Rhys Mitchell On Therapy & Having A Plan B

Rhys: The Daily Talk Show.

Josh: It's a daily talk show and we're live from West Hollywood.

Tommy: The front door edition.

Rhys: Yes, front door edition. West Hollywood front door edition.

Tommy: And we got Reece Mitchell. Yeah, good to be here. I mean, I've seen you for all of 5 minutes before this has started and I haven't seen you in months and months.

Rhys: I know, and I walked through your grassy entrance.

Josh: Yeah, do you like our pad?

Rhys: It's really cool. How do they, how do they How do the people in the duplex feel about you hosting a podcast from the courtyard?

Tommy: No, I met Gary and I told Gary what we do, but I didn't tell him—

Josh: Gary Vaynerchuk?

Tommy: No, Gary, his name is. He's an English fella who lives over— I think he lives here, and they're here for the races, so I think they're here to party, so we're okay doing podcasts.

Rhys: They're fine, they're very sleepy.

Tommy: This is pretty nerdy in comparison. Yeah, if you think about it. Very true. We're in your hometown now, Reece. Yeah, how's it going here?

Rhys: I mean, I don't live in West Hollywood.

Tommy: What do you, I mean, as an Aussie living in LA, what do you think of this area now?

Rhys: West Hollywood?

Tommy: Yeah.

Rhys: Oh, it's like Sydney.

Josh: It's just like Sydney.

Rhys: Fantastic. I love West Hollywood. It's just like Sydney. Yeah, it's all right. I don't know. It depends what you're after.

Tommy: But do the locals or the people who are living here think it's a bit, you know, like it's obviously the trendy place from the outside, West Hollywood.

Rhys: Yeah. Weeho.

Tommy: Weeho.

Rhys: Welcome to Weeho. Weeho.

Tommy: West Hollywood.

Rhys: —don't let them get comfortable, move your stairs on the terracotta.

Tommy: So, um, so yeah, do they think it's a bit too cool?

Rhys: It depends who you're talking to. I don't know, I don't want to diss West Hollywood. I mean, where do you live? I live in Highland Park.

Josh: And what does that mean to you? It's like the Fulbry of LA. Okay, oh, that's cool though.

Tommy: Yeah, I like it. So hipster, is it hip there?

Josh: Yeah. Okay. Yeah, a lot more graffiti.

Rhys: I always want to be like, yeah, there's hipsters, but I'm not one of them. Like, yeah, I mean, fuck, they look at me and they're like, there's a king hipster.

Tommy: Yeah, yeah. Well, I think we, we grew up in the non-hipster area. Yes, it was the South Side.

Rhys: It was the West Hollywood.

Tommy: It was the West Hollywood of Melbourne. Yeah. And then, but now we, we work over the West, uh, North Side, and Josh lives over North Side. Yeah. So we're closer to the hipster culture than we've ever been.

Rhys: A lady yelled at me out of a car last night. Saying what? She said, "White bitches don't belong here." And I was like, "Fair." You're just a white bitch, aren't you? I was like, it was, yeah, I mean, it was, yeah.

Tommy: And what, what was her vibe?

Rhys: What was it? I don't know. I just kept walking. What kind of a car? Uh, it was actually a Cadillac. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was getting my photos done at, um, Little plug here, this place called Tom's. You should do this for a daily talk show photo shoot. You go to Tom's One Hour in, I think it's Koreatown, and they do, this guy paints his own backdrops. He really tells you how to pose. Like you're not allowed to smile, like very serious.

Josh: Like headshots we're talking.

Rhys: Headshots, $25. Truly go get them. Yes, $25. Like from another era. So go get the daily talk show headshots done there tomorrow.

Josh: Are they meant to be a bit ironic or no? Like, are you gonna use them?

Rhys: I guess people like them ironically, He said he's been doing the same thing for 30 years. And he's like, business was slow, but it's picked up again.

Tommy: We were walking down Melrose last night and this guy was just smoking a durry and he looked like someone out of a movie, leather jacket. And so I kind of like, and he was talking to these people that he ushered into this doorway. And I thought, this is gonna be great. Let's have an interaction with him. And next minute he's like, you guys like comedy? 'You guys like comedy?' And we're like, 'Yeah.' He's like, 'You want to do some comedy? Come upstairs, $5, do some comedy.' He wanted to pull us off the street to actually do some stand-up.

Josh: Not watch comedy, do comedy.

Rhys: Walk through a tight five.

Tommy: Literally, he's like, 'It's a dollar a minute.' He's like, 'You can do a five.' So we're gonna pay to do our five.

Rhys: I guess that makes sense.

Tommy: But I think it's a very Hollywood thing to be put— someone trying to pull you off the street to do the thing that's really, really hard, which is stand-up.

Josh: It's like being outside of like Rod Laver Arena.

Tommy: 'Do you want to do a performance?' You come in, you get 5, it's 5 grand, grand a minute. It's some weird shit. What are the weird stuff since you've—

Rhys: how long you've lived here now? This is my second year.

Tommy: Holy shit. Has it been that long? I know. Episode 183 was the last time we had you on.

Josh: And you were in Melbourne. I was overseas. We FaceTimed.

Tommy: That's how we did it. Is this the first time you guys have met? I feel like maybe.

Rhys: In person? Maybe. Maybe in human life. Yeah. We're cyber friends. Yeah, absolutely. Which is the future. Yeah.

Josh: No, we're definitely VR cyber.

Tommy: We're VR friends. And if you haven't listened to 183, Rhys and I went to primary school together. You're my oldest friend. Yes.

Josh: He's 89 years old.

Rhys: Yeah, but I'm just a drug addict. I take all the like IV and everything. It keeps me young, you know. He's looking—

Tommy: he's had the surgery.

Josh: Why did you go to move to LA?

Rhys: Why did I move to LA? I came here for an acting— I've really reclined now.

Tommy: I've actually started to disengage.

Josh: Same, totally.

Rhys: I just think my back is spasming from the terracotta. You're gonna have to wheel me out of here. I came here for a TV series for FX in 2017, which still hasn't come out.

Tommy: This is the one with the shark, the fake shark?

Rhys: Yeah, I can't really— I don't know how much I'm allowed to say on the air. Okay.

Tommy: But it's Yeah. Is it gonna happen? Is it coming out?

Rhys: It should come out. They're saying January 2nd. Who was in it?

Tommy: There was someone cool in it other than Reece Mitchell.

Rhys: I mean, okay, but I don't know if you know him.

Tommy: That sounds nice. I think you've showed me photos of the person, the quirky other person that was on.

Rhys: Hailey Magnus is on it. Yeah, cool people.

Tommy: You came over here to do that?

Rhys: I did that, and then I went home, I, and then I had a visa, and I was like, I'll just come back, and then I came for like 5 weeks, had a return flight, but then just didn't go back. I was like, I don't know what I'm— what am I going to race back and work in a bakery again? You know what I mean? What were you doing? I literally was working in a bakery. Yeah, what bakery? Um, Elwood Sourdough.

Tommy: It was selling some good sourdough.

Rhys: I'm like, there's no problem in saying that. Yeah, yeah, it's great sourdough. Well, if you get to work in which bakery?

Josh: Good plug. Uh, no, that's, that's $1,300 worth of a plug if we were to charge for plugs.

Rhys: Should we invoice them? Yeah, we should. I'll send Greg a message. I plugged you, so pay up. I would just love a bag of bread.

Josh: It's the best sourdough I've ever Did you ever— were you ever baking or were you just behind the counter?

Rhys: They were trying to get me to bake, but I was like, I really want to be an actor. But I was tempted because it's like an actual career that's like kind of secure. Yeah. People like bread. So did you ever do a TEDx? You know, people like bread.

Josh: You're dropping truth bombs. I know, it's amazing.

Rhys: It's like I'm feeling enlightened.

Josh: You know, I feel outside of Or in LA, do people eat much bread? Are people funny about bread? In all seriousness.

Rhys: Bread is like, I think gluten-free bread or like paleo bread is really big here. You know, like it's like people constantly want to have a thing but find a way to like not have it at the same time.

Tommy: Oh, so you're saying like the paleo bread is having bread but not having bread.

Rhys: Yeah, like the fake meat, fake bread. Impossible bread. Which makes sense. I mean, I don't think bread is— Oh, Greg's going to hate me. We're going to lose our $1,300.

Tommy: Let's retract the invoice.

Rhys: I don't think bread is a healthy choice. I mean, sourdough is the best option, I would say, because of the fermentation process. It's easier for digestion, but it's like, generally speaking, I don't know how much bread we should be eating.

Josh: And so you decided that you didn't want to necessarily do that, so you moved back here. When you were in Melbourne—

Rhys: I know, I just didn't go back. Okay, so you stayed. Yeah, I just, I had a flight and I kept pushing it.

Josh: I kept moving it. So you lost the flight or do you have a credit with Qantas or something?

Rhys: No, I just pushed it to Christmas time, to the time I saw you guys.

Josh: Oh, okay.

Tommy: Yeah, that's the first time. Yeah.

Rhys: And then I came back and then I did Glitch. I acted in Glitch. That's why I was in town.

Tommy: That's right. And that's— was that you being the Irishman? Yeah. I love that. That was so good. Just a heroin addict Irishman. Was that it? Yeah. Opium. Yeah, that was a good scene.

Rhys: I think it's like one of my ancestors.

Josh: And, um, so coming, coming to LA, do you have to change the way that you live in regards to, like, were you doing share house? Were you at—

Rhys: I was living in a walk-in wardrobe. Yeah, in LA? Yeah, I was literally living in a wardrobe. Like, I lay on the floor, my feet would touch the wall, and you want a tatami mat? No, it was truly someone's wardrobe. I lived in a cupboard. I mean, it's a real rags to riches storey because I have my own room.

Tommy: Thank you very much.

Rhys: I made it.

Josh: Does it have a window? It does.

Rhys: It has two. Oh, wow. It has two windows. Yeah. So yeah, it's like, yeah, it's incredible what you can achieve here. If you just fucking have a vision board, put your mind to it.

Tommy: Get yourself a room. You get yourself a room.

Rhys: Yeah. Business in the park. I have my own wardrobe.

Josh: Oh, really? That someone else lives in. We're renting that out. From a share house experience, what is that like? Like dealing with people? I've never done it. You've never been in a share house? No. So my girlfriend, Bree and I, we've been together for 12 years. So the only share house I've ever had is an apartment with her, which feels a little bit different compared to getting along with people, having your own things, sharing things.

Tommy: I think it's pretty lucky to get to not have to move into a share house.

Rhys: Yeah. I lived, I've lived in so many places here. When I first came here, I lived with actors, actor comedians. That was really fun. They would always have— it was fun all the time, fun. But a lot of improv, uh, a lot of just a lot of— actually, they do things like script reading. Like someone would write a script and everyone would get together. Oh, that's fun.

Josh: Yeah, so it was quite creative.

Rhys: A lot of marijuana in that house, which isn't really my style.

Tommy: No, it's not. We did all of that.

Rhys: Yeah, I know. Yeah, done, been there, done that. A lot of marijuana. Um, so it smelled like marijuana a lot, which isn't really my thing.

Josh: Would they worry about the landlords, like, if you're doing it inside? Truly, I saw a fumigation tent on the house after we all moved out. Really?

Rhys: Yeah, and I was like, did we have bugs? And they're like, no, I think it's just marijuana in the walls.

Tommy: Because we've driven past a few places and think Breaking Bad, if you've seen that, where he would be cooking the meth inside of the, the house, and it looks like a circus tent. Around the house. We saw a bunch yesterday. Yeah. And so is that— is there a bug problem in Hollywood?

Rhys: I think so. I think there's a bug problem in Hollywood. There's a bug problem. I love that question so much that I don't even want to answer it. I just want it to just land and exist.

Josh: Well, look at the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes seem crazy. I've just got fleas. You see?

Tommy: Yeah. So there is a bug problem.

Rhys: You know, bed bugs are the scariest one of them all.

Tommy: Yeah. Did you have any— have you had any bed bugs? No.

Rhys: That's more of a New York thing.

Josh: Well, you didn't have a bed at the start.

Rhys: I didn't have a bed. I had wardrobe bugs. Last time you were in California.

Josh: Yeah, when I was in California, I never know if it was— I never worked out if it was bed bugs. I can show you the photos of what the bites or whatever it was. Was it 3?

Rhys: No, it was—

Josh: it almost felt— I felt like it.

Tommy: So you put it out there and someone said it is bed bugs? Yeah, it was like a—

Josh: the place that we're staying at smelt like The initial one smelt like weed, like really strong. I said, can we move? And they moved us to another one which smelt like bleach. You know those hotels? It's like either weed or bleach. Yeah. And so the— and yeah, in the bed, all of a sudden I just got like crazy amounts of rash. But I don't know whether— I don't know if it was the bed bugs. I should try and find a photo.

Tommy: Mr. 97, you just Googled something and about LA. Just then. I need some prompting. You Googled about the sensitivity of something. He was complaining, I've got itchy arm, my skin's so dry, and then next minute he's been Googling.

Rhys: No, no, on, on the weather app, Apple's weather app, it says LA sunny, 21 degrees, poor air quality for sensitive groups. It truly says that? Yeah, all year round. And I'm very sensitive, and all my friends are sensitive groups. All year round it's like bad air quality for sensitive people. I'm like, the vendor diagram. You're just right in the middle there.

Josh: What class makes you write folk songs?

Tommy: What's a sensitive group? What is that?

Josh: Is that definitely script readings involved? Yeah, totally.

Tommy: Do you get, uh, hay fever? Oh, I get hay fever.

Rhys: I get eczema around my eyes. It's really hard living here. I'm serious, the air quality is so bad. I have asthma now.

Tommy: You never had asthma?

Rhys: I know I have it here.

Josh: I have one of those puffers, Ventolin.

Rhys: Yeah, and they're like a thousand $12,000. Really? Yeah, so you're probably like $12,000. This place is nuts.

Tommy: Yesterday you texted me and said, my elbow, I've got an infected elbow. My elbow.

Rhys: I just texted you, my elbow. My elbow. Yeah, yeah.

Tommy: And you said you've got an infected elbow. And then I think I scared the shit out of you by saying, is it staph?

Rhys: You scared the shit out of me because if I get something serious here, I will just die. Yeah. I'll just have to die because the healthcare system here is bananas.

Josh: And so do you have your own insurance or no? I do through They—

Rhys: you have insurance through the, the Actors Union, but I mean, it's still really expensive. But I was using—

Tommy: they cover you for emotional damages if you— if it's not going well for actors in LA.

Rhys: That's so funny. Maybe we— that should be pitched at the next SAG Union meeting. God, that would cost them a fortune. Have you heard of the drive and cry? No. It's a thing that a lot of actors do when you've just done an audition or whatever, you got some news, or you've just existed as an actor in LA and you're just driving on the freeway and just tears, crying. Just the reality of your life. But I went to the doctor and I had this— my elbow was killing me. I thought I broke it. I thought I must have bumped something or maybe I checked a kick in kickboxing. Don't tell my mum. And then it was really, really sore. And do you— I don't remember any trauma to it. And I think I've just from even from leaning on it, I read that you can get an infection in the tissue.

Josh: So, do you have a specific GP here that you go to or what's the— how do you book it?

Rhys: I just went to some like Hollywood place and it's got like the seriously the Hollywood letters on like the doctor. Really? Like Hollywood or whatever. And so what's the doctor like?

Josh: Were they like, here's what drugs do you want?

Rhys: Yeah, and also gave me his headshots. Yeah, no, he was just like, I had 2 injections in my butt, which I've never had before. What, for your elbow? For your elbow. Antibiotics and, um, anti-inflammatory. They're like, if this gets, um, into your bones and whatever, so whether it can be very hyperbolic over here. Yeah, and they just upsell you with drugs and stuff. And then I got all these tablets and stuff and I'm like, gee whiz, I just thought it was like I bruised my elbow.

Josh: So did he say that it was in fact an infection.

Tommy: Or did you say, my friend diagnosed it as—

Rhys: No, because it was big.

Tommy: How big is it now?

Rhys: It's gone down a lot since the jab. My butt hurts from the injections. I've never had an injection in my butt. Really?

Tommy: Never? No, we got them in Elswink Primary. Don't you remember that? That was— what? Don't you remember? Maybe you'd gone by then, but we used to wait in the hall and we'd go in and stand there and get the injection. What were they for? Who knows? Who knows? I think it might have been tetanus at one point. It was right near our classroom, like the main one. Holy crap, maybe it was tetanus. Yeah, you definitely have got a tetanus shot in your life. Definitely. You have to.

Rhys: Do you find it weird that we learn about sex education from a giraffe in a van?

Josh: Yeah, that's it. Well, they also do dental, wasn't it? They do a lot of stuff.

Tommy: They teach you about everything.

Rhys: Do a lot of people know about that? Because I brought it up to some people and they have no idea what I'm talking about.

Tommy: So Harold. Harold. Harold. They had them in New Zealand when I was over there. I drove past, it looked like a Harold graveyard. There was like 20 vans of Harold.

Josh: You can see how it all comes to be. Like the government probably gives a bunch of cash to— I feel like that's a common thing in Australia. Actors can end up on the circuit of going to high schools and doing like mediaeval performances. Oh my God.

Rhys: The Ren Faire here is the most committed performances I've ever seen in my life.

Tommy: What is that?

Josh: What's Ren Faire?

Rhys: The Renaissance Faire. What is that? In Pasadena. We don't know anything. I think it's Pasadena. Well, basically it's like medieval. It's like a mediaeval fair. Yeah. And everyone is in, you know, the garb and they do like jousting and yeah, they're so committed. Like everyone is so committed to the performances. Like they live it. They really live those characters. And so you should go. When's it on? Every Saturday. I mean, I'm like, it's actually not a bad gig if you were having a hard time as an actor.

Tommy: Well, what's the opposite? What's the alternative?

Rhys: Uber. I think so.

Tommy: Actor. We met an actor who had come here obviously to pursue acting.

Josh: He was on Australian Idol. He did singing and stuff.

Tommy: Now he's done 26,000 Uber rides.

Rhys: Well, oh my God.

Josh: And he was acting for us in the car. Shivers. He was doing impersonations.

Tommy: He brought the bread business with him.

Rhys: That's what he's done. Why didn't he just stay in Australia if it was going well?

Josh: Well, he wasn't from Australia. I don't even know where he was from.

Tommy: He was on some kind of, yeah, some talent show.

Rhys: I just think go where the opportunities are. You don't have to be here. I think some people turn up, especially people who win the green card. Are you going for it?

Tommy: Are you trying to win it?

Rhys: Yeah, I would like to, but I don't know. I just think like, I think some people turn up here and they think, well, I'm in Hollywood now. So, you know, it's gonna— it's like, so it's— I mean, it's obvious, but it's the most competitive thing in the world. Yeah. But you gotta be really sure you want this and you don't have a plan B. If you have a plan B, you're gonna take it. You know what I mean? Like, don't have a plan B. Come here and live in a cupboard. How do you avoid the plan B? Um, I think you have to be crazy. I really do. I think you have to be like kind of deluded and like, it doesn't work out for many people, but it might work out for me and just like be willing to put the work in.

Josh: How do you make money not having a plan B? I don't know.

Tommy: Well, because you've got the exceptional talent visa. Uh-huh. A1, is it? O1. O1. Which means you can't work. You can't work in the bread shop down here.

Rhys: No, I can't.

Josh: I can only work at an exceptional bread shop.

Rhys: At an exceptional bread shop. No, if I was like acting for the bread shop. Yeah, yeah. Could you do it? It's like I mean, it does get interesting because you're like, what are— who then is— who governs? Yeah. Or decides what— like, if you have an artist visa, who decides what the boundaries of art is? Like, if you're, if you're here as a fine artist or like a conceptual artist, what if you were like, well, part of my exploration is to work in a bread shop? Yeah, being relatable. You know, what if that is your—

Tommy: I'm slipping into a character in the bread shop.

Rhys: I think it would be really interesting. You'd probably be deported, but like, I wonder what— how that how that works. I actually don't know.

Josh: It feels like it would be a lot of admin for them to be trying to catch everyone on an exceptional. Yeah.

Rhys: And so I never break the rules, by the way. Never, ever, ever. I don't want to risk it. I just do what I'm allowed to do.

Tommy: So Plan B, you've taken off the table. What about a timeframe? Say, yeah, for here?

Rhys: Well, time is an illusion. So yeah, that's just a bit of Buddhism. I don't know. I really don't know. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm just like, yeah, I have no idea. What do you do in a day?

Josh: Like you wake up, what time do you wake up?

Rhys: I wake up early actually. I'm an early riser. Right now I'm doing a lot of writing. I'm auditioning a lot.

Josh: Do you have Final Draft? Yeah. Legit?

Tommy: Can you only write on Final Draft?

Josh: That's how you know. Well, yeah, no, if you have, I remember I knew that I was entering into screenwriting when I bought Final Draft. And then I got over it. Yeah.

Tommy: Is there anyone else? So Final Draft, if you don't know, it looks like typewriter font. So it's just a hipster program.

Josh: Well, it's a scriptwriting program. Yeah. It's not just Korean U. That's not the only thing it does. But you can— now the great thing is you can press enter or whatever and you can get into dialogue really quickly and you can format as you go. Okay.

Tommy: So it's for the formatting. Yeah. But I mean, how many— I always just think pushback on these things of like, Why can't you just write on Word?

Josh: Or you could.

Tommy: Do you ever got mates that just like, nah, fuck that, stupid, stupid, we can work that out later? Not really.

Rhys: I guess it would be. I think I did that for a long time. But then when it was like, oh, actually I want to take this seriously, I think making those little investments and things like that is important. Yeah. You know, if you actually invest in a scriptwriting program, you might use it. It's like signing up to a gym, you know. But no. Yeah, I've done that. It doesn't work.

Josh: I've got Final Draft and my Fitness First, and they're both as good as each other.

Tommy: So proof is in the pudding.

Josh: It's not about buying the program. There's another programme called Slugline. Which you still don't use. No.

Tommy: So then in saying that, what is the thing that gets you if you wake up and you're, you know, you said you've been writing scripts, what makes you start writing?

Rhys: Um, hmm, what makes me start writing? I think that I'm like, well, because I do want to do a lot more of that, you know. I would like to, because I am, I'm not I'm not really allowed— I don't know what I'm allowed to talk about, but I have a thing coming up which you guys know about.

Tommy: Yes, yes, yes, top secret.

Rhys: Top secret. And so just tell us about that.

Tommy: So let's say you've written something and there's something happening which we can't talk about. But what I'm trying to say is you say buy the program, sure, but it's not the thing that will make you do the thing. How do you make you do the thing?

Rhys: I think you just got to put time aside to do it. You got to be like, like you're going to an office job or whatever. You have to work within this time frame, or you have to achieve a certain amount of things. I think earlier in the day is good, and then you can just like go to the gym or exercise or whatever you need to do for the rest of the day. Well, I think, I think scheduling is important to be like, I do this on this day.

Tommy: I mean, if you've been doing this shit since I can remember, probably. Yeah, I remember you in acting class in grade 5 and 6. Like, I remember you going to do this stuff. So you've built a muscle of actively doing the thing you love. And then you and your brothers, I know you've had that, you know, like the scriptwriting stuff. So you've been doing it. So there's been a muscle that's built. But there's— I could imagine a lot of people come here and think, okay, I'll buy that thing, and then they go to Starbucks, but they can't write anything. Yeah, there's nothing to write. That's true.

Rhys: I mean, you can't ever, like, you can't ever be taught how to be a I mean, you can be taught how to write technically, but it's not gonna— you're not necessarily gonna have good ideas or anything. I don't know, maybe my ideas aren't that good either, but I've always just done it. I, and I love doing it, so that's part of it. Like, I really enjoy it. I enjoy acting and I enjoy writing, so it's not so much of a chore for me. It's kind of just a pleasure. Like, I love my job, so I want to be doing more of it. I'd love to be doing more acting. It's like this really rare drug that you can hardly ever get, and then you get it and it's the best high. And so I'm totally sober, by the way. But I actually am. This is my—

Josh: this is the green juice. The green juice. Yeah. Delicious.

Tommy: We bought it for him. It'd be real Hollywood of him to rock up drinking a green smoothie.

Rhys: Thank you. Totally.

Josh: From Whole Foods. When you've written something out and it's on the screen, do you— you know, I guess it's just all words on a screen. Do you actively print stuff out and annotate on things or do you not? I do it on the computer. Yeah, just keep it digital.

Rhys: I wanted to tell you something that's completely— it's— I'm just like going rogue here. Yeah, that's right. You're talking about gym memberships? Yes. My dad signed up. Did he? Yeah, Big Bear signed up. So he signed up to a gym and I found out. I'm like, you're going to the gym? He's like, yep, going to the gym. Like, he's like, I guess turning his life around. Yeah, it turns out he's just going in the sauna and then he got treatment from my friend Michael, who's a myotherapist at the Sports and Spinal Group. Bit of a plug.

Josh: Oh, I think I may have—

Rhys: it's a great place. I've been there before.

Josh: Do they have one in Frankston? Bowie? Bo Morris? Okay. Um, I got an epidural somewhere for my, um, 2 herniated discs, and I feel like it was—

Tommy: it sounds— that sounds like something nice.

Rhys: I think you need to go to a hospital to get that.

Josh: No, it was a sports and— because I remember I was really— ability to do a Well, because I remember being like—

Tommy: to give a pregnant man a—

Josh: no, why I felt impressed, because I was like, I felt a bit sporty. I'm like, oh, you know, if it's good enough for the footy players, it's good enough for JJ.

Rhys: And so Big Bear's using the sauna, and my friend was treating him, and now he can walk downstairs.

Tommy: Wow, how bad was he?

Rhys: He had trouble doing that, and my mom was like, yeah, he had bad knee. And my mom was like, ever since he can— now that he can walk downstairs he only wears activewear and he wears like full sports outfits now.

Josh: I feel like that's the thing. You're wearing, uh, ASICS. They call them ASICS here. Yeah, which is, um, I think they're the exact same pair as, as mine, but yours is a bit newer by the, by the looks of it. When it comes to style in LA, do you feel like, is there pressure to dress a certain way?

Rhys: I like I like to dress like a kickboxing instructor from Ringwood, you know, which is kind of sportswear. Yeah, yeah, it's all functional.

Tommy: Yeah, yeah, I like— I could throw a high kick. Yeah, kick at any moment, but never you will.

Rhys: What about— he's got that out of his system in a controlled environment. Doing auditions, would you— I dress up a little. Do you? Yeah, like I, I try to lean into the character a little, but without it being like, you know, I wouldn't wear like a full like mediaeval garb, for example. You know, I think that stuff is so desperate and insane. And that's what you do with like commercial castings.

Josh: You just imagine you with like a metal hat just waiting for your audition.

Tommy: Yeah, with a sword. No, I don't think you've changed too much since I've seen you, like in terms of how you're dressing. No, I wear a lot of barbed wire now though. Yeah, yeah.

Rhys: Is that a thing? Just so people know that I'm hardcore. Um, no, I don't know.

Josh: Where do you get that from? My friend got it for me. Oh, that's cool.

Tommy: Yeah, it was a present. Yeah. Yeah.

Rhys: What was I going to say? Oh, I did have a casting the other day and I think they sent me the wrong brief because it said wear heels. And it said these women are sophisticated. I mean, I have long hair.

Tommy: And what did you do? I, uh, I just— White bitches don't belong here.

Rhys: I just wore, um, I just wore like a— it was said fancy hotel guests.

Josh: Just a wedge, wedge heel.

Rhys: No, I just, I just dressed kind of fancy, but then I got there and these guys were in like like full tuxes and stuff. And like, yeah, people really go for it. And then all the women were in like ball gowns and heels and stuff.

Tommy: Um, so you've obviously hanging around a bunch of actors. Are you having conversations about— like, I'd be wanting to understand, is there any like little tip or trick to give me an advantage? So some people might be not having conversations with their friends about wearing— going in a full tux because their mates might be like, dude, that's a bit tryhard. Yeah. Then you're not there to show them your outfit, you're there to show them your acting.

Rhys: Oh my God, you have to just— I think, oh, I don't know, they're all different. Commercial casting, it can really work for you if you go back to TVC. Yeah, that will work in your favor.

Josh: Um, so if you were going— if you were doing like a Best Buy commercial wearing like a blue polo, yeah, like if you—

Rhys: if you— they read the brief and really commit to it, they'll love that stuff.

Josh: Sure, because the client, I guess, like if you're a marketing director or whatever you could get off in seeing an actor wearing a—

Rhys: Yeah, that's what the devil loves. Yes, the devil wants to see you completely give yourself away to some evil product that makes children bald or something.

Tommy: You were, um, you were up on the big billboard. I know my mum said to me, have you seen— I know, have you seen—

Rhys: Segue into the fact that I am a sellout. Have you seen Reece's billboard?

Tommy: Yeah, for alcohol, and I don't even drink grog. 'Where'd you see him?' And he said, 'Oh, um, die.' My mom, yeah, racist.

Rhys: She got Facebook, it's a nightmare. Yeah, she—

Tommy: my mum keeps up with your everything your mum's doing, then tells me what you're—

Rhys: my mum was posting accidentally, so I think I've been hacked. I've been posting missing persons photos from 1987. I'm like, what the— yeah, so that was part of the reason, no offense, Mum, but that was part of the reason I got off Facebook, because I was like, my mom on Facebook, she signed everything off 'love, Mum.' Um, yeah, yeah, she posts all that stuff, which is so sweet, but you're on a Billboard, this—

Tommy: what happened with the Ed Sheeran thing?

Rhys: Yeah, so when I got there to the casting, they did the— all the costume stuff. Really nice Versace shirt, actually. I was trying— hoping I could forget to return it, but—

Tommy: So was it a casting for photos or a video? It was a video.

Rhys: It was an ad, and it was like— yeah, anyway, so is it on YouTube? I can't find it. Okay, um, but you can drive down Hollywood Boulevard and see my big face. It's still there? Yeah, go get a shot with it.

Tommy: Oh, we will. Yeah. Um, yeah, it's humongous.

Rhys: I had no idea. Um, and I have like a brown leather jacket over my shoulder. I'm like, anyway, when I did the thing, they showed me the storyboard, and someone had drawn this, by the way. It was like Rhys comes to the door and he looks like sheepish or embarrassed because he's late. It was truly Ed Sheeran. They drew Ed Sheeran. Like, someone took the time to draw his face and not mine, and it said Rhys arrived, and Ed Sheeran. I'm gonna post it. It was so insane. I was like, that feels really unfair. What, just because he's a redhead? Like, no one talks about this. It's true. It's just not on the agenda. But all redheads look the same. All redheads are the same. It's like, get out of here. Anyway, he's a talented redhead. He really is. I'd love to have his net worth, you know what I mean?

Josh: Anywho, um, where do you, uh, shop for groceries?

Rhys: I do this thing called Imperfect Produce. Why am I plugging so much shit? I'm like, it's right next to Sports Spinal and just next to our bakery. You can do beeps or something if you need to. I do this thing called Imperfect Produce where they go to like grocery stores and all this stuff when there's like an excess or things are like not pretty enough to sell organic produce. They sell them for cheap and they deliver a box to your door. So it's like It's like really good because you don't waste food and then you can select all the stuff. And they have great stuff. They're like coffee, everything, like fresh produce, poultry, vegetables, everything.

Josh: Is there anything that is off limits in regards to imperfect that you won't eat? Oh, like— So, something that you actually, it needs to be perfect. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. Eggs.

Rhys: I mean, what is imperfect? Eggs, definitely. Yeah. I don't need it cracking.

Josh: I mean, anything rancid.

Rhys: Yeah, sure. I hate avocados that smell perfumey, you know, those ones Oh, yeah, sure. Overripe. I cannot stand that.

Josh: So, you're gonna go perfect avocados. How much? I'll go perfect avocados. Mr. 97's been talking about this a bit, 'cause he was saying we've been going to Whole Foods a lot, specifically for dinner and stuff, like where we just get the hot food or whatever and fill up a box.

Rhys: Great. It's good. That's a cheap, healthy meal.

Tommy: Yeah, unless Mr. 97 gets it, 'cause he's been getting, he thinks, oh, it's a box, I should fill the whole box and go above the line. $24 box.

Rhys: I know, it ends up just—

Tommy: yeah, $35 dinner. We can't go to FroYo with this guy, go broke.

Josh: Yeah, you would.

Rhys: You— have you been to Erewhon?

Josh: No, what is it?

Rhys: It's like the really, really fancy supermarket.

Josh: Really? I thought Whole Foods was fancy.

Rhys: Nah, go to Erewhon. You'll spend like truly $100 on 4 items. Oh really? Just go and try the samples and get out of there because you will, you will lose all your money there.

Tommy: Wait, what streets It's around here.

Rhys: It's a West Hollywood type of thing.

Josh: Okay, do they have a lot of stores or just the one? Yeah, yeah, they got a few.

Rhys: Okay, it's like the fancy, fancy bougie, like probably good spot to see celebrities.

Josh: Okay, oh, that's good.

Rhys: Could we have people do celebrity tours? I'm like, go to Erewhon.

Josh: Yeah, but we haven't seen a celeb other than yourself.

Tommy: Yeah, I managed to see more when I was here in 2012. Great year.

Rhys: That means you have not seen a celeb, by the way. No, we have not seen any.

Tommy: Not seen any. What are they hiding? I don't know.

Rhys: I have seen a lot. Who'd you see recently? Jeff Goldblum a couple nights ago.

Tommy: Oh, you saw, um, Jonah Hill? You were chatting to him? He thought you were Ed Sheeran.

Rhys: He thought— I actually think he thought I was Ed Sheeran because, um, he said, "Hello, how are you?" and came over and I was like, there's a glitch in the matrix. I'm like, what? It was just over here. I was like, why is Jonah Hill approaching me and acting like we know each other? And he seems so nice. Maybe it's— maybe he might just be a lovely guy, but also a middle dragon, maybe.

Tommy: Seen it, but it is on Hulu.

Rhys: Yeah, I don't know though, he's like truly one of the biggest actors in the world.

Josh: But also Jonah's very big into the skating scene. You look like you could be a skater. Maybe he felt like there was some form of connection.

Rhys: Yeah, I mean, I'm 30. If you're skating it over 30, it's a little bit like, what's like, what's to hurt you?

Tommy: I don't know, I think if you start skating after 30.

Rhys: Yeah, but just never have a child with an adult who skateboards. Just kidding, I'm joking. That's me. Do you skateboard?

Tommy: Well, you already have a kid.

Rhys: But you had a kid before you got into skating? Oh, you used to skate?

Tommy: I used to skate, Elfty Bowl.

Rhys: Yeah, but do you like do tricks or do you do like a longboard?

Tommy: I've got a longboard now, but I like a long electric board. But I used to like in shit when I lived in shit.

Rhys: I think that's cool because it's like, that's you going, I'm no longer 20, I'll go on the electric one. It's sort of a smooth ride. Yeah, yeah, you know, it's like a cruise. I like comfort.

Tommy: I don't have to push too much.

Rhys: I'm gonna get the shit beaten out of me for saying that about skateboarding. Skaters are scary. We've seen a few skaters around.

Tommy: No, there's some really Good ones.

Rhys: Listen, it was a good—

Tommy: the guy, we were at Whole Foods and this guy was doing the most epic tricks. It's remarkable. Imagine if you focus your talent into— no, but skateboarding's great.

Josh: Look at Tony Hawk, he's done very well. I just saw him.

Tommy: You just really—

Rhys: that's a celebrity I saw at Netflix, but you saw him in the lobby.

Tommy: You just— it's like pointing out Tom Cruise in reference to acting. Tony Hawk's the great, like, the biggest name in skateboarding ever.

Rhys: Totally. I know, he's really clever. Um, so He's, he's the exception to the rule, you know. He is like the best 30-something skateboard rider. No, he's 48, 50, 50, 30-something. I don't know how old anyone is.

Tommy: I don't know. What's your actual guess?

Rhys: I guess he's 50. All right, I think I'm going 49, 49.

Josh: I think he's 54, maybe 52.

Tommy: 52 for me, 49 for Reece, 54 for me, 54, 51.

Josh: Wow.

Rhys: I think he's a legend and a hero. I feel bad for dissing skaters because I used to skate I feel like I'm bitter because I was always the worst in our group. No, you're so good. You know, I used to roll my ankles, I couldn't do any tricks.

Tommy: Do your ankles still click?

Rhys: Yeah, they've been fixed from boxing though. Really? From always being on my toes.

Tommy: They strengthened. Your ankles. And from wearing ASICS, I think.

Rhys: Great brand.

Tommy: And so living in LA, there's a lot of actors. How do they make money? Like, how do you make, like, unless you don't, if from the outside you could see, unless you land a big role, how do you know people are making money?

Rhys: Um, are they American or Australian?

Tommy: Aussies. Oh, so if you've got a mate on Facebook back in Australia and you're looking and they're in LA—

Rhys: I mean, if they're on a green card, they generally have, um, jobs. If they're O-1 like me, a lot of them are working as actors. Otherwise, I don't know. A lot of my friends that are here are working, or they're back in Australia working. Yeah. Um, I'm one of the idiots that's just hung around hoping that it will pick up, but it's actually been an okay year. I mean, like It's like when it gets really low, I find something comes through. Like even that Ed Sheeran thing I did, and then I was like, uh-oh, and then I did another thing.

Josh: So do you have an agent or a manager, or how does that work? I have an agent in Australia.

Rhys: I have a manager and a lawyer here.

Josh: And what does the lawyer do?

Rhys: Um, he negotiates contracts and tries to make them better for me. Okay. And yeah, it's great. I mean, yeah, it's real. I really like having a lawyer. It makes me feel secure, you know? That stuff scares me.

Tommy: I don't like— Are they pretty— is it— is the lawyer pretty hard?

Josh: Like, does your lawyer have a billboard? Because a lot of lawyers have billboards.

Rhys: No, thankfully. He's, he's really cool. They have a lot of dogs in the office, which was a good sign. Oh yeah? Yeah. I don't know, I trust people based on the way they interact with animals. Yeah. I think if like that made me feel like, okay, you're a good one.

Tommy: Mason kicked a dog yesterday.

Rhys: I kick dogs, but you can't trust me. No, I've kicked dogs in a bound over at me, you know.

Tommy: Rhys had a dragon, uh, what was it?

Rhys: Uh, I had 3 Eastern Water Dragons growing up.

Tommy: What else did you have? You had a rat named Trevor.

Rhys: Trevor, he got cancer. Yeah, rip, rip, rip, Trev. I think I wrote a rap about that. Um, he— what else did I have? I had mice which I fed to my snake. Sorry, you had a snake?

Josh: Circle of life, get used to it. Were they frozen, the mice?

Rhys: No, they were alive, pink ones, real pinkies. Oh my God, people are gonna be like tuning out now, that's disgusting. I'm a reptile guy, sorry. I know that like If reptilian shapeshifters are real, what is that? I feel like, you know, like the overlords, like the people that like run Hollywood, Illuminati, all that.

Josh: Yeah, who said—

Tommy: who, uh, Mark Zuckerberg, people say he's a— he's—

Rhys: I feel like I'm safe because of how good I've been to reptiles in my life. I feel like if they take over and kill humanity, they'll be like, he was always good to reptiles, he loved reptiles, he loved them. What is this?

Josh: I don't know, what is a reptilian shapeshifter? Shifter? Yeah.

Rhys: Um, so I've opened up the can of worms. Let me tell you, this is gonna be your most most viewed, uh, episode because I'm talking about Illuminati and reptilian shapeshifters.

Tommy: Explore— I, I feel like you've been looking into this shit. Oh, not so much.

Rhys: I mean, I just find it really funny. A lot of people believe it.

Tommy: I don't know, like the Illuminati thing where people say, um, Jay-Z's a part of the Illuminati, which I sort of—

Josh: I understand that stuff, but the idea that Mark Zuckerberg's a lizard—

Tommy: yeah, look up that Mark Zuckerberg shapeshifter.

Rhys: Mark Zuckerberg's a lizard. I mean, he kind of looks like a lizard. Yeah. Yeah. But is he going to shut this down because I said that?

Josh: Yeah, potentially. We diversify. We go on all platforms just to make sure.

Tommy: Right. Just marks on it.

Josh: When you used to go for holidays in LA, what would you do?

Rhys: Where do I go? Yeah. I go to Palm Springs or I go to Ojai or I go— I like to go to Topanga Beach and have a swim. Oh yeah. You know, just to freshen up.

Josh: But what about when you were— when before you moved here, when you would actually go to LA, what were the things that you would do that you now potentially as someone who lives here, you cringe at? What is the touristy things that we all fall into?

Rhys: I mean, this place kind of is a bit of a theme park in some ways. Sure. I would never ride a bus here, ever.

Josh: Cool. What else? Are you talking public transport bus, or you're talking about the red bus, like the buses? Buses. Okay. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't.

Rhys: I would always have a car. A lot of people don't get cars, and I'm like, what are you doing? Sure. I guess with Uber and Lyft it's easy, but Do you avoid weather chat with locals?

Tommy: Because it's cool. It's— yeah, as in like, fuck, how good is this weather?

Rhys: The good thing is it doesn't come up much. Yeah, it only comes up if there's like a cloud, and I'm like, thank God. But a lot of people like the— they call it June gloom here. You get this gloom in the early morning, like just cloudy. I really like it because it's cool.

Josh: It's like June, but June is summer. I know, it's weird.

Rhys: This place is weird, man. I think it's a simulation run by the lizards and the Illuminati. It really fucking is.

Tommy: American feels like a simulation.

Rhys: It does. It's the same day every day, like reload the program, every day.

Tommy: And then all the Teslas on the road, the technology, it's just the weird, the weird people. It is so weird here.

Rhys: No doubt it is the weirdest place. I can't believe it's real sometimes.

Josh: Is it— does it feel lonely?

Rhys: Um, yeah, of course. I mean, I miss Australia a lot. I wish that— I definitely miss my family and my friends and my history, but I just need to be here right now. Like, you talked about time frame. I don't know how long I'll be here, but I feel like I need to right now while I'm like still have an opportunity to do something with my career out here and I've got some cool things happening here. I don't know, like I don't know where I'm going to end up. I would love to live in Melbourne. It's so beautiful. And like getting off the plane and walking around Melbourne, like the air is fresh, it's calm.

Josh: Yeah. So if you were to just have a bucketload of cash and you could do whatever. Yeah. Living in LA or Melbourne, like what's it— we talk about the perfect day. And if, you know, money wasn't a worry, what we would do, what would you do, where would you live, what would you be doing? Give us a blow-by-blow, how would your day go?

Rhys: Far out, because I do love LA. I would like to be between here and Melbourne for sure, although curveball, okay, wouldn't mind living in the South of France.

Josh: Oh really? Baseball reference, you are American. Curveball. Yeah, yeah, I'm with you. Yeah, you got it. I go for the LA Dodgers.

Rhys: Yeah, because I live in LA. I don't really know much about baseball.

Josh: And so South of France, have you spent time there?

Rhys: Yeah, I went there once when I was 19, but I was like, this is truly the most stunning place I've ever seen in my life. Yeah, I would— I could see myself dying there. Sort of a good place to die. Old age or whatever. Yeah. In the water.

Tommy: Whenever it's happening, just there. If you were, it's gonna happen there.

Rhys: It's like the closest thing to probably heaven on earth.

Tommy: Yeah.

Josh: So, and so in LA, what is the lifestyle if you were to do anything that you could do?

Rhys: I would probably get those like IV drips every day that I mentioned earlier. Would you really? Okay. Blast yourself with those healthy drugs.

Tommy: Okay, so I said we should do one from one of those IV places. Yeah, yeah, you want to do a show? Do you know somebody?

Rhys: Well, there's, there's one called Drip Doctor that, um, I was going to go to.

Tommy: Yeah, but so, and Mr. 97, he said, oh no, why I'm doing that? Next minute he's out getting smashed at a nightclub drinking.

Rhys: Oh yeah, you could. They get—

Tommy: they have a hangover one. Nobody's pushback was on the whole IV thing, and I'm saying whether it's safe or whatever, but maybe talk about simulation.

Josh: It feels like the ultimate programming and simulation. Okay, give us— give us—

Rhys: I love that you can do anything here in a way. And so it's amazing. Like, if you want to smoke marijuana, you're— you can. You want to eat, uh, I love CBD. I like CBD, you know, like without the THC, so I don't go nuts and climb a tree or something. Does it make you feel any different? Yeah, it makes you feel relaxed.

Josh: And like, what's the cost in some gummies?

Rhys: Depends on which ones you get. I got a pack for $10 the other day. I ate all of them in 2 days. Really? I was sleeping like an angel.

Josh: And so do you have them before bed?

Rhys: Bed? I was actually having them first thing in the morning with coffee. I was like, I want to see if I can like, you know, get a nice middle ground.

Josh: Just drop it into your coffee so you can actually physically feel something.

Tommy: You can.

Rhys: You got to take them for a while though, to build up in your system, start to work. CBD is awesome. Yeah. And I think it will be legal in Australia soon because it has a huge amount of benefits for the human body.

Tommy: I mean, it's stopping young children's seizures. Yeah. Like there's Brendan Schaub, you know, Brendan Schaub, the fighter, and the kid— his kid was having seizures and that was the only thing that stopped them. It's pretty amazing.

Rhys: And having kids not high, they're just taking drops of— yeah, something that we just haven't explored it enough because of all the laws around.

Tommy: What about the, like, the Trump stuff? Like, you've been here for a while. Trump? I mean, just seeing this, this place is— I mean, Hollywood's quite progressive. They're very much against— they're not a Trump voting state. California's not a Trump voting state, would you say? No, it's not. What's the noise? Is there much noise around the election stuff coming up?

Rhys: Yeah, they're all— California's Democratic Democrat. I mean, like, very much like left. So yeah, they're not really a big fan of Trump. Yeah. Anyway, Californians don't really like Trump generally. I mean, there would be some, but generally speaking, yeah.

Tommy: Do you think it's like— I was thinking about what's noisy back home or what we consume and what the people on the ground here consume. Like, we saw these— like Melbourne.

Rhys: Yeah, it kind of has the same feeling as Melbourne, you know.

Josh: Do you, uh, watch much TV? Yeah, I watch the news. Like, do you watch the local news? Not really. I think it's a 5 News, like— no, not really.

Rhys: I don't really. We don't have like free-to-air. Yeah.

Josh: You know, why does some stuff— because what I was noticing, we went to Santa Monica Boulevard, there was the big parade on for Halloween. Uh-huh. That was sick. And we had our camera out and the amount of people that were coming up to us taking photos, it sort of blew our mind because we're here in Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood, films, TV, all that sort of thing. Tinseltown. But it felt like people had more of a punter mentality than they would would in Australia in regards to just interest factor. Yeah, over a like fairly small camera. Oh, yeah. So like, what's the difference?

Tommy: Did you see the photo of us in our Halloween costumes? No. Oh, so we're standing, it's like we set up right in the middle of the parade. And so yeah, it was a good position, but everyone was walking past.

Josh: They were taking heaps of people were taking photos because they're like, they're like, oh, we might have spotted someone.

Rhys: The thing is everyone here is like, oh my God, you know, they don't know know, and they kind of just are enthusiastic and like, so that could be something important, I have a photo of it, I don't know what it is.

Josh: So is that people that aren't in the industry?

Rhys: I would say so. I think people in the industry just play it real cool, they don't care, they don't know who anyone is, you know. I mean, I made a huge mistake. Did you? What? Whatever. You know Brie Larson? I don't know anyone. She's Captain Marvel. Okay. Oh yeah, yeah, 97 knows. Yeah, yeah. I— we were she's friends with some mutual friends. She was being so funny. We were all having like dinner and stuff. She was being so funny. And I said to her, are you a comedian? She was like, no, I'm not a comedian. I was like, you should do comedy. She's like, kind of don't like it. Anyway, we're just going back and forth. She told a storey and she was like really acting it out. And I was like, you know, you really should consider becoming an actor. She won an Oscar in the past. And I was like, well, she took my advice. It's gone really well. She's now Captain Marvel. I'm like, I can pick them. It was so embarrassing, but I think it made her like me more because she knew I was talking to her genuinely because I thought she was funny. And we spoke about kickboxing because she does like combat sports, and she's like, I should come to your gym and do kickboxing. I was like, absolutely, grab my number from someone. Yeah, idiot. It's like the biggest actress in the world.

Josh: And so what did, um, did your mates call you out, or did she say something?

Rhys: Did you seriously— she was there with her husband. It wasn't like I wasn't thinking, yeah, you know, we're just all chatting, and she was like, My friend was like, did you seriously tell Brie Larson to become an actor? I was like, yeah, I think she'd be really good at it. I mean, what's the— I was right though. I'm like, at least my intuition is correct. Yeah, no, you're spot on. I can pick who's going to be talented and she's so— she won an Oscar in the past.

Josh: Finding relationships and stuff in LA? I'm dating an Australian. Okay, so what about friendship circle?

Tommy: Because we've had pretty tight friendship circles back in Melbourne.

Rhys: Yeah, I do miss that so much. You have no idea. I have to like push it down, push it down, push it down. Just talk to my therapist about it.

Tommy: Have you got a therapist?

Rhys: Yeah, of course. I live in LA.

Josh: What sort of therapist is it?

Rhys: I talk to an Australian. Australian? Yeah, I can't name the person.

Josh: Okay, but what is it? No, it's an Australian.

Rhys: You can give them a plug.

Tommy: If anything, they help you. No.

Josh: Oh, you don't want—

Tommy: He doesn't want people having his therapist.

Rhys: No, of course not.

Josh: I'm not going to share a therapist. Why not? No, I don't want to.

Rhys: This is going to come up in therapy. I've only just started, but it's really helpful because what do you, you know, I do, I do, I can't, this is like, anyway, I do have this battle with like wanting to be in Australia and wanting to be here. This, I don't know, it's an interesting thing. So a lot of things in my life are Australian and like for that reason, you know, I do really miss my friends back home and I miss the history. I miss my family. And it's an interesting thing and I kind of just deny it. I'm like, that's over there. I'm not going to acknowledge it. But yeah, I feel it's a, it's a, you know, there is a real sense of isolation being out here and just wanting to do acting and this stuff and be in this industry. And it's all you think about. Did you ask the therapist?

Josh: Like, part of me would be wanting to be like, why is a therapist? Why is an Aussie? What's an Aussie therapist doing in Los Angeles?

Rhys: No, I Skype him. Oh, really?

Tommy: Oh, back home. Yeah. Okay.

Rhys: I wanted to talk to an Australian because I was like, you'll understand me.

Josh: Yeah. Is the Skype connection good?

Rhys: Sometimes it drops out.

Tommy: Use FaceTime. It'll be much, much cleaner. Yeah.

Rhys: And so, uh, therapy's cool, by the way, and I think everyone should do it.

Josh: And therapy— have you done therapy in person versus virtually? And is there a bit of a difference? You've only done Skype? I'm very new to it.

Rhys: I think everyone should do it, especially men. Yeah. Men should talk about their feelings more. This is why there's so much much men are not happy, you know, they don't talk about it. They're just like, that's toxic masculinity, is not talking about what you're actually feeling. Go and do it, go connect with someone, and it's okay to be sensitive.

Tommy: And what's the point that got you to actually— 5 minutes doing it? So Americans love therapy, it's like you said.

Rhys: I think it was just like, you know, if I'm gonna continue to have this career that is all about, um, being accepted by other people, yeah, you know, I should probably arm myself with some tools, like some tools to deal with the amount of rejection and the isolation, all these things you feel. So it's just about like being stable in myself so that I can continue to battle for these things.

Josh: What's the—

Rhys: and not destroy myself in the process.

Josh: What's the feeling the day before the therapist versus the day after the therapist?

Rhys: I guess anxious and then feeling like a sense of peace because you have some tools to manage those things, you know.

Josh: And then does it like build up? Does it become this thing of like, okay, So if it's fortnightly or whatever, sort of like the pressure then builds up and then you haven't do it again and then it's not so much.

Rhys: I think for me it's more like working out skills, like going to a gym and working on a thing. Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to just be very practical with it.

Josh: That makes sense. We've done improv a few times on the podcast where we create a bit of a scene and we all, we all act and perform.

Rhys: And given that you are an actor, this is so weird because this is a game that me and my housemates do. Really? We do really menial task. Glenn Robbins invented it. Menial tasks like walk across the room, sit in a chair, make it look natural. You have no motivation other than that's the chair you want to sit in, and it's fucking impossible. What do I do with my arms? Like, how do I walk?

Tommy: I remember you showed me this guy years ago who walked like left arm goes with his left leg. Yes, yes, who's that guy in the backyard that used to just walk up and down? Oh my God, that was a video 15 years ago.

Rhys: Oh, that guy, and he used to make pillows out of dog hair. Yeah, isn't it? So that's your therapist? Yeah, that's him. He's helping me a lot.

Tommy: So how about you run the scene? You tell us what's up.

Josh: We don't want to have to move around.

Tommy: I mean, I can stand up.

Rhys: Do you want to do dialogue or just action?

Josh: Dialogue, mainly dialogue. You know what's so funny?

Rhys: I was playing this game with my girlfriend last night and she— the task was to walk across the room, sit in a chair, and she truly fell over. It was like, and fell and like stomped into the room and fell into this rocking chair. It was like, it's quite hard doing the simple tasks.

Josh: So fun. I want that to be when I get home, I'm gonna tell my girlfriend Bree, I'm like, we're doing our improv Saturday night.

Rhys: It's really fun. Yeah, it's a fun thing to do. Okay, what's the thing gonna be? Okay, I feel like, um, Tommy has to come in and tell Josh he no longer wants to do the podcast with Josh. Yeah, and he thinks Mr. 97 and you should swap. Okay, sure, should swap jobs. And then you have to do it.

Josh: So you're starting the podcast, doing the podcast with—

Rhys: you're starting a new one with Mason, you're doing the nightly talk show because you think it'll play better.

Josh: So I guess part Part of it is, so I'm not being replaced. Tommy's decided that he's starting a new podcast. I think that's better. But maybe he's pretending. Yeah. Okay, great.

Tommy: And so you got to come into it somehow. So who are you? I'm the guest.

Rhys: You're Luca. I'm Luca, Luca, my character Luca. Fantastic. I got this character called Luca. He's from Sydney. I love this Hollywood. I love it. What do you love about it? I just saw the shops. So cool. Yeah, Brooke's just in the shower. When Brooke's ready, we'll go. Okay.

Josh: So wait, what am I doing? So Luca—

Rhys: I'm not Luca. Yes, you're Luca.

Tommy: Yeah, yeah. I'm interviewing Luca. Okay. And so this is— So yeah, all right, just go.

Rhys: Just play. Don't overthink it because it's gonna be shit anyway.

Josh: Mate, don't. He'll never overthink anything. Um, why are you being so weird? I've got something to tell you Yeah, do you want to do it after we've spoken to Luca? Oh, I'm good.

Rhys: Yeah, you just go. No worries. Okay.

Tommy: I'm happy to wait. So yeah, I've been thinking about it heaps and, you know, I don't think a lot. I try not to. So I'm thinking I'm going to stop doing the daily talk show. Yeah. So I want to take it in a different direction.

Josh: Why are you telling me you now?

Tommy: Because I think this is going to be our last interview with Luca. Oh, I feel honored.

Rhys: That's fantastic. Yeah, good. Yeah, it's true.

Josh: I mean, I can't tell if you're taking the piss or not. No, no, I'm serious. It seems like you're taking the piss.

Tommy: No, I know, but I— so I'm going to— oh, this is the last one and I'm starting a new podcast.

Josh: Okay, that does seem like a joke.

Tommy: No, no, I'm doing the nightly talk show The night talk show. Yeah, I just think, I just think it opens me up to new guests and new format.

Rhys: More sophisticated. Yeah. Nighttime.

Josh: So what happens with the business and everything?

Tommy: I'll start a new one. And Mr. 97, he's actually, I've spoken to him. He's coming with me.

Josh: Have you really been speaking with him?

Rhys: Yeah. I mean, that was the plan. I could do your socials. Socials. I could do social media.

Josh: Yeah, I feel like Luca's involved in some way.

Rhys: Yeah, I might do the socials.

Tommy: Look, uh, we'll talk about that, but Mr. 97 and I are actually going to be hosting the, the nightly talk show. All right. And this is— it's— I'm not joking.

Josh: I still do the daily talk show.

Tommy: Well, I won't be with, with it, so it won't really mean anything.

Rhys: I don't know legally if you can, um, tied up with the business. So what do you think, Luca? I mean, I'm just excited to be on the show. Final show, it's gonna be so sick. It doesn't really matter, okay, you know, you've got stuff going on.

Josh: Should we start the show then?

Tommy: Yeah, okay, last one. This is the last Daily Talk Show.

Josh: It's a Daily Talk Show, our last ever episode.

Rhys: We got Luca. Oh, I love it so much here in LA, it's so fantastic. Reminds me so much of Sydney. I love Sydney. Um, yeah, I wish you like— the beaches aren't as good here. Yeah, but, um, Other than that, it's sick. I could live here. Yeah.

Tommy: How long are you here for?

Rhys: I'm just going to stay. Yeah. Just play it by ear. Yeah.

Josh: It's been a strange day. Did you want to talk about it or?

Rhys: Strange day?

Josh: Do we end scene or how long does it go for?

Rhys: Cut. Cut. Good work, guys. What'd you think? I thought it was really sad. It was quite good. I didn't really. I was like, I shouldn't be here. I think it was good. You did a good job. It was so depressing. It was so sad.

Tommy: Yeah, I like Lucas' support. It's all going to be good.

Josh: The problem with jokes is—

Rhys: I had to pick it up a bit because the energy was getting so gloomy. I was like, oh my gosh.

Josh: Well, there's also— I think there's like a Russian saying around like within jokes, like it's 50/50, 50% like funny, 50% real. I can't believe Russians say that.

Rhys: Seems more like— Ah, 70/30. It was like depression, 30% hope.

Josh: No, but yeah, no, it did feel pretty real. It felt good.

Rhys: I like that. I think like comedy's in the tragedy.

Josh: Did I talk too much? I was worried that I heard something.

Rhys: No, I think that if that was a real scenario, you would probably talk more.

Josh: Yeah. And that was what I was thinking. I was listening to Rainn Wilson, his memoir, and he was talking about one of the actors and she said basically, said practically nothing through this improv scene, and it was just all facial expressions, and he was saying how good she was because improv people tend to over-talk. They think that they need to be adding, adding.

Rhys: I think that's a matter of just listening, and then you'll respond appropriately. You know, I think in a scenario like this you would probably try and reason a lot because you're business. Well, yeah, that would be quite pathetic if you just shut down and like, get in. Therapy, mate. Stand up for yourself.

Tommy: Yeah, all right.

Rhys: Love you, love you, love you guys, love you. I know we've just met.

Josh: It's a Daily Talk Show. Do you listen to any podcasts? Any recommendations?

Rhys: Only the Daily Talk Show. Truly, it's my favorite.

Josh: Reminds me of home. And favourite bakery? Alwood Bakery.

Tommy: Favorite, uh, Ossio. Well, we don't need to plug all them.

Rhys: Let's just plug the Daily Talk Show. You should have brought me a sweater. Yeah, yeah, give him yours.

Josh: It's too hot for sweaters anyway, to be honest.

Rhys: It's winter.

Tommy: I know, but it's 27 degrees. It's 31 on Friday.

Josh: Yeah, I'm boiling. It's ridiculous. It's a daily talk show. If you've enjoyed the show, screen grab it. Uh, Reece's Drip Coffee on Instagram.

Tommy: Anyone offered you more money for that?

Rhys: I got, um, someone the other day hit me up again. I said 50 grand, he said $50. I was like, get out of here. I told him his business would not be a success.

Tommy: He doesn't know an opportunity when he said, "Bitch, I'm Ed Sheeran." I'm Ed Sheeran, bitch.

Josh: Today's talk show. See you tomorrow, guys. See ya.

Rhys: Ciao for now. See you on the beach.