Activating Aussie Actor Rhys Mitchell

Tommy: Wait a minute!

Rhys: Crossface, the Daily Talk Show, a conversation sometimes worth recording with Josh Janson and Tommy Jackett.

Josh: It's a Daily Talk Show, episode 183. That whistle is TJ, he's excited because he's got his mate in the building. Rhys Mitchell.

Rhys: Hello. Hey guys.

Tommy: No, you're meant to say, you said hello.

Rhys: Hey guys.

Tommy: Yeah, no, I was also whistling, Josh, because it's 2 more shows till we don't have to do this over Skype anymore. So, this is, this show, Rhys, is pretty much a last-minute thing because we were meant to do this in LA. 'Cause you're living now in LA.

Rhys: Yeah, yeah, City of Angels, baby.

Tommy: I'm pretty upset that we had to do it from Melbourne, to be honest.

Rhys: Oh, it's nice here too. City of Angels as well, in its own way. No, it's good. It's good to be here. It's good to be home, breathe some fresh air, you know. I'm sick of the pollutants.

Tommy: Is it polluted over there?

Josh: Yeah.

Rhys: Oh my gosh. It's like a blanket of smog over the city that you can see when you go on a hike.

Tommy: No, that's just Elon Musk's plume of smoke from his joints.

Josh: So, we, Rhys, get criticised all the time for not introing people that we've got on the show. Okay, and so I'm gonna do that hashtag reset. Uh, wow, Tom, I know it's so natural. Uh, Tommy and Reece, best mates since they were 5 years old. Reece is now in— was it 5? Is that right? Yeah, yeah, they just did this happy thing with the microphone.

Rhys: That was cute, we cheersed with the microphones. That's what you do in show business.

Tommy: Yes, um, great Great prep, because I was in prep, you were in year 1, and so we were 5.

Rhys: Uh-huh. Oh my God.

Tommy: And then, because it was a composite year, remember that?

Rhys: Yeah.

Tommy: Where the grade 1s were a part of the prep, right, class.

Josh: And so I liked those years when they were like joint. I feel like, like, I remembered having that heaps in school, like 3s and 4s, 5s and 6s. For me, with being in a public school, it was just because it was like We were super povo and basically the whole school was in one class. But yeah, so you guys— No, no.

Rhys: We didn't go to the fanciest school, did we?

Tommy: Well, not until we were a little bit older and then we went to one of the fanciest schools.

Rhys: I love it.

Tommy: It did fuck all for us.

Rhys: Yeah, I know. Look at us now. Jesus Christ.

Josh: And so, Reece, you've recently gone to LA.

Rhys: What's the—

Josh: I've always dreamt of living overseas. And just holidaying for the last 3 months. I'm missing Melbourne. What is the vibe? You've been there now for what, like 8 or so months?

Rhys: Yeah, it's good. I mean, it's a pretty easy transition, I find, moving to certain parts of LA. I also had a network there already established, so it was easy enough for me to sort of move in. And I have like management there. So, I found it like not too difficult to make the transition. I mean, I was living in a cupboard. For the first 2 months, like where my, you know, my feet would touch the wall sort of thing when I slept. Like, it was not ideal. But, um—

Tommy: He was an illegal alien at that point.

Rhys: No, no, I have my papers. This is, uh, this is going public. I have my papers. I'm there legally, Mr. Trump. I am there legally.

Josh: Yeah, I am now. We don't know what could happen.

Rhys: Well, who knows? Yeah, but I, uh, I pay my taxes. But I, um, Yeah, so I was living in a cupboard and then I found my own room. So, it's a bit of a, you know, rags to riches story. I like it a lot. It's really fun. The people are super encouraging there.

Tommy: But the thing about you, Rhys, you have— You're a homebody, I think.

Josh: Yeah.

Tommy: Because you grew up with 5, no, 4 brothers and sisters.

Rhys: I have 2 brothers, 2 sisters.

Tommy: 2 brothers, 2 sisters. And then you're the eldest of the bunch. But for me, your household as a kid growing up was like, it was that it could have almost had its own TV show. There was people always dropping in for dinners, you know, and it was just always so homely and everyone stayed at home. And so the transition moving to a new country, that's like, I don't, you have, have you travelled much?

Rhys: Bits and pieces, but not like long-term.

Josh: No.

Rhys: I think the longest I did was like, a month here, a month there. Yeah, stuff like, oh, when I did the show in Miami, I was gone for 2 months.

Tommy: Oh, that's right. But that's work. Like, this— Josh and I have spoken about like that actually re— like uprooting your life and moving somewhere else, relocating.

Josh: Yeah, and relocating is a different, different beast versus going to, um, you know, Greece for, for a few weeks and saying, oh, I could live here. You know, it's like a slightly different vibe.

Rhys: Absolutely. Yeah, I think it's definitely— it was confronting for sure. Um, I was just lucky to have some friends already there, but You know, there were definitely moments where I missed the comfort of Melbourne. Melbourne is a very comfortable place to live. It's very easy lifestyle, I find. And there's a lot of cool stuff happening here. So it was difficult. And there's a few moments where I was like, what the fuck? Am I allowed to swear on this?

Josh: Yes.

Rhys: Yeah. What the fuck am I doing here? I'm living in a cupboard. You know, I'm like, what am I really chasing this like Hollywood thing? Like trying to get an acting job. Like, I'm like, am I deluded?

Josh: Yeah.

Rhys: Like, this is kind of nuts, but I feel like there's a lot of, there's a wonderful community there that I've fallen into. And I feel like a lot of what people warn you about LA isn't necessarily true.

Tommy: Which bits aren't true?

Rhys: Like, you know, everyone's fake. Everyone's like, just, yeah, just phoney or fake.

Josh: It's so fake. You don't even fucking know it, Reece.

Rhys: Maybe they're just amazing. They've like really, really manipulated me on some amazingly deep level. I don't know, I haven't found them.

Tommy: It's like the comparison of Bondi to St. Kilda. In Bondi, you've got people who care about their bodies a lot more. Well, it seems as if they do, like the health scene, you know, healthy eating is greater because I think it is contributed to the climate there, which is LA is good weather every single day. What did you say to me on the phone the other day? You said—

Rhys: It's the same day every day.

Tommy: Well, you said I've been partying too much.

Rhys: Yeah.

Tommy: And you said because I wake up every day and it's just a good day to party.

Josh: Yeah, exactly.

Rhys: Every day is like perfect. You're like, oh my God, it's perfect again. But that's why like it goes so quickly there. It felt like I was there for one season 'cause they don't really have seasons. Yeah, you know, and it's like every day is kind of the exact same day. It's like a simulation.

Josh: Did you feel the pressure to, um, get a better rig? I feel like whenever I go to LA, all of a sudden I'm like, oh yeah, maybe I will have acai bowls, or actually, no, fuck acai bowls, I need to be just having protein and start to lift. Do you get my whole— pressure?

Rhys: Yes, definitely, especially when you do acting. But I guess my whole goal is sort of how do I maintain a six-pack while drinking beers? That's kind of been my, my mission. Um, but I like, I like staying healthy anyway, you know. I, I like to— I just— yeah, there's a lot of great gyms there because I like my boxing. So, you know, there's a lot of famous boxing clubs that you can go down to and work out at, like Wildcard and stuff. It's like $5 entry. It's incredible.

Tommy: Yeah, I mean, the price thing over there. Yeah, is it— has it been cheap to live?

Rhys: Well, the Australian dollar is like 70 cents to the Yeah, that's horrible. So that's been your—

Tommy: Have you been earning money? Because I, like, forever, and I haven't really— We've spoken on the phone a couple of times, text, but we haven't actually caught up. I don't know how shit's going for you.

Rhys: Yeah, it's all right.

Tommy: Turns out Reece is a millionaire now.

Rhys: Yeah, it's fantastic.

Josh: He—

Tommy: Yeah, he's landed—

Rhys: It's only the top, guys. Yeah, I'll invoice you, Josh. It's going to cost you an arm and a leg, let me tell you, to have me on your show.

Josh: 1% added again.

Rhys: I had, I had like in the time I was there, I landed one movie role, which was really exciting and like a dream come true for me, actually. Yeah. Like when I got the role, I literally started shaking. I was like, this can't be right. And I thought that was a glitch in the simulation.

Tommy: Was this when you were sending me Instagram storeys from the bathtub? Was that, that role?

Rhys: That was the jacuzzi on my hotel balcony. Yeah. Living the dream. Well, it was in Utah. I don't know if it's the dream, but it's definitely a dream. Yeah, I did. Yeah, I was very, very fortunate and I got a script that I really responded to and was lucky enough to be involved. It's a film called The Happy Worker and, um, yeah, it should come out sometime next year. Yeah.

Josh: Do you feel the, um, uh, the tendency— I've heard that there's heaps of Australians in LA and they tend to sort of hang out the same areas. Have you entered into that world? Have you pushed back on that? What's your vibe on it?

Rhys: Ah, that's, uh, that's interesting. That's funny you bring that up. That's— I've definitely noticed that too. And I've— I do hang out with Australians, but I think I hang out— the community of Australians in America seem to be really in each other's corner, which is quite nice actually. It's like even the people in like film and TV there seem to be quite supportive of one another. And so I go to things like the Australians in Film screenings, and there's a group called Australians in LA, and everyone is like really looking out for each other. It's kind of— yeah, it's quite beautiful. But most of them live in West Hollywood, I found.

Tommy: The only thing with those events is there's actually just limits of how many beers you're allowed to drink for free because the Australians fucking go hard.

Rhys: Yeah, it's pretty rad though. Like, you go to these events and you're like seeing all these incredible actors just like, you know, hooning around and drinking beers.

Tommy: Who's the famous— who's the most famous?

Rhys: Uh, like there's some pretty big ones. I saw like, uh, God, I feel like such a nerd doing this, but who cares? It's cool to be a fan.

Josh: I saw you surrounded by us, the bigger fucking nerds, so you're safe.

Rhys: Okay. I went to a screening and like, um, Rose Byrne, Joel Edgerton, all that crew were there. And I was like, kind of like, wow, it's so cool that they just come and support these like, you know, emerging filmmakers, Australian filmmakers. I just thought it was really, really cool.

Tommy: Well, I think, Josh, it's like for us, you know, doing the podcast, you, once you sort of tap into, um, the industry or the sort of the space, there's not a great deal of people that are kind of noisy about it. And so It's pretty easy to sort of access these other people who are, you know, doing it consistently, and they also appreciate other people that are doing it as well. So it's— I can imagine it's a similar thing. Where are the Joel Edgerton? Who are you?

Josh: Like, are there other people? People need— I don't know anyone, you know.

Tommy: Yeah. So this is the thing, just quickly, he doesn't watch films.

Rhys: Oh, okay.

Tommy: Or TV series. Is that fair, Josh?

Josh: Well, no, I just— yeah, I'm fairly I'm a little— I'm not— I don't have ADD or anything, but I don't, um, I tend to only watch non-fiction just because, um, yeah, I don't, I don't completely know why, but it's definitely an area I went through a stage of, um, when I was about 16, collecting a new DVD from JB Hi-Fi in the bargain bin every single day to watch it. But I ended up with about 150 DVDs that are currently in storage that we weren't even able to sell. Just before our recent trip, and I haven't watched them. I ended up with, um, My Sister's Keeper on fucking Blu-ray, one of the saddest films I'd ever seen. It was a fucking disaster. So anyway, yeah, I don't know, I don't know much about, um, TV. I don't know anything about movie stars. I was actually trying to catch up on, um, uh, what you'd worked on recently. My parents are massive fans of upper middle class Bogan and upper middle Bogan. Uh, yeah, there we go.

Rhys: He doesn't watch.

Tommy: No, no, no, I'll tell, I'll tell you, Rhys, uh, I've accused Josh's family of being somewhat similar to the family on that show.

Rhys: Well, that's a good thing. No, it's great.

Josh: There are a few, there are a few, yeah, connections there. But, um, no, I was— I ended up going down a rabbit hole of typing in, uh, Rhys Mitchell on YouTube and watching all this stuff, and I think I landed on the wrong Reece Mitchell at one point because there was like all these scenes of these two dudes kissing.

Rhys: Yeah, that's my showreel.

Josh: But you weren't in any of them, so I think that I definitely landed it.

Rhys: I think there was a character on an Australian TV show with my exact name.

Josh: Really?

Rhys: Yeah.

Tommy: So it wasn't a real person, it was the character?

Rhys: Yeah.

Tommy: That's funny.

Rhys: That's annoying. I reckon a casting director or producer didn't cast me, saw that and was like, terrible actor, good name though. We'll use that.

Josh: So, what was growing up like with Tommy like? What was it like? I know Tommy from the last couple of years, you know, being a dad, being this responsible guy. But I have a feeling from the conversations that we've had that he was a bit of a loose unit. And I think at times he maybe understates what that was like. Can you give me sort of a run-through of what childhood was like?

Tommy: Just quickly, while Rhys does that, I'm getting beers.

Rhys: Oh Jesus, he needs a drink for me to open up about our history together. Uh, I mean, okay, here's an example. Once we're on the train— that'd be fine, thank you, mate. Once we're on the train and I was sitting with Tommy and there was these two girls, we're like 15 or something, 14. These two girls go, oh my God, is that Tommy Jacket? So that kind of like— he had this infamy Thank you, on the Sandy Line, for being, you know, the bad boy of—

Josh: Just on the Sandy Line.

Rhys: Sandringham Line, pretty much.

Josh: Maybe there's a whole—

Rhys: It's outside. Cheers.

Josh: Audience, there's a whole audience there that we could be tapping into, TJ. Maybe we just, maybe we do a live broadcast from the Sandringham Line.

Rhys: That's good. Sit at Gardenvale Station, set up your podcast situation. I don't know what you call it.

Josh: It's not quite a setup. I like that you did give us the—

Rhys: Yeah, it's a situation. And then just interview people and be like, oh, tell us storeys of Tommy Jacket, and I'm sure they'll have some wild ones. I don't really like— I don't know how much to go into, you know, because this is going live.

Tommy: For my 18th birthday, Josh, um, Reece, and I think it was Josh— not you, Josh, another Josh.

Rhys: We know more than one.

Tommy: Yes, uh, we know a lot of disgusting—

Josh: I don't like that. Wild. And he's the one with the, uh, the, the YouTube, the YouTube videos of the kissing.

Rhys: It's like, yeah, it's the, it's the other Reece and the other Josh smooching. Yeah, exactly.

Josh: The—

Tommy: so Josh and, uh, Reece made me this t-shirt. They had it screen printed on and it was two people pointing in silhouette and it said, 'Oh my God, it's Tommy Jacket.' Yeah, I've still got that t-shirt.

Rhys: I mean, now it's, uh, probably more relevant. You're not just famous on the sandy line, you know. But yeah, I don't know, there's a lot of wild stories. We were like— I guess you're a bit of a naughty boy. Yeah, that's a nice way to put it, right?

Tommy: Well, we kind of have explored on the podcast about how we came from a very lovely area in Melbourne, um, and we went to a great school, but a lot of people died around us. People, you know, were doing bad shit, and it kind of— it's this weird thing. It's like people from, uh, people from money— not that we all were, but, um, it doesn't mean that everyone's gonna be good or abide by the rules. If anything, from our experience, more people broke them.

Rhys: Yeah.

Tommy: Then, you know, stuck to them. So it was a, it was a weird upbringing.

Rhys: It was. And there was a lot of people that were, yeah, obviously carrying a lot of demons around, even though they seemingly have an ideal life. Yeah. Doesn't necessarily mean they're happy.

Tommy: Yeah, 100%.

Josh: Yeah.

Rhys: I don't know, we've met our fair share of different characters for sure.

Josh: And Rhys, what do you think, like, how has your perception of home changed? Do you see this transition of going to LA as a temporary thing and then you'll be going back home to Melbourne? Or do you actually think that you'll get to a point where home will change?

Rhys: I mean, it's really interesting because I guess it's still like early days for me, like, in this transition. I think a lot of it is governed by work opportunities. I mean, I came back here for a job, so I'll kind of go where the work is. And I must say, it's so lovely to be home and be home without the pressure of building my entire career here because I, you know, that is quite difficult, I think, to work exclusively in Australia as an actor. So I love the idea of being able to settle here at some point. But right now I feel like LA is opening up for me and yet it is still early. So I got to explore it, give it a good go and go out and audition and hopefully get some more work out there and then and then see where I can end up. I'd like to be basically—

Josh: Can you be entrepreneurial as an actor when it comes to auditioning? 'Cause in some regards it feels like you rock up, you do the reading or whatever, and then is it called a reading or is that what mediums do?

Rhys: Yeah, that's fine. You can say that.

Tommy: Or making out with the producer to get the role.

Rhys: Oh, Jesus. Whatever it takes. They're not asking you to do that. It's not like my showreel.

Josh: Do you, um, yeah, is it something that you feel like you can be entrepreneurial with, or is it just like hoping that you get picked?

Rhys: I think you could be. I mean, I don't know that I'm capable of really doing that. I just try and do a good audition and be prepared. And so many, there are so many factors, you know, there are so many, so many things that will govern whether you get a job or not. And like, talent is a bonus, I find. If you're talented.

Tommy: Yeah, 100%. Well, Reece has been chipping away since as long as I can remember. You were doing drama classes outside of school when we were, you know, grade 3 and 4. And, and so you have been, you've been actually chipping away at your craft. One thing, you know, that you don't have like some huge social media following, which is probably one, one of the ways to be entrepreneurial.

Rhys: Absolutely. I have a private Instagram.

Tommy: Yeah, it's funny. It's a great account. Are you gonna open it up? Is it open?

Rhys: I often oscillate. I'm like, I'll go public and I'll be able to—

Tommy: He's got a strategy, right?

Josh: He's got a strategy.

Rhys: Yeah, I'm Drip Coffee. You guys can request me.

Josh: How did you end up with Drip Coffee?

Rhys: Oh, well, I went in 2013 when I first went to New York. Oh no, it was the second time I went to New York. I actually made a short film and I was playing a festival in Palm Springs. Just a detail. And I was in New York and my friend was like, well, we want to see your like experiences of this festival and stuff. Stuff, you should set up an Instagram. And I was like, why? And they're like, so we can like look at photos. And then I was like, okay, set one up. What should I call it? And like, I don't know, something about New York. And I was in a diner and someone was pouring drip coffee and I was like, I'll be Drip Coffee because that's like— I love America's diner, you know? Yeah, it's good. And like, people, people have inboxed me about it, you know? People want— I'm sitting on it.

Tommy: Just a side detail, Josh, I don't know if you've looked at our email We just got an email from somebody who said, hi, would you be interested in purchasing dailytalkshow.com so you can redirect it to your website?

Josh: No, we've got this. So, Reece, we've got, yeah, thedailytalkshow.com, which I'm a massive geek when it comes to domain names, Instagram accounts. So the fact that you've got drip coffee, uh, already you're about like— doesn't matter what movies or TV shows you've been in, in my eyes you're already a star with that, with that.

Rhys: Thank you.

Josh: That's beautiful. But the, um, yeah, we, we have, um, there's a theme throughout our show where we tend to, um, I've accumulated over time a lot of, um, Instagram usernames and, uh, wow, and you're flogging them and things like that. Well, no, I don't. Like, I, I always have the intention of creating some sort of new business, right?

Rhys: I thought it was funding your Greece trip.

Josh: Surprisingly, no one really— like, I think that there's maybe an overrepresentation of, like, the conversation around selling Instagram handles and shit like that. Like, I know, um, one friend who had Aloha on Twitter and all that sort of thing, and she sold it for a, um, a surfboard. She's a surf photographer and she sold it for like a surfboard.

Rhys: That's pretty good. I know someone who had Botox Ham.

Josh: Really?

Rhys: Apparently they inboxed him. Batoche here.

Tommy: Hey, it's good.

Rhys: Hey mate, it's John Batoche.

Tommy: Oh, whatever.

Rhys: We want your handle.

Tommy: Our handle.

Rhys: We'll give you 5 legs of honey roast ham for it or something. I don't know. I think they offered him cash. Yeah, but I think he wanted to— I think he wanted it. It could have been some lunatic lying to him.

Tommy: Maybe. But then again, people do get handles for you know, purposes of then seeing someone sort of coming up.

Rhys: True.

Tommy: Um, have you got your domain, rhysmitchell.com?

Rhys: No, who has a website in this era? Jesus.

Tommy: Oh, that's straight out of Hollywood.

Josh: That's what Tommy's like after spending the last couple of weeks building his website. He's not happy.

Rhys: Who the heck? Who, who honestly, who looks at websites? You type things into a search bar. That's insane. No one's going to, I'll type in tobyjacket.com. I don't think anyone's doing that. So maybe my mom—

Josh: Google.com, Reece, but you're doing it for search engine optimization so that when we type in our name, it's not the first result isn't two other blokes kissing each other, it's us kissing each other.

Rhys: Okay, I see. I like that. I like that that's the first thing that comes up when you Google me. How come you got— how come no one else has the daily talk show?

Tommy: Great question.

Rhys: That's what I was wondering, speaking of optimization. Surely that's the most used talk show name ever.

Tommy: Yeah, how did it not?

Josh: Yeah, so we like, we've got text messages. Tommy and I were trying to work out a name for the podcast, and I was just searching on domain names, found thedailytalkshow.com. Straight away got the Instagram. It's too long of a name for Twitter, so we don't have— right, you can't get the, the Twitter handle. But yeah, I'm— I think that even though, like, I don't— I'm not banking on Tommy and my talent or interest at all to— for this show. I'm just banking on the fact that the Daily Talk Show as a name will be good for SEO and that people might accidentally find us.

Rhys: Wow, that's wonderful. I love that approach. I'm not banking on talent, banking on a title.

Josh: Yeah, mate, the talent is—

Rhys: if you've said it, that's a bonus.

Josh: Talent is overrated.

Rhys: Talent is Talent is a bonus.

Tommy: So we are basically doing the opposite strategy to you, right? You're focusing on being a great actor and we're focusing on the things, uh, you're focusing on the other details. The other details.

Rhys: That's good.

Tommy: Have you noticed and have you seen anyone that that has worked for them, that they've got jobs because they've got a shitload of followers?

Rhys: Shit yeah.

Tommy: And have you met them in LA and are they aware?

Rhys: Oh God, no, I'd avoid those people. Instagram famous people.

Josh: Yeah.

Rhys: No way. I'm like, I wouldn't— look, if I met them, I'd be friendly, but I'm not like— I haven't really met those. I think I'm— yeah, no, I haven't met them, but I hear about that stuff a lot.

Josh: Shtick race. Like, what do you think? Do you think that— does everyone in acting— is typecasting a real thing? Do you embrace it? Do you push back on it?

Rhys: I sort of go for leading man hunk roles, you know, sort of Ryan Gosling type. Chris Hemsworth, obviously. Yeah, I definitely typecasting. I mean, they look at you and they go, you're this. Like, it would be absurd if you put me in like a Hemsworth role, I think, you know, to be honest. I, yeah, I'm more likely to be his like assistant who keeps dropping stuff or something.

Tommy: AKA bitch.

Rhys: Yeah, probably. Yeah, be like he's like a caddy or something if he were a golfer in a movie, for example. Yeah, um, really strange example, but yeah, you get typecast. But typecasting isn't necessarily a problem because it might mean you keep getting Have you thought—

Tommy: yeah, well, have you thought, um, you know, because you go, okay, the young up-and-coming actors that are that sort of— you look at them and go, they're so Hollywood, are the ones landing. You know, Brenton Thwaites, an Aussie actor, okay, who's around our age, like, he's just the traditional Hollywood look, and he's been in some huge films.

Rhys: Yes.

Tommy: And you go, okay, he landed some roles when he was young. And it, you know, it was definitely his looks contributed to him landing those roles. But then I think about like people who chip away for years and then they land a role later in age where they've done all the groundwork and then this reaping the rewards, right, their training and, and time chipping away at it.

Rhys: Yeah.

Tommy: Is that something you think about? Where are you going?

Rhys: I just— yeah, I think so. I mean, I just like hope that the right kind of roles will come along and like I've been lucky enough that I feel like they have. For me so far, and hopefully it will continue to happen. But I don't know, I don't really like— I'm not looking to be like a leading man hunk. I don't think— no, I don't think that's— I don't think that's really, you know, I think it's good to know sort of what your, what your skills are and like what, what you can play. I don't want to be— I don't want to be completely deluded. Yeah, exactly. Um, also I look up to people like Steve Buscemi and like Michael Caine and, you know, William H. Macy and Willem Dafoe and like weirdos.

Tommy: Yeah, I only know Michael Caine out of all of that.

Rhys: Josh. You don't know Steve Buscemi? 0 out of 4.

Josh: On Location Location Location. Did he do that show?

Rhys: I don't think so.

Josh: Okay.

Rhys: He was, uh, he was, um, what's his name? Uh, Alfred in Batman.

Tommy: Yeah.

Rhys: You know, in the new Batmans, you've probably seen Batman.

Tommy: You definitely would have seen him or know of him somehow. Yeah.

Josh: You know Batman?

Rhys: He doesn't even know who Batman is.

Josh: I do know, I do know Batman. I do know Batman.

Rhys: Everyone knows Batman.

Josh: What's the deal with accents? Do you have to, like, are you doing training to learn how to do an American accent?

Rhys: Yeah, my next role that I'm doing, yeah, I have to, yes. Because most auditions, my managers will be like, just pretend to be American today. Just go in, don't let them know you're Aussie. And some days I'll be like, it's okay if you let them know you're Aussie. You know, I just ask them like, am I Australian today or American or whatever? Because sometimes I'll be like, oh, should we try it in my natural accent? Like the last film I just did, I auditioned American, and then they found out I was Australian. They're like, actually, we want an international cast.

Tommy: But he wouldn't break. He— they had to just really get it out of him. They were tickling him.

Rhys: No way. No, this is me.

Tommy: Rhys, we've got your passport. It says you're an Australian.

Rhys: It's an error.

Josh: Is there any phrases that, um, are really hard to do in an American accent that you just try and avoid?

Rhys: I find it all kind of hard. I have to do a lot of warming up and like, I don't think doing accents is that easy, really. And people who think they're really good at them generally aren't.

Josh: I think it's like my Ryan Seacrest impersonation. It's the only thing I can do in an American accent.

Rhys: I'd like to hear it. Do you want to do it right now?

Josh: Look, people have heard it a few times on the podcast, but it's only one line that he says. It's very LA. You ready? It's Ryan Seacrest here. Is that it?

Tommy: That's it.

Rhys: It's okay. Yeah, I don't think I'm familiar enough with Ryan Seacrest.

Tommy: I think if the, the thing about accents are hard when you're actually trying to—

Rhys: We just quickly moved on.

Tommy: You know, you're trying to— And you actually try and do them where you're not sort of over-dramatizing them, right? You know, impersonating an American.

Josh: Seacrest here.

Rhys: Like that. Wow, it's amazing.

Tommy: You know Sheriff Longmire, my mate from Longmire, the show on Netflix?

Rhys: Okay.

Tommy: He lives right near me, Reece. He's an Aussie actor, Robert Taylor. He was in The Matrix, film Josh hasn't seen.

Rhys: Bullshit.

Tommy: I know. Will you please watch that?

Josh: Do you know what is a really good film? Phone Booth. Did you ever watch Phone Booth?

Rhys: What? That one from like 1992 or something where he's like, he hangs up the phone and gets sniped?

Josh: 2004. It's, yeah, it's the one where the guy's in a phone booth and, um, he's got someone on the line, you can't move. It's a really good film. Is it?

Tommy: But Robert Taylor, he, um, lives over in America and he did the 6 seasons of Longmire, which he's an American dude.

Josh: Yeah.

Tommy: And when I bumped into him Yeah. He was speaking in an American accent. So, the first time I met him, I couldn't like, I couldn't quite get it if he was Australian or American.

Rhys: Why was he doing that?

Tommy: Because we went for a beer and he said, "Oh, yeah, I hold my accent as long as I can. Sometimes when I get back here, I just keep it going." So, he doesn't drop it on set? He doesn't drop it when he gets to America. He says like, "When I fly in, American the whole time." I get that.

Rhys: It's so that because you use different muscles in your mouth.

Tommy: That's what he said.

Rhys: He's like, "My face gets lazy." Yeah. It does happen. Yeah. The Australian accent is like quite a lazy one. We use a lot less muscles. We completely different placement in the mouth when you speak. So, I can actually understand that. Paddy Brammel does that. He stays in accent.

Tommy: Who's Paddy Brammel?

Rhys: You know, Aussie actor. He's doing a bit over there, quite a bit. He did that show No Activity. He's a good friend of mine. He's doing the American version. He's doing a lot. He's really talented. Anyway, he was telling me when he's doing American accent, he'll stay in it like all day, you know, like before and after he shoots and stuff.

Tommy: Yeah.

Rhys: And, uh, he says that like all these, like the producers and stuff, because he's one of the creatives of the show he's doing, he gets in the car and he's in accent like, oh really? Like they just want to have a chat and he's like, hey, you know, I'm an American now. Like he's just in, in character, in an accent, and like, oh really?

Josh: Yeah. Just like, has things like Netflix changed how all of this stuff works in Hollywood? Is there an actual impact?

Rhys: Yes. I mean, also for Australian productions, like, yeah, my friend Alison Bell has a show called The Letdown, which was made here for ABC, and now it's playing on Netflix, and she's getting a lot of attention over there. You look at like Hannah Gadsby's amazing special Nanette, that's getting a lot of attention over there because of Netflix. And then like Sisters, that Channel 10 show with Maria Angelico, does a lot. Yeah. And then, yeah, there's quite a few Aussie shows that are playing on playing on Netflix, and then it can get people's attention abroad.

Tommy: Yeah, well, I think the crazy thing is, um, Josh, Rhys grew up in a house where this was all happening. Probably you were surrounded by conversations about television because your dad, one of my famous— one of my favorite, um, name drops is, you know, Con La Fruera. Yeah, I'm best mates with his son. That's my—

Josh: definitely someone I actually like. I know, I feel like maybe like Which says something.

Rhys: Yeah, well, my dad is Mark Mitchell, he's not Con the Fruiterer.

Tommy: Yes.

Josh: Oh really? He's always— I do know Con, great bloke.

Tommy: Don't believe it, he's in character most of the time.

Rhys: He stays in accent. Yeah, he stays as Con. Tell Josh about when you met Don the Fruiterer. Oh my God. Should we talk about that? Because you know he boxes at my gym.

Josh: No.

Rhys: You would not believe it.

Tommy: So, um, Josh, I was on the street team working for Fox FM. And, uh, we were doing an activation out in— I think it was Clayton or something. It was at a launch of a new Woolworths. This is when they sort of revamped and—

Rhys: Sorry, I'll stop you there. An activation? What the fuck is an activation? It sounds like some religious cult thing. An activation—

Tommy: activating people's consciousness where a brand pays the radio station to send out a bunch of young people driving a car with famous faces on the side, but famous faces don't arrive, right? Never arrive. And so we hand out icy cold cans of Coke.

Rhys: That is insane that there's a name for that.

Josh: It's activation. I wonder if activation— you knew that the word was going to be used in such a way.

Rhys: Totally. I think activation, the word, would be upset with that. Some— a bunch of nobodies handing out Coca-Colas. You activated— we activated the space.

Josh: You activate something on a big rocket ship, a spaceship. You don't activate icy cold cans of Coke.

Tommy: All right, so I mean, I'm at Clayton Woolworths and I'm walking through, you know, I actually went in because on these activations there was also a guy who cooked the barbecue. He came out specifically to do the sausage sizzle. And what I would do, this is when I was weight training hard I'd go in and purchase a steak from Woolworths and then give it to the chef, the dude who would come out and he would cook me a—

Rhys: he'd activate it, he'd activate my steak.

Tommy: Anyway, he's also the guy in Reece's showreel. So anyway, I went in to get my steak and I saw this dude from afar and I was like, fuck, it's my mate, it's Mark Mitchell, it's Con the Fooder. He's here, he's been assigned to this activation. And so, and so I started looking closer to the activation.

Rhys: It honestly sounds like a cult. Yeah, yeah.

Josh: How did you think that he was assigned to this activation? Like, you're, you're there eating the steak.

Rhys: Oh, you're activating too, mate.

Tommy: He was, he was there working, spooking, and in character in the character of Con. Full getup, same attire, same hair. And as I got closer, I realised that is not Mark Mitchell. That is some dude who is taking off the character that Mark Mitchell does. So what did I do? I played it real cool and got a photo with him so I could send it to—

Rhys: so I could send it to Rhys.

Tommy: I was like, you'd never fucking believe there's a dude ripping off 'Your dad, there's a dude ripping off Conda Fruta,' and I sent it to you.

Rhys: Yeah, apparently you said when you were posing with him, you go, 'Oh, this is great, I'll show it to Mark, he's a friend of mine and best mates with his son,' and the guy just went, 'Uh-oh.' And then apparently, I think my dad's manager or something emailed him like the cease and desist or something.

Josh: No, I don't—

Rhys: I think there was nothing that could be done, it was totally fine or whatever. But it was funny because that turns out, bizarre world, he boxes at my gym. And he's like, oh yeah, actually I know, uh, had a bit of a— I think your dad was a bit upset because I, uh, I played dominoes.

Josh: Was that an activation? Do you know what?

Rhys: Yeah, I was at an activation with this, uh, local ship liberty, Tommy Jacket.

Josh: Activations, things get a bit weird, you do stuff you don't normally do.

Rhys: You kind of lose yourself in an activation. Yeah, so I— it was just like, this is such a small and bizarre world, and I just was like Oh yeah, no, I hadn't heard about it, but we're on the inside. I was like, oh my God, Tommy, this is insane. Yeah, anyway, so I sparred some rounds with him and, uh, beat the shit out of him. Yeah, yeah, no, I'm just kidding.

Josh: Is there a difference in acting? Like, can you give us a sense with acting, is there a difference between that sort of character comedy style acting and other forms of acting? Like, are there different sort of levels where it's like you don't play in different realms?

Rhys: I think so. I mean, like, I think ultimately it depends on the script, the director, and everything. Like, but you're kind of trying to do the same thing. You're trying to just be truthful, you know, ultimately. And it doesn't matter what— if the world needs comedy or whatever, drama, whatever the script needs. Yeah, I think as long as you just try and be, and be truthful, it'll be a good performance ultimately. Yeah, yeah. Just feel— try not to be caught acting, you know.

Josh: Do you feel that whatever role you're playing, does it affect your emotional state day to day?

Rhys: I mean, I would say so. Like, if I do really— I did a quite emotional scene on this last film, and then I felt like, like I whipped something up for the rest of the day. I felt a little fragile, which was interesting. I think that, I mean, if you're having like a physical reaction because you're pretending to be really sad and you have to cry in a scene or whatever, Yeah, you can potentially trigger something in you that makes you continue to feel sad or like you've channelled some part of you. So I think so. I think like, I don't know, I think you got to find that balance though because maybe it could be dangerous if you're constantly going deep into this. I mean, it's not therapy, it's acting.

Josh: Yeah.

Tommy: So do you think there's a consistency in the types of people that are actors?

Rhys: Uh, wankers?

Tommy: I wasn't gonna say it.

Rhys: No, um, I don't know, there's like— no, I think it's a real array. Sometimes I get a surprise when I meet someone, they find out they're an actor. I'm like, but you're not a wanker. Yeah, like, what? You know, no, that's really— I don't know, I tend to— I think it's really mixed why people get into it. So many different things that attract someone to it. Yeah, it's a total array, like any industry. It's just a job at the end of the day. Yeah, so it attracts lots of people.

Tommy: Yeah, I guess people take jobs more seriously than others, and that's when the the wankers come out.

Josh: So what is the crowd that you hang out with in LA? Is it— are you hanging out with a lot of actors, or what type— what types of—

Rhys: not really.

Josh: Things are people doing?

Tommy: Your housemate's an actor.

Rhys: Yeah, he's an actor. Yeah, he's an actor. Um, most of them were actors actually, coming to think of it. I was like— but no, I mean, a lot of people are in the industry there, so it's kind of hard to avoid. Like, a lot of my friends are actually artists. Or musicians. I hang out with a lot of musicians and producers. And yeah, I like to try and mix it up. I like to mix my worlds. I think it's good for your, uh, your spiritual— spirituality and your mental health to mix your worlds and make you a more kind of—

Tommy: there was one year Reece was hanging out with only tradies.

Rhys: Uh, yeah, it was got exclusively, exclusively tradies. Nice. Yeah, you know, but that's a good thing to do, mix your worlds, you know. Shouldn't just hang out with actors. Jesus. Yeah, absolutely.

Josh: I think you'll find with the mixing of the world stuff, are you doing stuff beyond acting? Are you doing writing? Do you sort of do any directing stuff?

Rhys: I'm not doing so. I mean, I studied screenwriting and like I went to film school. I never studied to be an actor. I just sort of ended up, I was acting in student films and then it kind of kicked off a bit more than my directing did, I think. 'Cause yeah, I don't know. It just happened that way. Life kind of forges its own course a bit. I, um, I'm still writing though. I'm working on something at the moment with, um, my friend Paul and his fiancée Lucia. We're writing a, like, a sitcom sort of thing. So yeah, I'm still writing, definitely. I love that. I'm really passionate about that, and I think it's a really good way to create opportunities for yourself as well. You know, you can cast yourself in something, so there you go.

Josh: And collaboration, I mean, working with other artists, uh, you know, it's— working with other people in general can be hard. Working with artists, I guess, can even be harder because everyone's got their quirks. I mean, how do you approach collaboration?

Rhys: I guess you gotta really, you do have to really feel that out whether it's gonna be a good collaboration or not. Like, you just, because you get on with someone, you have a really similar sense of humor, doesn't necessarily mean you'll write well together or you'll work well together. So I think feeling that out, maybe like writing some smaller things and just seeing how it feels and then go from there. And I think it's like totally fine if it doesn't feel like natural fit to end the project early and maintain the friendship. Because it can really affect a friendship because it's very personal collaborating with people creatively, you know.

Tommy: What does it actually look like writing something with someone? Are you literally sitting there next to each other?

Rhys: Yeah, it's kind of like thinking about it. It's kind of like this. We just kind of chat, have a laugh, and then we're like, oh, that's funny, let's write that down. Well, that's how we do it. That's how Paul and I do it at the moment. That's how we're doing it. We just kind of talk about ideas, or when we go out and something happens and it inspires an idea and then we write it down. Yeah, I don't know. I think everyone's approach is different. Some people might— you might like plot out a storey and then we might script it separately or script it together. So everyone has a different approach, but my approach is generally just to talk, write down what we've spoken about, maybe even just like run a scene, like improvise the scene and then write it and then come back to it and edit it. You know, so yeah, there's no rules to any of it. Yeah, whatever works.

Tommy: It's—

Josh: I think that we could do a film on—

Tommy: We both play in a space station based on our conversation. Yeah, he's got some great material.

Rhys: The Activation. Yeah, yeah, that's good. It's kind of sci-fi, I think. In my head it's sci-fi, or maybe even like a dystopian world.

Tommy: Yeah, that's a good one.

Rhys: Yeah, I think so. There's a lot of darkness about The Activation.

Josh: I get the vibe that it could even be— I think it's got more of that comedy, uh, trope fest. All of a sudden it turns out there was something in the steak at the end of the activation.

Rhys: Oh yeah.

Josh: I feel like what happens is actually Don the fruiter doesn't realise that the steak was for Tommy and he eats the steak.

Tommy: Right.

Rhys: Don.

Tommy: Yes. Fucking Don.

Rhys: I think we should end this collaboration. I don't know that the activation is gonna work. I'm out. I'll leave you guys to it. I don't think it's a natural— I don't think it's a natural sort of, you know, creative partnership. Um, I'm out. I'm definitely out of the activation.

Josh: You've been watching Shark Tank.

Rhys: I have, yeah. It's a no from me. I love Shark Tank.

Tommy: It's a great show.

Rhys: I always think about Shark Tank ideas. It's big in the US.

Josh: Is it?

Rhys: Shark Tank's a real good unwinding show, you know, after a long day of of, I don't know, doing nothing.

Josh: What's the American thing to say though, that it's an unwinding, like it's good to unwind because it's still around this career-based— Yeah, you know what, I just want to be able to, I want to be able to sit down and watch— The next big one is going to be job interview. Sit down and watch people have their job interviews.

Rhys: That's actually a great idea for a show. Yeah, and you're like, oh, he's not gonna get it, you know what I mean? I'm back in, I'm back in, boys.

Josh: Job interview. For the actors.

Rhys: Job interview. That's really good. So you just, you sit down and all these people do their job interviews, and then you're like, I think it's number 3. Yeah, you know, what's your 5-year plan? And he's like, oh, you know this, I'll be in your chair. And the guy's like, I like that. Yeah, you know, that could be a really cool show.

Tommy: All shows— is there something about American? Like, for me, watching an American show has more clout before I even know if it's got clout than an Aussie show. Which maybe is just us being brought up with Hollywood being thrown at us.

Rhys: Being brought up with cultural cringe and like self-hate.

Tommy: Yeah, that too. But, and so—

Josh: I love that.

Rhys: Yeah, that too.

Tommy: Yeah, that too. So I hate myself.

Josh: I tried to get a green card.

Tommy: We all do.

Josh: In 2011, I tried to get a green card because I wanted Amazon Prime. Like, that's where my vibes at.

Rhys: He wanted Amazon Prime. There's other ways you can get it.

Tommy: So he gave up citizenship of— within Australia too.

Josh: I did, I tried the lottery, didn't get it, so I'm just, I just decided to wait. And now Amazon Prime is in Australia, so I didn't have to move after all.

Rhys: Wow, isn't that beautiful?

Josh: I can get Dior now.

Rhys: You know what, that's a lesson in patience. You know, that's a Zen story. I think they're going to write koans about that.

Josh: What are some of those? Have you had some of those observations where it's like consumerism gone wrong. I feel like on the spectrum of getting a green card for Amazon and not, you're probably closer to the not.

Rhys: What— The thing that I find the weirdest about America is getting paid in checks.

Tommy: They still pay checks?

Rhys: Yes. You got to go cash a check.

Josh: Wow.

Rhys: Like, what era is this? Like, you're so ahead in so many ways, and then you're still getting checks? Like, if I don't get my cheque in the mail, I'm like, I don't get my payment.

Josh: What?

Rhys: I'm like, can you resend my cheque? I couldn't find it.

Tommy: Trump's focusing on the wall and they're still paying people in cheques.

Josh: What? And they're also shocked by PayPass. I remember being at a Subway and paying PayPass and they lost them. They had the technology there. I just touched my credit card to pay something and like all 3 people working there came around and sort of like thought I was some fucking like—

Rhys: Everyone in the Subway started clapping. Yeah.

Josh: Exactly. Wow.

Rhys: Yeah, it's odd. There's some weird things like that there. They just— yeah, they just won't let the cheques go. I find it so weird. I'm like, just— also, they don't really have like, uh, like online banking isn't the same as it is here. Like, I can't just transfer you money easily. You got to download a separate app.

Josh: Oh wow.

Tommy: Yeah, I know, that's annoying.

Rhys: Anywho, that's not a big deal. That's just—

Tommy: you could easily It's crazy because PayPal came out of America and so did Stripe.

Josh: Well, because all of these things are like trying to solve a problem, right? There's been cards that you can get with a magnetic strip on it that you can switch between what card you're using. So, you have a single card, but they're still using the strip. You still need to like swipe the card. So, it's interesting to see how innovation changes when there just isn't mass adoption of something. It's the same with Apple Pay. When they announced Apple Pay, it was like, the Americans were like really excited about it. But the thing is, like, we've been paying that way in Australia with like our cards for a really long time.

Tommy: Do they do minimums on card in America? Like, I know I went there in 2012, but you know how it's the gripe here in Australia 'Oh, this bullshit.' Bullshit.

Josh: You gotta—

Tommy: it's a minimum of $10.

Rhys: Oh no, no, no, not really. Actually, yeah, they would. I can't really remember. Yeah, sorry, I went all over the place.

Josh: I don't know, fighting different battles here. It's, it's all good.

Rhys: Yeah, I'm just trying— I don't know about minimums.

Josh: Amazon Prime. Tommy doesn't want to pay his minimum and you're just trying to forge a career in—

Rhys: You're going to give up Australian citizenship for Amazon Prime? That is commitment.

Josh: To be clear, I wasn't getting soft or whatever. I wanted to be a dual citizen. I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted to be able to— wow— get my Amazon Prime and then hang in Melbourne.

Tommy: The logistics of that, you would have to lodge a tax return every single year in the States.

Rhys: You know what's huge in the States that isn't as big here?

Josh: What?

Rhys: Fraud. Like, people steal your credit cards more, your identity. Like, I got my credit card details swiped. Did you? Yeah, and they were spending— they're buying weird things.

Tommy: Like what?

Rhys: Just like going to like crappy hotel rooms. It's like, live it up. If you're gonna rob, like, if you're gonna steal my details, go somewhere nicer.

Josh: Yeah, don't do it in a Super 8.

Rhys: Totally. It was like a really cheap room. I'm like, you poor things. Even with someone else's cash, you got no taste.

Josh: One of the things that I did, like, there's a lot of things I like about the US. One of the things that I struggle with, I've even struggled with traveling, is I think it's a part of it is my social anxiety, but around tipping. The US is actually a little bit easier because you at least know where you stand. But places in Europe, there's— it's all over the place. Some places expect it, some people don't. I don't carry much cash. What, have you had any tipping stories? Yeah.

Rhys: Well, you're in Greece right now. You can probably like—

Tommy: No tipping in Greece.

Rhys: No tipping?

Tommy: Unless you're at a restaurant, fine dining restaurant, but not like, not just basic, basic stuff.

Josh: But definitely, Yeah, it's not as clear-cut. Like, there's a lot of places where it's like, and you Google it and clearly somewhat like, basically you Google any place and I think they overstate the tipping culture. Like, I think if you type in tipping Melbourne, they'll talk about tipping like it's still a little bit of a thing where like, I've never fucking, I get pissed off when I spend a fuck tonne of money At a, like, why is it that the expensive restaurants that are charged, like, where the bill's like fucking $300, they want a tip, but the place that's got a fucking souvlaki, that's, you know, that's the mum-and-pop operation that's charging like $5 doesn't ask for anything?

Rhys: I guess because of the people going to these different shops, you know, if you go to the fancy one, generally you have more spendable, you know, you can spend more money, you got more, yeah, sure, you got more cash in your pocket. Not always, but I hear what you're saying. There's a good point.

Tommy: Have you had any incidences?

Rhys: I just— 20%. I just tip everyone 20%. And if the service is really bad, 10%. You still tip them. That's the funny thing. It's like the 10% tip is an insult. It's like, I'm going to tip you 10%, but I'm not happy. I'm still going to give you some cash though. I find that really funny. Yeah. Just do 10%. It was terrible service.

Josh: You know?

Rhys: So I just— I do 20 and then up, like— 20% is the minimum I find. And people like, yeah, I don't know. I have a tip calculator. Do you? Yeah, because I want to— a lot of people live off it. They don't get paid very well when they work in service. And I worked in service for like 10 years. I, uh, I get it. I want to tip them if I can.

Tommy: I went to a nightclub in, in LA and I was on this table of this rich guy, and I was there with this American dude who's a promoter, and I was sitting next to this rich guy and shots just kept on coming out. And this guy was— his surname was Washington, so he was part of the Washington family, like big.

Rhys: They're on the money, aren't they?

Josh: Oh yeah, well, um, they own a whole state. Wow.

Tommy: Yeah, who was the— who was the part of that family? The famous family. Anyway, he— so he had heaps of money. Um, that night I ended up with his sunglasses, a pair of Dolce Gabbana 500 $1,500 pair on my head and I went home.

Rhys: That's the old Tommy coming out. But you probably robbed him.

Tommy: The guy came, um, so we were getting shots delivered to the table non-stop and this dude was nearly about to vomit, this rich dude. And the barman, and he was like yelling at the barman, and I, and I nudged the, I nudged the barman. I said, I got this. And I said, mate, he's all good, just tip him and he'll be fine. He's like, ah, and he was like getting a bit angry, pulled out this wad of cash took $100 and gave it to the, um, the shot— gave it to the barman. And I tapped him on the back and said, fuck yeah, we got it!

Josh: Oh my God, you asked for 50%?

Tommy: No, I didn't take it. I was just thinking for the bar— thinking of the barman.

Rhys: That's a wonderful thing to do. You probably paid his rent.

Tommy: Yeah, at that point I had the Dolce Gabbana sunglasses on my head, so—

Rhys: Jesus, you and that guy did well. Are you still in touch? Do you still email?

Josh: No.

Rhys: Oh, you remember that $100 and the glasses?

Josh: Yeah.

Rhys: How are you? I'm all right.

Josh: Where do you, where do you eat when you're in LA? What, like, we're going to be there very soon. What should we be— what place?

Rhys: Oh, I'll send you a list. I'll send you a list. Okay, I'll tell you my favourite place.

Josh: Where?

Rhys: All right, this is a hot tip for the listeners. If you go to LA, go to Sunset Boulevard, Silver Lake. Yeah, really nice restaurant. It's like, it's Israeli. It's called MZHZ. Maza is how they pronounce it. Maza. And it is sensational and really cheap. Just good quality, simple, healthy, yummy food. Yeah, that's wonderful. Anything kind of in Silver Lake's pretty good.

Josh: Yeah.

Rhys: Echo Park. I'll give you a list.

Josh: I was on Sunset Boulevard and asked the hotel for it. We just wanted something light. And I can't remember the name, but we'd just arrived in the States and we went to this place that the hotel recommended. I don't know if you know it, don't know if it's famous, but it was like pancakes that were like this huge, fuck off, massive like pancakes that were so big. They were like the size of probably like bigger than an A4 piece of paper. And this was meant to be like our light meal. Have you heard of this place?

Rhys: Oh my God.

Josh: It traumatised me.

Rhys: I think it's called IHOP.

Tommy: Oh, yeah.

Josh: No, it wasn't IHOP. It wasn't IHOP, it wasn't a franchise, it wasn't sort of one of those sort of big names. I can't remember what it was. It was on Sunset Boulevard. It's quite like, it is massive, right?

Rhys: It's huge.

Tommy: Yeah, yeah. Josh, I got a list of places for us to go from my mate. And so, yeah, we can have a look over it.

Rhys: I'll look over it.

Tommy: Yeah, I'll show you the list.

Rhys: I'll cheque it. I'll give you guys some spots.

Josh: What's your day today then? What are you doing? Like, do you have a strict sort of schedule on what you do?

Rhys: Oh my God, are you kidding me? I work in the arts, darling. No, I just like, you know, far out, I'm gonna embarrass myself when I like list what I do. Everyone's like, you're out there working so hard. I'm like, yep. I go to the gym, I go to auditions, I do some writing, I'll then have a drink. Not always, but you know, then I'll like, go get dinner with someone. I don't know, you just live your life. It's like Melbourne, you know, it's just like you just chip away at it. But the thing is, you're always thinking about work when you're there. You're always like, there's always like maybe an opportunity around the corner or something, or maybe you get that big audition tomorrow.

Tommy: Yeah, things just pop up and you, you've got a life that allows the, the opportunities, or allows you to seize the opportunities when they pop up. So you can't be off, right, working the mines just, you know, in Texas. Not sure if there's mines there. There could be, maybe. But you've got to be available, right?

Rhys: Yeah, you have to be on call basically. Yeah, that happens a lot. You got to be on call, like, we need this tape immediately, or you got to go here tomorrow, like, you got to learn 6 pages in 3 hours. Yeah, well, it does happen. So you are kind of always on call, which is a little bit stressful. You feel in limbo a little. But that's my cross to bear. That's what I signed up for. And when it's good, it's really good. So I don't mind.

Josh: Do you feel like you're the most happy?

Rhys: When I get the call saying, "You got a job." Like legitimately, I'm like, "Thank God." Do you find that it's like a—

Josh: 'Cause I find that through a video project, there's sort of these high moments, like first getting the job and then it goes a bit shit for a bit and then it's like great and then it's shit and then it's great at the end. Do you have those key milestones of— Absolutely. Self-loathing and then also excitement?

Rhys: Absolutely. You know, you're often questioning what the heck you're doing, and then when you get a job, it feels amazing. And then you're like, oh God, I gotta do a lot of work now. And then you start to have imposter syndrome. You're like, they're gonna find out I'm terrible, I'm not really an actor. And then you do it and you're like, oh, it was great.

Tommy: Next minute you're in a hot tub.

Rhys: Yeah, next minute you're in a hot tub on a balcony.

Tommy: Snapchatting Tommy Jacket. I know.

Rhys: Um, yeah, that's one of the highs.

Josh: Yeah, yeah. No, I think it's like, what from— if you were to bring one thing from LA, what you've learned, and apply it to yourself living in Melbourne, you know, just, just taking that perspective and then coming back, what would it be?

Rhys: I think it would be like, I really believe in supporting one another. And I know that sounds so bizarre coming from like learning that in LA, like I've always believed in like collaboration, community, supporting fellow artists or people in general. But in LA, it really— like, at least my group of friends there, they are so in each other's corner. Like, there's no like, you know, like kind of hiding their treasures or their— or what they— their connections or their opportunities. There's none of that. It's like everyone shares and believes in the power of collaboration and community. And I think like, I wish there was more of that here in Australia. I wish there was less of of the sort of— I know our market isn't as big, but I really think like tall poppy syndrome and all that stuff is really detrimental to our cultural growth. I think it's so much better for us to believe in one another and also believe in local talent and like local projects and support one another completely. Because this is like, we produce such talent. This country produces incredible talent, and I think we really need to foster it and look out for one another. I don't know, I just like, I love the support that I'm feeling. Like, even the, like I was saying before, like the Australians in LA, I feel so supported by them in a way that I haven't. I mean, I felt support here, but over there it's like a whole different thing. It's like, you know, we're really like, we're in this together and like we can do it together.

Tommy: What about like setting your sights on something bigger? Josh and I talk a bit about it where we're like, oh, we could, you know, create this and try and get it here But one thing from speaking to Robert Taylor, from the sheriff on Longmire, he said to me, mate, you just gotta think big. Fuck, forget about Australia, get over— like, go bigger than that. And his point was just think bigger than that. And I feel like I've even been restricted to, you know, what Josh and I can do with this podcast, what we can do with our business. And, and yeah, do you think it's Do you think that's an approach that it's like there is outside of Australia?

Rhys: Oh God, yeah.

Tommy: As much as we are in it.

Rhys: Absolutely. I mean, it's like, it's scary too though. Like we were saying to leave and to be like the comforts of this place. But I really think if you want to play on like the world platform or at least have a go. Yeah. I mean, if you do whatever you can.

Tommy: You gotta be expected to get paid in checks. That's what you're saying.

Rhys: Yeah, basically. If you're okay to get paid in checks. You should think about traveling. But I think it's like, start here, dude. Just be really good at what you do from wherever you are. People will notice. It's like what I was saying about Netflix before. People are making shows here and they're playing on Netflix and they're getting a lot of opportunities abroad. If you're good enough or like if you work hard enough, it'll pay off and it can pay off internationally too. But I think it's a good thing to do if you work in like entertainment or whatever. Give it a go. Go out, go to the home of like, or like a hub of entertainment right now that's LA right now is a real— it's really in its moment for, for the arts. I, I think if it— see, you see, like a huge industry, it's interesting, you know, even just—

Josh: what's, what's the challenge for you, Rhys? Like, do you think about end games?

Rhys: Yeah, my end game is to buy a house here. I just want to work enough so I can live here. Isn't that crazy? Like, after everything I just said, it's like, I just want to be like— I want to be able to work enough so I can comfortably live here, because this really is my home and I love Australia so much. And I want to be— I really do believe in our community, in our industry here, and I want to be a supporter of it in any way I can. I mean, it's like it started my— it's like allowed me to be able to travel. If I hadn't have done what I'd done here, I couldn't have— I couldn't work abroad. No way. I wouldn't have a visa. I wouldn't have representation. I would like to come back here as well. It's so fresh here. The air is so fresh. It's like—

Tommy: yeah, it is a great country.

Rhys: It's beautiful.

Tommy: I'm on the other side. I'm looking forward to getting out and, um, not leaving my baby, but I think we travel.

Josh: And my wife, the thing is, we travel to be able to— we travel to be able to get perspective of our own home, right? Like, I think definitely the biggest thing for me with being away for 3 months is it's like, I, I know that like travel for me is temporary, but the thing, the day-to-day is life. That's the real thing. And so I think that what I gain from abroad is what I bring home and what actually happens at home. And like the, the things that I start to appreciate in regards to the rituals that I have or how I approach certain things, I think that's super important.

Tommy: I— we just kind of lost you there, Josh, so I reckon we, um, it's a good time to wrap this.

Rhys: Yeah, it is also because I'm gonna move my car.

Tommy: Yeah, true, I was thinking about that.

Rhys: That was like the car park show because I had one hour on the car. Thank you for keeping an eye on that. They'll get you around here. It's actually— yeah, it's, uh, thanks so much, mate.

Josh: Like, especially given you're only in Melbourne for a short time, coming and hanging, and when you are back in town, we just like having fucking friends of the show. And also, like, even friend— like, real friend. Like, the fact that you guys are actually like each other in real life, that's, that's awesome.

Rhys: Isn't that wild?

Josh: It's, it's—

Rhys: I know, we've done the— we've done the long haul, Tommy and I. Yeah, it's not— this friendship is not ending. If it hasn't ended yet, it's never going to. We've been through everything together. Jesus.

Josh: Awesome. And people can obviously see your, I'm guessing, pretty inactive Instagram feed by the way that you, you talk about it. Drip Coffee.

Rhys: Yeah, if I, if I confirm their requests. No, of course, follow, follow me if you're, if you're, you know, if you're, if you're friendly and you're, you're up for a good kooky time.

Tommy: Yeah, it's just you have to say access code is The Daily Talk Show.

Rhys: Yeah, that's the promo code for my Instagram.

Josh: We actually get a little bit of commission off every one of Reece's new followers. That's the only way we can make money.

Rhys: Every time you like one of my posts, The Daily Talk Show gets a little bit.

Josh: We get a cheque in the mail, funnily enough.

Rhys: Yeah, you get a cheque for 55 cents.

Tommy: It may get lost though.

Josh: It may not arrive.

Rhys: Awesome. Yeah.

Josh: Thanks, Reece. The Daily Talk Show, one more episode until we are heading to New York City and we've got a bunch of guests lined up. Up. So we're very pumped about that. We'll catch you tomorrow. See ya.

Tommy: See you guys.