that I do. I can't imagine existing in a space where I can speak to so many people every day and not do it for the greater good and for people out or who might say, well, you can talk about causes without being political. Everything is political. Every system that we live in exists because of a political decision. Every way that our world functions exists because someone won an election and somebody didn't. And I think it's really important that we not be divided or separated or or even dissociated from our politics. I think we need to understand that if they're functioning well, they can help everyone, and when they're not, it's our job to, you know, hold the figurative feet to the fire and change things. And for me, yeah, the hate sucks and the threats suck, but advocating for other people and making sure we're doing better at telling the truth is a literal purpose for me. So it's like breathing air. I couldn't live without it. And so I don't know if it's about motivation. I I really think for me, it's about passion and it's about purpose. And you know, I'm learning to navigate how I also take care of myself and my mental health. And I'm learning to figure out how to call out online abuse without motivating the abusers. I'm I'm trying to figure out how to do this in a way that is healthy for me. But I don't think I'll ever stop because I can't imagine leaving people behind like that. So yeah, that's um, that's why. Oh and this is hard? What have you learned on work in progress? Everything? The podcast is such an incredible space for me because it's a place where we get to ask questions of each other and and learn from each other. And I think so much of the Internet exists because people share opinions. And now there's this expectation that if you're sharing anything online, it's a fully formed that you've made a decision about something. And and I think we're missing some nuance. I think we're missing the permission to admit that we don't know everything yet. And for me being able to sit in this space and talk with all of you and interview the guests who come here and ask questions about how people got to where they are, how they learned lessons, how how they're learning lessons. I think I'm learning every single day, and so for me, the podcast is truly a place of learning. Oh my gosh, an upcoming project that I'm excited about. There are so many, it's so interesting. You know, this year was really kind of insulated, working from home and doing all these things. And all of a sudden, as as the world seems like it's beginning to come back, you know now that we all have the privilege of being on this vaccine journey and and protecting public health, and you know, still I hope clapping for our health care workers because they deserve it. Um Suddenly it feels like for me personally, all of these things are coming to fruition. This phenomenal movie called False Positive that I worked on with a lot of Glazer and her writing partner John Lee. John also directed the movie and they both produced it. That's coming out June on Hulu. It is a psychological horror. It is so dark and twisty and scary and um and really for us, was kind of a an expression, a metaphor for these threats against a woman's agency over her body and that larger thematic conversation about you know again, political control, misogyny, internalized misogyny. My god, my character, and this movie is dealing with that. Was set to the backdrop of one of my favorite genres, a psycho logical thriller or something that that makes you ask questions and when you hear a bump in the night but you don't know where it's coming from kind of a vibe, that's the kind of scary movie I love. So I'm really excited about that, and it was just such a joy. We made the movie in April and May of nineteen and you know, we didn't know it was coming at the end of the year. We were working in New York. We made the film with a twenty four, which just I think makes some of the best kind of content out there. And it was a hustle. You know, it was a quick shoot. It was like a really small, little independent budget and everybody just showed up with their a game. Alana crushed it, and Pierce Browsning is so amazing. Justin Thurreaux is amazing. Um, it was just it was a trip working on this thing for sure, so that I'm really jazzed about. And likewise, good Sam, My new show is coming out on CBS. I can't believe it after all this time. You know. The conversations about that started over summer of twenty nineteen when I had my first dinner with Katie Wesh, who wrote the show, who is a legend. She is so smart and so funny and just such a good human. Um. Katie and Jenny Erman who is our executive producer, and Joanna Klein another of our executive producers. All you know Ran Jane the Virgin, and I think they just have such a great um lens for you know, real on screen empathy and moments of comedy and and god, they they just did such a good job putting this show together. And in in January was when we began all these conversations with CBS. And then in February, I'll never forget it, I flew to New York to do an event to talk about the e r A finally getting the equal Rights Amendment ratified and it's thirty eight state in Virginia. After decades of work trying to get, uh, there to be any legal requirement for women to be paid the same people in this country. I think that's the law. It's actually still not. We're we're close, uh separate conversation. But I flew to New York to do this event to celebrate it being signed into law in the thirty eight state, which would then mean it could be ratified into the Constitution. And uh, we thought everything was pretty normal. We knew something was going on um and that everyone should probably be using extra amounts of hand sanitizer. That's kind of where we were in the beginning of February in New York. Oh my god, it blows my mind. And we were celebrating this, you know, monumental step towards equity for women. And the next day I flew up to Toronto to start working on Good Sam and we were in prep meaning you know, table reads and fittings and getting the whole cast up there there and casting the last couple of parts, and and then suddenly within a week we were shut down. COVID was everywhere. We all had to leave Canada and come home and then we just had to wait. Um, I guess it was longer than a week. It was a couple of weeks because I came home in March. So yeah, we did probably two weeks of prep and then suddenly we were just back and sitting here. And it was a long year, you know, wondering what was going to happen, and other shows that were meant to shoot pilots were scrapped, and of course we were all so nervous, you know, what does that mean for us? And what we get to make this show? And we really believe in it. And I really have to thank our partners at CBS and and everyone really who put their heart and soul into this project, because everyone agreed that this was special and that we were going to do it whenever safety would allow. And that turned out to be the end of January, and we flew back up to Canada. We all quarantined in full isolation for two weeks um as their health protocols require, and in February we emerged and we prepped and rehearsed and got ready and then we shot our show and came home in March and started, you know, the big process of editing and scoring, you know, meaning getting a soundtrack and music written and all of these things. And here we are, you know, just a couple of weeks ago, in mid May, it was announced were picked up and we're going to be on the air I think this January, and so we'll start filming early October. And we're just so excited. And after all this time, to have this incredible group of people who believed in each other enough to hold on for a whole year, you know, be together and be working on this just feels like such a joy. Everyone really busted their asses to make this happen, and I really can't wait for that. So I'm excited for you guys to meet Sam when she hits your screens in January. And I did get to do one other project during the pandemic that I'm so excited about, a film called Debrah. That is Oh. I think I would describe Deborah as the big chill meets an episode of Black Mirror. It is so unsettling and also cozy, which are weird words to put together. But you know, when you when you have that get together with all your best best friends that you haven't seen in a long time and then something just goes a little sideways. Uh. I think it's an incredible space to be exploring, and it it really deals with all these things that I think humans are often too nervous to talk about, but we get forced to as a group in this film. Um. And that was another one that really had to change. We were slated to do that in summer of We were going to be at this uh Lake house and upstate New York for three weeks. Again, you know, a little independent film that the shoots are just such a hustle on and oh my god, COVID changed everything and the producers really worked so hard to find a place where we could go and the movie was reset in the winter. We shot way out in the middle of nowhere in Utah and literally everyone drove themselves there again super isolated. We had to quarantine in this house and then the entire cast lived in the house we filmed in with one of our producers and our director Noga, who also wrote the film. She is a legend um, such a talented writer, such a talented director. My god, I think it's one of the smartest scripts I read in ages, and she and the rest of the crew lived in the house next door, and it was like, I mean, it was like skeleton crew. We really kept it small and tight. We got COVID test did every day, and you know, we worked through these safety protocols and we made this movie and all in we were all together under one roof for four weeks, including over Thanksgiving, so our whole cast have this Thanksgiving dinner together, you know, locked in this house just looking at this tun drub snow and we were like, man, we really love what we do because we do some really weird ship in order to make movies and tv UM. But it was great. It was really special, and I feel super bonded to all of those people. So I'm excited to see Deborah start hitting you know, the cool festival circuit and see what you guys all think. Many exciting things coming up. Oh and this is a good question. Actually, this is a follow up about good Sam the show. Um, one of you wanted to know if I actually learned how to play the piano for good Sam. So fun fact, I have always wanted to learn to play the piano, and I've been talking about it for a really long time and I'm learning much like the piano and my bees, who showed up because I talked about wanting bees for so long that they just came and built a hive in my backyard before I was even ready for them. If I say something out loud enough times, apparently the universe and I are really in good communication this year, because it shows up and here came a show that required me to actually start taking piano lessons. Um, so I did. I started taking lessons and learned how to do a bunch of scales and and all sorts of things that would really make it look like I was proficient at the piano. And then the really incredible overhead shots um where you can see my hands playing this song We're actually done by a concert pianist, because I did not feel at all capable enough to do that. But the fun part is is that now for this job, I will continue um taking these lessons and hopefully not only learned the skill of tying one handed surgical notes, which I also did for good Sam, but hopefully I'll walk away being able to play the piano and you know I have learned to new skills. Oh uh, what is one piece of advice someone gave you that you will never forget oof. I think it's more in in terms of the kind of theme of m Actually, that's funny. I was gonna say, and I don't remember who said this, but it's it's a it's a piece of advice that gets shared a lot. That that quote that says, you know, be yourself because everyone else has already taken I think is so great because so many of us are trying to emulate what we think successes or a great career is, or the perfect family or whatever. And perfection is such a lie because it doesn't exist. So if you if you have that sort of bug of perfectionism in your ear, you'll actually always feel like a failure. So I think that reminding ourselves that we should just be the best versions of us is really important. And the other thing that I thought was so profound, uh, And this, this piece of advice was given to me because me and some friends were talking about our sort of shared struggles with anxiety, and a friend who's deeply wise essentially said, and I'm paraphrasing, but he gave us this great piece of advice. And then the thing that I began writing down as my lesson was don't suffer something twice. And what I mean by that is, if you are a person who tends to get anxious and is nervous about the future and worries about an outcome, and uh says, well, am I going to get that job? Is that going to work out for me? What you're doing is you're kind of preemptively suffering the loss of it. So then if you get the job or the thing works out, You've put yourself through all this anxiety and stress, You've raised your cortisol levels, You've probably had a really terrible couple of weeks of sleep for nothing, And if the unfortunate thing happens and you don't get the job or the thing that you really care about doesn't work out, then you actually are heartbroken and you go through the full response of it not working. But you've already been stressing about it, You've already been suffering the loss, so then you suffer it twice. And there was just something about that that felt like another Aha moment to me, realizing that the kind of distillation of this advice was don't suffer something twice, because I realized I do that a lot. I'm I'm nervous a lot, and I I think I don't want to get overly excited about something unless I'm sure it's going to happen. But all that that does is decrease my joy. Nobody else is suffering while I'm having an internal panic attack, and why do that to myself anymore? And so those two things feel important. Be yourself because everybody else has already taken. And really on that, on that sort of end of the spectrum where we're all trying to be nicer to ourselves, don't put yourself through suffering something twice. I think those feel those feel good, those feel worth not forgetting in my estimation anyway. And I'm laughing because now I'm just looking at all the versions of this and I make I mean, we all make fun of people who are like so many of you guys have been asking me about my skincare routine, but like genuinely, so many of you are asking me about my skincare routine. And I think what must be happening right now is that I just haven't been outside in a year. You know, I'm I'm a big proponent of sunscreen, and I think sitting in this little cave podcasting with all of you, um probably has been like the best natural sunscreen ever. Also, to be honest, I just started doing a lot less. I think there's a pretty big industry that wants to sell us all a bunch of crap we don't really need out there. We can all agree, right, Um, And I do love I love a great skincare product. I love you know. I love good quality things, um when they're available to me. But I don't think we need forty things. I'm not one of those people who does a twenty step routine. I just don't have the time for it. I definitely have learned from this iconic woman, Joanna Check that massaging your face is important. So whenever I put moisturizer on at night, I try to spend like I usually count to thirty. I don't have I don't have it in me, Joanna. I'm so sorry to do it for a whole minute. But like just rubbing my moisturizer into my face for at least thirty seconds I think has made a difference. You know, you stimulate your your blood flow. Um. And yeah, I just I try to use stuff I believe in. Tata Harper came on the podcast Her really Clean skincare is beautiful. My friend and makeup artist when I'm actually you know, working outside of the home. Amber Um, who is a legend, got me using two things that are really great. They're both ludicrously expensive, but I don't use anything else anymore, so I don't know. I stopped buying like a whole bunch of stuff and just use um one cream from Lamare and one cream from Augustina's Boder and then some things that Tata was nice enough to send to me when she came on the pod. I love her I cream, It's great. Also, Oh my god, Shanny Darden, your I cream is incredible. Shanny is a is a friend and a facialist here in l A. And she is the o G. She knows all of things. But what I will say is, you know, I'm also a grown ass woman who can use nicer stuff now, um that I'm at this stage in my career than I certain than I could when I was like in call Ledge and you know, broke all the time. So I think you've got to give yourself a break, figure out what works for you. Um. One of my other favorite skincare lines out of l A is O C A O S E A like O C like the ocean. UM. My girlfriend Melissa, who I've known since I was in my twenties, makes the most beautiful organic products here in l A with her mom literal like generational woman owned business, and there's just just beautiful and it um. You know, it's an investment, but it's not like the highest end of cost as far as skincare, and I love it and I definitely see a great kind of benefit boost what's the word you skin people out there, Probably no, you're like Sophia, you are failing at this um. But yeah, I definitely feel like my skins boosted better. I don't know when I use. There's stuff too. And since we're talking about skincare and my love for Rosa, I should probably mention to you guys that now they're one of the sponsors of our podcast, which pretty much feels like the coolest thing for Melissa and I. She gets to support my business and I get to support hers. But that means we have a promo code for you guys. You'll get ten percent off your first order with the code w I p AT O C M Malibu dot com O s E A M A l I bu dot Com. Code is w I p take ten percent off, so that's kind of it. I try to keep it clean. I'm always game to try something, and I will say I feel pretty lucky, um doing my job because sometimes I get to try really fancy things that I would never just like experiment with for myself. When I was working on Good Sam Up in Canada, the makeup artist on that show kept giving me all these different kinds of really fancy um Korean paper masks, and I was like, where did you even get these? It was like this mystery of of skincare that she opened for me, and that was so fun. Um. So hopefully when we go back there, I can use more of those. But I think the things that really make the biggest difference honestly, wash your face every night, like every night. Some some nights I want to be lazy and use a makeup remover wipe, and in just thinking about sustainability, I've stopped doing that because I'm like, I can't just use this thing and throw it away. This is ridiculous. Um. So I've gotten really good at not being lazy and and no matter what, washing my face before bed, and I'm telling you, my skin is better and I probably only used a makeup wipe like once or twice a week before, but every single night washing my face is a game changer. I splash water on my face in the morning and use a toner. I don't actually wash it in the morning. I don't know if that maybe makes a difference to I'm kind of realizing in this moment as I'm talking to you about the is that I have more thoughts on skincare than I thought I did. At first, I was like, just I don't go outside, but that's actually not it. I've learned. I've definitely learned some little tweaks this year, you know, taking longer to rubbin some moisturizer or no compromises. Made definitely fully washed my face every night, and that has definitely made a difference, because y'all are asking me this question a lot lately, even like on Instagram lives during the election, I had to start turning the comments off. Not that I don't adore you, I just was like, this has nothing to do with what we're talking about. But so many people were like, what's going on with your skin? And I was like, I don't know, actually, but thank you. So I think if I really consider it. Those are probably the things that you know have changed this year. Also, I'm sure that being an actor and having a couple of months off not having towhere makeup at all, I think definitely helped my skin because you know, there's nothing clogging it up. So those are my deep thoughts on that, guys, I don't I don't know. Next time I work with a professional, I'll ask for better tips so that I have more specific things to share with you all. Oh the other thing, sleeping with a humidifier makes a big difference, and it makes a big difference for me, um I find with my voice, especially when I'm working. You know, doing dialogue for fourteen to sixteen hours a day can be hard on your throat. So it's really good, you know, for your for your vocal cords and your breathing, and also for your skin. So that's my hot tip humidifiers. I have a dison it's great. That's not an ad by the way, but I do just really love them. Yeah. So those are our ten questions for today. Thank you guys for submitting so many great ones. We have some saved for next time. Keep them coming. Uh. We also really love seeing the question do you all ask the most, then I know I have to answer those the next time we do these, and I want to give you what you want. Thank you all for being here, thank you for the deep questions, and for making me interrogate my skincare routine. I realized I really need to get some some better details out there for everybody. And uh, I just adore you all, you whip smarties. You have a great day.