How you doing out there? It's me Tigger Am Dark Wayne Duck. It's
me Bunker Step Bapcat. All right, y'all, did it rate your favorite
firefly? You design the old knock gut. My name is Jim Cummings and
welcome to tune in. All right, Well we're here, everybody. We're
here back tuned in with Jim Cummings, and today we have David Ramsey.
Was give it up? What's going on? You know him as John Diggle
from The Arrow Versus the Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, what else? Everything,
the whole universe, the whole Arrow vers Arrow verse stuff. Yeah,
there you go. Yeah, that was me. Yeah, that life is
good. I was an old g triple og on on Arrow. I was
from the very beginning. Damn. Do you know that I was number I
think number five or six on the call sheet? No way, yeah,
man, we all we all took him. I don't know if Steven did,
but I think I think with me, I never seven. Yeah.
He he was the guy I played earl Oh yeah, oh yeah that guy,
some white guy. Yeah, some white dude, white dude that was
ripped, just cut dude. It was funny too, because it was like
I found out how to play the bodyguard. And I'm like, I'm playing
that white boy bodyguard. Yeah yeah, he was shredded weak oh in twenty
twelve shredded and I was like, okay, I gotta get on that workout
plane. Oh boy tis no, no, you know what tips because well
I wanted to get I didn't want to get that thing. I wanted to
get just big. I wanted to get like a big bodyguard. Yeah yeah,
yeah, I know that meal plan. Yeah yeah, I do too.
Unfortunately it's me, It's just Tubby. You know, nobody's I'm not
guarding anybody's body. I can't even guard mine. So you're good. Oh
man, Yeah that and that uh that was twenty twelve. I was number
five call sheep Man and it was it was really the fans. It just
fell in love with the show and just yeah built me up. Yeah.
Well I'm I'm I'm especially excited for this podcast because you know, I worked
with you. You know, I was a PA for two years on Arrow
six and seven, and now I look at you, now I'm a little
bit higher for PA. It's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing.
No, but like you really connected with me and like it was cool for
me because I was just a PA, you know, and like you were
like one of the few cast members who actually like took time out of your
day to like check on us and like conversate with us, and you know,
like that meant so much to me, you know, it really did.
Like, yeah, it was you know how it is. It's so
easy to be like invisible as a PA on set, you know, so
it felt like really special and like you would take the time out and like
it felt like you really cared. Maybe you're just a phenomenal actor, but
no, bro, you know, I mean I was. You know,
my my pops A was a layman preacher, and it was it was always
about like just kind of like even though even though they were very we grew
up in Detroit seventies eighties, and so it was it was a tough,
tough, tough city, right, So as as astective, you know,
it's on the rebound, it's on the rebound. But as tough as it
was, they were also very warm people and told me to always be warm,
never forget. Yeah, So that's just been part of the of the
culture I was brought up in that was a preacher, a layman preacher didn't
have a church home church and appreciate. Yeah, yeah, that's nice.
Yeah man, Yeah, but that brings me back. I know it well,
I know it well, you know, you know that whole that whole
feeling, you know, Oscar Dyke's dad. It was kind of like that
around around the corner. Yeah. And uh when I was born and raised
young Stein, Ohio, lower east side, lower east side, and uh,
and we had a church and it was one of my favorite memories as
a little kid. They tried to class it up and it was just it
was stucco on the on the wall right next to it. So they painted
it white and then painted bricks on it, you know, and it was
it was the first psychedelic thing I ever saw. And I was like six,
you know. And uh, and we would go and I used to
sit on One of my favorite things was to crawl out on on the roof
when I was a little free and four, I mean young and uh and
the little Baptist church over here, but one of the church church it was
kind of like the basement of whatever I forget what was above, but uh,
you know, the reverend I can't remember his name. With a gun
in my head. But he would go and everybody would go in. You
know, we were the only white people in the neighborhood, and they would
everybody would go in. They were all spiffy and all looking good and everything,
and everybody come out all sweating and with the fan, yes, fan,
and the program doing the fan. Yeah, that's what they're do.
And I thought, man, that's cool stuff. Yeah man, you know,
yeah, you learned. Yeah, just it was. It was cool
upbringing just yes, yes, you know, just opposed kind of raised up
like that and then kind of just opposed against the backdrop of Detroit at the
time, which was, uh, you know, hip hop was doing his
thing and just what was happening in the city and it was still coming out
of just what the what what White flight and the Riots did and that's oh
yeah, six and fifties. So it was a tough place, man,
but you know, I love it. I always go back. Yeah every
year. Mom's still there. Dad left in twenty fourteen, but mom,
brothers, sisters, everybody's still there. Man's just it's nice, you know,
yeah, yeah, awesome people. City is just fantactic, is growing
again. So it's just great. Man. Knock on one I know,
well that that's how Youngstown was. I mean, Youngstown was like little Detroit,
you know, And and it was because we had steel mills, y'all
had cars. Yeah, and it was you know, the cars started driving
away and the steel mills drove away and they still are gone, and young
Stown just sitting there being sad. I'm sorry, but it's bouncing back anyway.
But yeah, so yeah, Youngstown, Ohio. Yeah, I used
to be down Ohio. Get down to Sandusky. Oh yeah, see the
point point, Yeah, don't sleep. Yeah. We were just talking about
everybody and they'd like six flags by now you still better than he's an honorary
communist, I think so. Yeah, No, I see the point is
bad ass. I loved it. It was great. My son is twelve,
and I'm like, we're gonna go back there to Detroit, driver everybody
down to see the point to show you what a real roller coaster. Sandusky.
Yes, I think they have like eight yeah, eight of them,
and they had the record for a while. They had like the highest or
fastest for a while. Yes, And it was just like, well it
always goes back and forth between Magic Mountain and Cedar Point for who has the
most rolls in the world, really in the world. Yeah, it's a
bit of trivia. Yeah, yep, yep, yeah, yeah, so
they're always duking it. I think six Flags is one right ahead of them,
right, so we can't sleep with six Flags either, you can't sleep.
No, no, you gotta get one of those vomit bags from the
airline to bring it with you justin oh man. Yeah yeah, yeah,
well that's good times though. Well, something I wanted to bring up just
I'm looking, you know here at your your career and what really took me
back was you played Muhammad Ali in a movie. Yeah, yeah, that
was back that was two thousand and one or so. Okay, Ali obviously
the big Ali Ali you think about his his obviously Wills and Michael mans that's
as well you should but me and and Terence and again back to the movies
of the week, because that was the bread and bug back in you know,
literally two thousands and late nineties. It was just like even I mean
went really well before that. They were all over the place. So there
was a movie of the week for ABC, ye of my Hmlali's Life,
and a movie of the Week of Ali's Life for Fox. Terrence Howard did
the one for ABC, and I did the one for Fox, and obviously
Will did Michael Mans and went to Africa. Cool where No kidding, I
did not go to Africa. I was joking. Damn, well, you
know, but here's what's funny. I did another movie in Africa when Will
was shooting that movie, which was an interesting thing. Yep, but that's
another story. So no, we shot it here. We shot we shot
Ali here and came out I think two thousand and two thousand and one,
one of them. And it was Ali the American hero was nice. It
was it was I thought it was decently done, yea, and but he
just you know, Michael Man, Will Smith, what are you gonna do?
That's you couldn't Yeah, couldn't challenge and and you know when you when
I look at what Will it's funny too because I met I met uh.
I met Will at a party when he was training. We're both training and
just big, yeah, he got big, sexy, just just just got
at Lea's bone structure and big. And I was like, yeah, well
you know what, he got the hair, he got the hair, he
got the hair right, he got the hair right, he did. I
was like, I'm playing at Thomas Hearns. He playing Mummad. He was
big, he was a big boy. Yeah. Well if he hadn't seen
his shadow, you go, oh, hell, I know who that is.
You know that was true? Yeah, he was. That was cool.
You're right. He did get the hair, he got the whole thing.
Man, he did it. He did it. Yeah. Terrence Howard
playing Muhammad, interesting take, yeah, interesting take. Yeah. So we
we both had MW's and Will had the big feature that was long. You
brought it back when I was like I was over twenty years ago. Well,
Jim's a big boxing fan, so I wanted to bring up kind of
oh you're fighting background boxing and yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah boomboo man Sen he's a buddy. Man Dunstown, Ohio was a
big as you know. Oh god, yeah, look at that telling me
the hit Man, hit Man Man Hearns, oh special delivery. Speaking of
speaking of hit Man, hit hit Girl, I think that was a cartoon,
wasn't it, hit Girl? Yeah? I think it was. When
did you start When did you start doing vos via mid eighties the mid eighties
for you, Yeah, yeah, the mid eighties. It was the first
one I ever did was Dumb Disney Disney Channel Dumbo Circus and it was on
Disney Channel. Disney Channel was like they had like eight shows, yeah you
know, and uh one of them was Welcome to Pooh Corner, which I
was not in. And and then they then they kind of kept branching out
and and I just it was the first audition I ever had, and I
lucked out. I got the job. So I was like, Okay,
you know, I'll just quit my job. And I was making like eight
hundred bucks a week doing that for four hours. And I was making four
hundred bucks a week doing it for fifty hours, you know, working at
the video store. So I went, so I did my math. Being
the genius I have, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do so.
So yeah, now I get to hang out with you. You did you
worked at a video store? Oh yeah, I worked at a video store
too. Oh man. That was kind of the thing, you know,
the video stores. Don't mean, I don't know how Blockbuster did it because
it was the porn section that made the money. Oh that could be.
I wouldn't know anything about that. No, it was it was twenty twenty
video they're now defunct. I meant video stores isn't defunct at this point.
Yeah, yeah, that's right, but yeah it was. That was the
section that all the other stuff. You're like, how does that's how they
kept we kept the door. Well I can. I can remember like like,
you know, a guy would come in with his family and you know,
during the day, and you know they'd be renting you know, like
Raiders of the Lost Arc or some g raiding you know, something like that
little sofa for dad'd be back in an hour later. I'm gonna go over
here and I'm gonna give me one knew would not come back. Don't tell
the kids, and I go, oh, get out here going, you
know. I was like, okay, okay, because they had some not
much, but yeah, and now they're all gone. Now it's like,
uh, you know, sentimental journey time. Yeah. And the adult section
would always be like in like a curtained off little back corner. Yeah,
oh yeah, go through. That was what you had because I remember I
was never allowed in there. I was always like, what's there? Looked
at the curtain right on, Yeah, what is that? There ain't no
attention to the man behind the look that the way there's nothing to see here.
Yeah, yeah, okay, baby something. So how long have you
been doing cons because that's like a whole new critter, Well not new,
definitely not new, but it's a new avenue from from an offshoot, right,
because you you did this, you would Vodacious and this, this,
this and this, and then they go off the air, you know,
not a production anymore. Now you're sitting there looking at reruns and I look
at this as kind of like post reruns, you know. I mean,
it's a new avenue. Yeah, yeah, it's a it's a new avenue,
and it's I don't know, man, But now it's like does it
do these things ever really go out of star? Right? I mean?
Is the audiences we did this? We did a we're here and in mont
Creol and just did a convention obviously, and uh, me and Stephen we're
we're we had a panel, right, and we're behind stage and MC goals
out there and he's like, you know, these two guys, blah blah
blah, and just let him here at David Rams Stephen, and it sounds
like there were twenty thousand people out there, but we just we just looked
at each other, like what we went out there and there was damn near
twenty thousand people out there, right, I mean it's not that big,
it was packed, and it was just like, folks are We're still at
this point still saying wow, you know. I mean, obviously it feels
you with a lot of gratitude, but also there's just the wow factor of
people are still on it, people still want to see They're just still part
of the fandom. Yeah. So before Arrow, there was a show I
did called dext and Dexter Dexter, Oh remember that, and and they they
began doing the I had an opportunity to go with them, but I was
I was a guest star on that show we did. I did a couple
of seasons. That's cool, So I didn't really it was a good show.
It was a great show. It was a great show, really good
and master acting class. Working with Michaels Hall just watching him was like just
forget about it. And they went out once and then Arrow came and it
just changed everything. It just changed everything. Yeah, absolutely, So I
started probably in twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, a couple of years, probably
twenty fourteen. The show was on the air for a couple of years,
and I started, yeah, yeah, yeah, but that's when it started
to click. That's when it started to click. Yeah. And I wasn't,
you know, just I didn't you know, I thought it was just
folks and Star Trek that did it. M oh yeah, you know.
I mean I didn't really have much of a niu who did cons And I
was like, oh you don't. It's getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
Yeah. I was so stupid. The first one I did, I didn't
bring any pictures. I didn't bring it. We'd like to invite you to
the convention. And I said, huh, what is that again? Now,
well, you know, folks come here and they do this and then
they like your stuff and you know, and and you can buy comic books
now. But oh hell yeah, okay, now you're seeing now I can.
I'll be there, you know. And and I realized that and there
was like a million people there. And the reason there was a million people
there was because I wasn't charging ten cents for nothing. And that lasted one
con. Yeah wait, I could sell it. Oh oh oh, we're
getting some pictures. We're getting you know, So I don't know, you
know, it was it was kind of a not route awakening, but it
was a shock because it was like a whole new area, an old new
I don't know, revenue stream not to be crass about it, but well
nothing it is, but but it is it is vs. What it am.
So you know, I'll take it right. Yeah, And I guess
let me talk about revenue streams. I guess we should really be thinking about
that that now with the strike. Yes, we're stricken right now. Now
does that affect Yeah, that affects? How does that affect veal? Well,
apparently according to the guys, I'm only doing a show right now,
and it's a Mickey Mouse funhouse. Uh. And I'm Pete will do you
go buddy? You know, the big cat who always beats up everybody or
tries to And you know, I think we're kind of on the sidelines here.
We're in the gray area. But my my thing is I don't want
to step on anybody's toes because all this weird stuff and it's all the AI.
I would you know, I'm not even qualified to speak about it,
to be honest with you, because you know I had a brush with that
years ago when when I did of all things, we were talking about earlier.
It was a it was a doll, and it was a very highly
articulated doll. And his eyebrows moved, and his nose and his mouth and
he kind of arms went a little bit like this, and he spoke to
you and he told stories. It was winning the Pooh. And uh,
I had to say every name, and I mean every name, like twenty
six thirty thousand names, and it took, yeah, and it took forever,
and and it was it was definitely artificial intelligence, because I was artificially
intelligent and uh and and so we're going on and we go through all the
names. For some reason, we were in the d's and the esses forever
Dushooki du show me Dashah Shah and then Taka Chazuni Shenzi. You know,
poo is just sitting there talking away because and it would be well I went
down to the river to see my friend Sheboygan and you know, and they
would put the name in it, and it was just and we were there
forever in a day, and it was kind of artificial intelligence, which is
what we're doing now and Brave New World man. And it's I mean,
it's the specifics of it. I think we're gonna get into as SAG members
just what it all means. But it's just I think I heard Whitney Houston
sing a tupucs long the other day. WHOA and she and they're both gone
and she is not doing it live. Yeah, that's right or anything else
live. It's it's wow, aim and and I'm exaggerated. It was Whitney
Houston. I don't don't think it was a tupacs long, but it was
some It was some song that they that she was that they auto officially programmed
her voice to cover it, and it was Whitney Houston. You understand it
like it was Whitney Houston. It was like wow. And my son,
this was last year. My son told me, speaking of hip hop.
My son asked me, what if I was writing a rap song whatever,
what would it be? And I was like, I don't know. He
was like, just just tell me what. I was like, It'll be
about how I grew up in Detroit whatever. He said, great, how
you went to school there? And I was like, yeah, oh he
put that in too mixed maaster. It made like four different paragraphs to a
beat. A hip hop song. That's insane. That was last year.
That's insane. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what I mean.
And it seemed it feels like AI in the last four or five months just
left like eight generations. It feels like yeah yeah right, it just seems
like it just overnight, just turned on and it was like so it's like,
wow, they're able to do this stuff. Man, it's crazy.
Like I've heard stories online, you know, and like there's lawsuits. You
know, some of these actresses, you know, famous actresses, they're getting
their facial likeness copied and then paste it onto like pornographic actresses, you know.
So it looks like this celebrity is making a sex tape and then they're
like what is this? You know, it's like defamation everything like that.
And that's what you mean. That wasn't Angelina Jolie what you bought it?
I feel so cheated. Oh man, that's painful. Yeah, that's the
deep fake. So now what it is uncharted territory. I think that's why
we're going through all this right now. You know, everybody's trying to figure
it out, and like anything, you know, you're gonna have two groups,
you know, one one groups trying to get over on the other and
then the others keep it for themselves, and you know, it's it's quite
interesting. Boy, Thank god. No one wants to look like my ass.
And that's for you know, we could do Jim. No, that's
but your voice is out there so much. That's now that I'm not too
crazy. Yeah, because that tell you tell me you're dead. How many
thousands of hours of you speaking are there out there? Oh yeah, in
multiple tons of materials. Yeah, well that's that's like that one lady told
me, she said, we want you to do phone ms now. And
you know what phone m is. I don't know. I've never heard of
it. And I like and and and st and smoot and you know,
and it's just and it's all these little things that you could put together to
make a word. And then once you can put together and make a word,
now you can work on a sentence. Now you work on a paragraph.
Now you got a whole story. And they didn't pay me or you
or anybody else doodly squad, So no thanks. If you're enjoying everything we
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patreon dot com, slash Jim Cummings podcast links. In the description of this
show, I mean just getting back to the kids. And I think they
may have mixtured my twelve year old, but yeah, yeah, yeah,
but just getting back to him. What are his kids? I mean,
we can talk about him and it's gonna be crazy. Well, what hit?
What are my grandkids? Yeah? Like, I can't even imagine because
the stuff my my boy's talking about twelve. I was talking to some at
the commentction of somebody else about this, Like, you know, they have
these things in their hands, these computers in their freaking hands. Man,
all day, right, you're trying to do what we were doing and get
outside and throw something and cut God forbid, you know, get outside me
say just go just get out on the house. And it's like I'm on
old right, But it's like but but I have to say this. My
son at twelve is able to talk about stuff I will not even talk about.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He understands politics. He knows
what a black and white hole in space is and can explain to you what
it is. The difference like I didn't know, Like he's talking to me
about this stuff, and it's like I didn't know this until I was fifteen,
sixteen, seventeen. I don't know what now? What? What was
it again? Difference between yeah Jesus and I don't understand what it is.
I didn't even know there was white holes. I knew about because Disney made
a movie called The Black Hole. That's the only reason I knew about that
from from way back because my first time hearing about a white hole, Yeah,
I think a black I think, no, the white holes on the
golf course. That's what he's talking about now, he's talking about his space.
Bro. I think a black hole is is is uh singular? Right?
The gravity is so strong that light can escape, that's right. Yeah.
And I think a white hole is opposite that. It's like pushing everything
away. It's I think maybe that's where you come out on the other side.
Yeah, maybe on the other side of the black hole. Yeah.
Yeah, it's like a wormhole maybe. Yeah. Yeah, who knows.
Okay, my brain. I got a headache. I have to go.
I gotta lay down. Yeah, we need a twelve that's a yeah Jesus,
Yeah, yeah, I give it. Well, you know, technology
is I remember seeing the graph a long time ago, and it was the
technology from the you know, like the twelve hundreds goes like this. If
it's on a graph and it kind of goes like this, then it hits
the nineteen hundreds and it goes like that. Yeah. You know, we
went from you know, my my grandpa got rest his soul. He was
born. I was I was one of the youngest grandkids, and you know,
and he was old, his grandpa, and he went from horse and
buggy to men walking on the moon. Yeah. Now you think about that.
Yeah, I mean, no, no cars, a horse and buggy
that I mean actual no, damn, Henry Ford. Probably he was getting
around to being born. Yeah, you know, but he didn't. He
didn't have any cars. He wasn't selling forwards. Yeah, you know,
and and I may think about that and I and I remember telling him this
when I was a kid. I was like, I said, Grandpa,
do you know that you are in the most unique generation I'm in my little
brain. Ever He goes, what the hell is that supposed to me?
And I said, no, no, it's good. It's good, you
know, because he used to raise chickens and I would hang out with him.
I thought he was cool as hell, you know, and uh,
you know him and all of his chickens, and and I said, well
you when you because I there was a picture of him on a buckboard like
when he was like eight or something, you know, and he was excuse
was the board on? What a buckboard? But you know, like,
oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, you know.
And he had a mule. The mule was pulling him and he was sitting
on at and I thought that was cool. And I said, and you
know, last week somebody went to the moon and you you went from no
cars being lugged around by a mule, two people bouncing around on the mid
and Megan MTV commercials, Yeah, that's Yeah, that's crazy. That's a
generation that will never be duplicated. It's crazy. I wanted to I wanted
to ask both of you, like to me, you know, it's no
mystery that technology is just getting exponentially different, but like what was to me?
It seems like the difference between the eight the like nineteen eighty and two
thousand, you know, like how much change in that time versus two thousand
to twenty and twenty. You know, I feel like if you take those
two different eras of time, you know, can you guys speak to that
it was the twenty years? Have you been dealing with two thousand and two
thousand? Oh? The sketch is still kicking my ass? So you know,
okay, look at this, you know, because even for me,
like I'm thirty two and it feels like I can't even keep up anymore.
Yeah, yeah, you know, and like I felt like I was on
the cutting edge when I was younger, you know, and maybe that's just
something that comes with youth, you know, because like I think these kids
are showing us everything. You know. I'm sure your sons you know,
Oh yeah, I think it was you know, I can't you know,
who am I but just as a consumer, I think it was analog to
digital, right. I think when when everything went from rabbit ears on a
television to digital and now you can beam anything everywhere, I just think it
gets I think that's that was probably the biggest Just what the digital age.
Yeah, everything kind of went digital and you can be tracked any if you're
digital, you could be found period, and analog takes you off the grid.
So once once that whole rid changed, I think where this You know,
you cannot leave the grid now if you're digital, you're on the grid.
Yeah, you know, And I think that kind of just changed everything.
Just yeah, and I mean different industries, it all changed. But
I think surveillance and how you can reach people point no kidding, Well you
know they say you can't put the genie back in the bottle. Yeah,
yeah, and the genie is out. Yeah it is. It is fascinating,
it really is. You mentioned you had a twelve year old son.
Yeah, does he does he watch any streamers or YouTubers? You know,
does he introduce you to that world at all? He introduced me to the
anime world. Okay, okay, he's an anime o, big, of
course he is. They all are I don't do anime, so the hell
with anime? How about that? I had an anime? Antime? Sorry
anyway different, it was right over the plate you had. Yeah, I
know that's an embarrassing I'm gonna go late down, but uh yeah, it's
I don't know. No, he loves it. Yeah, oh I know,
deeply into anime. Yeah I know. Yeah, because Jim has some
teenage daughters as well. Yeah in anime. Yeah, inexplicably inexplicably exactly like
I didn't. I don't see. Well, look I love it. I
love it because he loves it. He got me into it, sure,
but I it was kind of a brain cramp at first, Like he was
like, okay, it's cool, all right, great, yeah, are
we done? Are we done? Yeah? Yeah great one punch man got
it, you know, forgot like me because you know, I like working
for Disney your hand of barbar and Marvel anything. You know, when when
you or I or anybody does, it's really that they're really articulated and their
lips are moving at the right tap but animate, like oh no, yeah,
oh now what you know, and and you're going, what what that
hurts my head? Yeah? I can't why is his why are his lips
moving? And there's no sound? Oh? There it is. Yeah,
I don't know. Yeah, it had to my son had to kind of
walk me into it. I had to go through yeah, yeah, anime
one on one, and then once I got into it, I'm like,
oh, it's kind of dope. I see the art, I see the
story. It's dope. I see it. And now you know we're playing,
we're fighting each other in games, and what games do you play?
Well? My son told me that I have to call this the game that
shall not be named? Okay, which is it? The game that shall
not be named? Okay? It's a mystery, No, it's not,
it's not. It's not a mystery. It's the biggest game out there.
But he's twelve. But he's like, it's kind of played out now,
so I don't even want Fortnight of course. Yeah, yeah, of course.
And he's like, I don't really want people to know I'm playing it
over that. You like what you like, dude, And he's still like
getting skins. I'm like this, skids are hard, dude, Like dope,
mine, And I'm like, I don't know Fortnite, you know,
So it's like, yeah, it's great. Yeah, have you done any
of those games? I have not? And yeah, do you get requested
for voices? Do you do voices? It's weird because people ask me that
all the time and no, yeah, nothing but crushing yeah yeah, you
know you you know yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know he's
killing Yeah. Yeah. It's just crazy the evolution because even you know,
talking even with Nolan yesterday, you know, like Nolan and my dad tech
video games. Yeah, like in such a different capacity, you know,
because my dad's doing the motion capture and all that. Like you know,
they're performing in a void. You know, they're in like the room with
the black suits and the white thoughts all over them, so they're like really
acting out the scenes. So it's yeah, like it's not necessarily like traditional
voice over, you know. Yeah, it's almost like a new medium.
And yeah, you know, like you know how Disney and Marvel a lot
of body language, you know, where like actors are in a void now
and it's like a big like three sixty digital space where it's like you're burst
into this world and it's like, you know, it's almost movies are becoming
almost like video games with the amount of animation you know, go watch The
Avenger three quarters that that's going to be CGI animation. Yeah, no kidding.
And then video games are becoming so cinematic it's interesting for me to see
where they're meeting in the middle. Yeah. But also the video game industry
is three times as big as the film industry, like three times as much.
I mean, if you think about it, a video games what seventy
nine dollars and there's I bought red I bought Red Dead Redemption multiple times,
you know, and like if I go to see a movie in a theater,
they're getting what thirty dollars out of me, and then five dollars when
I buy it on Amazon Prime. You got thirty five dollars out of one
movie from one customer. Red Dead Redemption got two hundred fifty dollars out of
me. And that's not even including micro transactions you know, within the game,
but the game, you know, like you know, buying skins,
you know I'm gonna pay and they're not cheap. I know they're not.
I still on my bill, Like it can I get I know he's twelve,
but dah, I can I get an kill? Kind of get another
scared right here? How you call, well, there's a whole pack weight
ninety nine. Oh man, Yeah, Create a Monster billion dollars, multileble,
billions of dollars, most highest video game of all time, and it
costs nothing to play, costs nothing. It's a free to play game.
And it's the highest grossing video game of all time because of those skins,
because everybody buys those skins and everything within the game. It's almost like collecting,
you know, anything cars. It's just a digital version now, you
know, we all collected that. What did you collect when you were young?
Jesus? Yeah, but comics just thousands, it's a comic and you
still to do this, still do Yeah? I got him sitting over here.
You still the comics? Oh yeah, Yeah, I'm a Marble guy,
some Batman, Batman and Marvel Batman, and yeah that's the only DC
character you're gonna take. Yeah, well, Superman every now and then,
because I mean Superman, he can do any goddamn thing in the world.
Yeah, you know Davids, You know, David d I grew up on
X Man, I grew up on Next Man. But yeah, yeah,
I grew up on xt Man and yeah, but I mean Spider Man and
Batman. Yeah, I mean DC was there first for me. Yeah,
you know, for for for me, I guess whatever age group I'm in,
but it was, you know, I just had tons of Batman,
tons of Superman and uh and Green Lantern and I used to think was pretty
cool too. And Green Arrow was cool because he didn't have superpower, you
know, he was just really good and and I used to think, Wow,
Okay, that's cool that you're really good at with the bow and arrow.
You know, people do have guns. You can get a rifle.
Yeah, you'd probably be pretty good at a rifle, you know, on
your back instead of that ball. Yeah, you know, I mean the
bow is cool. And he would always my favorite thing was when he would
have trick arrows. Yeah you know, yeah. Yeah. We did a
little episode one time. I think it was I'm trying to remember what it
was, but in homage to that, there was a scene where Stephen was
fighting some folks in a boxing green he put the arrow inside of the glove.
Wait. Yeah, because that was a big thing in the old comic
book, like he would have a like, yes, a glove, I
remember that, That's what I'm saying, Yeah, you know, and it
would be like oh no, and stupid Joe Frazier gloves sitting on the end
of this thing, you know, like, uhh yeah, that's fun Joe.
Yeah. And it was like the as of a beer can quiver that
he had, right, So where'd you get that from? And he never
ran out of arrows? Never never ran out of arrows. Oh man.
The digital world gave him unlimited supply of arrows. Yeah yeah right, yeah
because on set. Explain how they would film like a shooting of an error
on set because I know him, Yeah, that was all not real.
Yeah, so wait a minute, are you? But there was like a
specific process there was. They would he would uh Stephen would draw back wherever
it was firing, will draw back, and then they would take an arrow
and walk it through the scene so they could track it and make it do
whatever they wanted to. Holy Robin Hood. Yeah man, they would like
walk it through lam It would Wow, I'm an arrow walking through the scene.
Wow. Yeah, how'dy how'd they hide the hand? Day? I
think I think they I think they need to just ref It was just like
okay, yeah, just a reference. So it was a stunt arrow,
Yeah, it was, it was. I I don't know it was a
stunt arrow yeah Jesus, But yeah, you know, it's all digital.
Man, it's all going back to Sue. Do you think do you think
that's a good or a bad thing? Both of you? Oh, it's
great. I think it's I think, like you said, we can't put
the toothpaste back in the bottle. It has to go. It has to
move forward. Man, we have to keep moving forward. But do you
think we have to abandon practical effects for that? No? No, I
think that's the challenge, right, I mean, even with the strike,
I think, uh yeah, the challenge. You know you might hear from
this from the production companies. Well, we don't know how this is going
to shake out. We don't know what AI is going to turn into.
Yeah, that's the point. Yeah, that's that is the point. We
don't know, So how do we protect ourselves against the things we don't know?
And that's that's tough, But that's what that's what the process is.
That's where we are. So I wouldn't say, hole back to the future,
you have to, but it's we have to take our time and talk
exactly. Yeah. Yeah, we just can't. Yeah, but there's no
stopping it. There's no stop. No, no, no, no,
there's no stopping it. You know, there's no stopping getting the And I
it's funny too, I told I told my my son's mother. I was
like, you know, before he got the iPad, can you start playing
row blocks first? Right? That was his first step start started playing.
I remember that. Yeah. And and I gave I gave him the and
I said, you know, once we give him and introduce him to the
gaming world, once we introduce him to that, bye bye this you see
tomorrow let's sitting on the floor playing with him. And and and that's right,
it's a rap Yeah, it's a rap by Yeah, you're right about
that. That I do lament that. That's why you know. I'm I'm
I'm glad they're frisbees out there, you know. Can we do a frisbee?
Let's do that. I have frisbee used to be the joint that used
to be it, you know what I mean, running trying to catch it,
throw it from over the back floor. Yeah. That and kites.
I was a big kite guy. Yeah, I don't know why. It
was just seemed like a lot of fun. It was get that thing up
there and then you know here and I hold this, that's just stand there
for an hour. Yeah, you know, you know, okay, good,
all right, we're good. Now we can go home. Now.
Now I've been back in in the in Ohio. You get the same thing
I did, those those ice storms, Oh, the whole streets. Yeah,
l boys don't know nothing about that. And then and then what would
happen is it would get warm during the afternoon for about an hour and a
half, and the ice would melt on the roof and come down and then
start pouring over the gutter. And then it turned into five hundred pounds of
ice and then broke and then it broke together. And then and then my
grandpa and my dadd Are that god damn son me that god damn everything came
from you exactly? Yeah, yeah, god damn it. Goddamn you know,
everything came from the same company, the goddamn company. You know it
was? Yeah, okay, was it? You want the god damn wrencher,
the goddamn screw driver? Why are you teaching that? Boy? Watch?
I mean, I wash your mouth out. But he said he wanted
the goddamn one, you know, like, yeah, yeah, we'll break
out, we'll break out the sled. We never took the sled, you
know, to something. You have a sled in the garage. We'd have
a garage. You had to look a little shit in the back. Ye.
So we had we had the sleds back there. But the sleds were
for the streets. When he turned the ice like you would think as kids
going to go out to the park or something to get up some ice,
some frozen pond. Nope, go down the street, bro, Yeah for
the ice. Oh god. And I remember we had a coal furnace.
So what would happen now. Nobody in the world is gonna know what I'm
talking about now unless you're like my age, and and it was, you
know, you you throw the coal in the furnace, light furnace, it
burns, it house smells like coal, and uh, but they don't.
It doesn't turn into a complete ash like a charcoal does. It turns into
what they call clinkers, and it looks like Martian rocks. And you had
to clink and you had to grind on the thing to grind in through the
clinkers and they would go like this, and then you could put more coal
in to get more clinkers. And all that stuff fell down there. You
waited till it cooled off. Then you got a big stupid of shovel and
put it in a barrel, put it in an old tin cup. Then
you would take that put it in your trunk of your car. Because if
you got stuck on a hill and you didn't have snow tires because we didn't
have snow. I don't think they were invented yet, you would go back
and get out the damn clinkers from the old coal shoot and throw them under
there, and you get traction and you can drive out of the red.
And it was and that was ever heard a story like that. I feel
like I'm danel Boone over here, you know, or I'm David Crocket over
here. Yeah. I can't do it either, but uh but yeah,
that was a true story. And there's you know, there's like two old
farts over there going Jesus Christ, I remember that. I was a praint
in the ass. Yes, it was so so you would take wow,
take cold, throw it in the back. Yeah. Well it would turn
into clinkers and it looked like Martian rocks. It didn't look like coal anymore.
But you got good traction. In snow, I don't know. And
we're sitting here looking at this beautiful landscape and no, no snow. It's
like thank you, no, no, we'll take it. Well, when
did you leave Ohio? Oh seventeen? Well, yeah, you know the
snow there. I knew all about the snow. Yeah. I went to
New Orleans. I went to Marty Ground. Never went back. Really,
yeah, man, that was it. That was it. It's warm here,
a lot of chicks, you know, I think this is whole his
home. Yeah yeah, yeah. And phone calls were a nickel. How
about that a dime like a payphone. Yeah, a payphone. Yet another
ancient practice. Oh yeah, yeah I saw this thing. Listen, we're
just sitting right here like some old farts talking about yeah you know I saw
the yeah no, but but really I saw this. I saw this.
What was it? Some it must have been a TikTok maybe, And these
uh two kids were they put a rotary phone next to them, said the
work, show us how to work that. They're like damn yeah, yeah,
damn bro. Yeah. They're holding up a crucifix in case it's cursed,
you know, yeah, might turn you into a cave man. Careful
one thing that I really got me is like, you know when you were
hand signal, like I'm on the phone. You know you used to do
this, and you see kids these days and they do this, it's like
a completely different hand signal. It's like, oh, they're holding a smartphone,
like they don't know, Like what is this? That's that's I even
knew that. Yeah, yeah, so when kids doing this, she's talking
about the phone. Ask your son, minm like you're on the phone.
I guarantee he does it like this when I leave my son and I say
call me. Maybe that's why he's looking at me work and I'm like like,
banana, banana, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh god, yeah,
that's painful. Here at the four Finger Discat Network, we produced over
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description of this podcast. I have to bring up this story because it's from
my time on Arrow, and I want to know if you remember this.
We were down on what was that a little place. It was right in
front of the casino, you know that parking lot. We were set up
circus in front of ocean front. Was that the part I was part casino,
part casino. It was right right at the seawall right. Yeah.
So one night we were on location down there, and I remember I just
I'm sitting in the van because I was the van driver. I'm sitting in
there, and then I just hear like the radio going nuts, like there's
some controversy. I'm like, what's going on? And then it comes out
you had a bunch of stuff stolen out of your trailers. Yeah, you
remember that, you tell that story about Yeah, it was crazy too because
there were a few things I got back in the introits. You know,
I had a little money in Middle Narrow, and I wanted a couple of
watches, and there were some places in the sales tax and Michigan was less
than it is in Vancouver or Los Angeles, obviously, and I was like,
when I go back and I want a nice watch, I'm gonna go
to the spot Michigan. Yeah. So I did, and I got a
couple of things, and I got some stuff that when I was younger,
and there's some other jewelry that was old that I got that I had,
you know, I guess sophomore in college I bought a little ring or something.
So anyway, I don't like, let me take all that stuff back
to LA get on my mama's house. So I had it in the backpack
and it hadn't yet made it home in LA to drop it off, and
it was right there in the spot with my clothes. So and then,
you know, we I walked in my trailer. The door was kind of
a jar, and it was like all of them go dang. I didn't
know. There was some mental stuff too. Yeah, and and then there
was there was there was a camera in there that had my son's Like,
you know, I only have one child and it was his first year of
life, like all this these pictures and video that was all no I understood.
Yeah, yeah, I was man. I was just like, yeah,
that was tough. That was yeah, that was tough. So yeah,
and and at the time, I wasn't quite getting the response that I
wanted from the the powers that be that were on set right time. Yeah,
so it was like, oh, bro, you don't understand what I'm
talking about. You're gonna listen to this. We're gonna we're not rolling camera.
Yeah, we're talking about this right now. Yeah, and yeah it's
terrible. Yeah. Those are the kind of things you know, you can't
replace the things that that are tuging your heart strengths. Yeah, you know.
I mean I can buy a new car, that's right, or new
watch, but it was that that camera, those pictures. Was like yeah,
yeah, exactly right, yeah, because I remember hearing like you know,
through the grape vine it was like a Rolex and like some other stuff.
But like you know, that was bad enough, bad enough for sure,
Yeah for sure. Yeah yeah, yang they judge, Yeah you got
my rolex. Bro. Yeah, that's where he's going with it. That's
where he's going with it, right, Yeah, I just heard it was
like a back. I feel bad. I should give it that. It
was the date just right. He's not wearing it now, why'd you put
that one? You know? Okay? No, I didn't say anything,
right, yeah you go, oh man, kicking your ass joked. No,
they treated me well on that show, like they treated me really well.
They would let me leave an audition in the middle of the day,
like oh goody oh yeah. I filmed the one hundred while I was working
as a van driver, like I've bounced out. I got everything, like
oh yeah, yeah, that's what you can eat it too, Corey and
uh oh shoot, I forget his boss's name, but they were the location
managers and literally I told them, you know, like acting's coming first for
me, you know, like that's where my passion is, but like,
you know, I'd love to be on set and make some money. And
they were like, you know, I've been like day calling on different sets,
you know, like Movies of the Week and like I worked on Deadpool
and you know, like I don't know, I guess Vancouver small. So
people were like this dude's really good van driver, you know, like he
has an organized shit, like he's on his stuff, you know, like
everything like that. And so you know, the ALM's on Arrowhard and literally
they paid me full a day rate just to come in and ask me if
I wanted to be a van driver. And that was like dang, like
wow, that like made me feel good. Okay, you know, I
was like ask me something else, right, Yeah, And I go out
and you know, they show me around vfs and they show me around and
like I get lunch out there, and I was like, you know,
I told him, like, you know, I need to be able to
do my auditions. I need to be able to leave like sixteen how long
are the days we're doing on arrows, you know, like fifteen hour camera
days right, like yeah, And I was like, yeah, I need
to be able to long story short. They were like, yeah, no
problem, Like whatever you need, Like, you know, you need days
off, you know, if you're on set, like, no problem,
tell us the day before. It's good. And I was like, oh
yeah. So that was like really like a good job for me, you
know, like being able to still pursue acting but still be in the industry
like that was like invaluable experience, you know. And then just meeting people
and like now reconnecting, like it was cool. You know, the hours,
you know, while I was going through it was like kind of like
dang, like yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember one week I worried
ninety nine hours ninety nine hours in one week how many hours or in a
week? Every day and remember we're wrapping on Friday and we're cleaning up in
VFS and yeah, I remember asking my boss. I was like, can
I stay on the clock for one more hour? Like I just want to
be able to say I've worked one hundred hours. Oh yeah, yeah,
I'm at ninety nine. Why not just go an extra hour? And I
was like, there's nothing else to do. I was like, I'll sweet
for an hour, like I'll pick up trash for an hour something and that
He's like, no, go home, like it's gonna look bad on the
freaking time card or whatever. And I was like, and ninety nine hours
does look bad. Yeah, it's a one hour grind. That show was
a grind. Yeah, yeah, I had I know people that I went
to other shows, right, and I went to Flash and the other shows.
Yeah, And it was like war Wounds from Arrow. You know when
when folks are like, oh man, yeah I got this job here,
bro I did Arrows Like nothing, we're doing like twelve hour days. I'm
good. Yeah yeah Arrow. Yeah, when you go through that boot camping
Wars, yeah, I remember people talking about a series of unfortunate events.
They were filming that in Vancouver at the same time, and some you know,
we would get day players or whatever from the cat from the crew that
would come over and they'd be like, that's the best show ever. We
got a children cast. They can't work more than eight hours a day,
Like we're talking by that. That helps, Okay, Why couldn't they paid
me to be on that? Yeah? Right, Well that's why they hired
twins on Full House. Yeah yeah, you get two you get two kids
for the price or one sort of like doing a cold Sprouse too, like
Big Daddy and you know they were replacing each other a lot. Wow.
Wow. Yeah, fun facts to know and tell about show biz ladies and
gentlemen. Well, just one more thing I just wanted to get to.
It's like online there's like really like none of like your your career really like
your personal life before your acting careers. So like I wanted to ask you,
like what when did you decide you wanted to be an actor? And
like what it kind of got you in? And going into that? Yeah,
what got him an act? You know? Some my my brother uh
did did a play and he's always been somebody at my every much, my
older brother, and I thought I thought I wanted to play football. I
thought that's what I was going to do. A little of that going around.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, man, your brother's game. Thanks for
allowing me to Oh yeah, that was really fun. How did he respond
last night? Oh? Man, he was actually like I don't know.
We called him and he was kind of like stand off ish, like it's
it's almost like he didn't want to talk about it really, yeah, and
he like got into like there was they cut it cut it out on TV,
but you could kind of see in the body language he was kind of
getting into it in the beginning of the game. And then we were asking
about that and he was like, talk to me tomorrow, talk to me
tomorrow. Someone's going on. Yeah. So we were like, oh,
dang, yeah, he's very like solemn dude. Okay, okay, yeah,
that's just his personnel. Yeah, definitely, yeah, yeah yeah.
Yeah. So my brother brother did a play and I was like, oh,
you know, I can, I want to do that, and I
just that was in football, and I was like, this is what I
want to do for us in my life. Just watching him, you know,
he was just so natural and and then they just it just blocked theater
just as much as I could get of it, you know. And yeah,
then I started doing some commercials in Detroit was always an automotive commercial now
well, and I started theater as early as I could. I was fourteen.
I just when I went to high school, like local, like just
a little low theator high school. High school, yeah yeah. And community
theater started when I was around sixteen. I got some community theater jobs.
And then I went to Waynett University at school in Detroit, and I got
a theater BFA back to the fine Arts theater degree and and just did theater
professional and community theater just throughout the city and got an agent, got a
head shot and I was like, oh, here we go. Let me
send it to an agency. They're like, come on in, got a
nice face to these commercials, so GM Chrysler, here I come. And
then it was like it was funny the power of Mamam. I got accepted
the University of Southern California when I was in high school, okay, and
they were like, come on out here, we'll take care of stuff.
And my mother said, baby, you're just not quite ready for Los Angeles.
I didn't want to hear this. A seventeen bro, what's right,
I'm about to get to that. I'm like, I don't want to hear
that, bro, I wanna California. She's like, you know, just
She's like, Wayne Station gonna give you a full ride, just go there
for a year or two. The California is not going to place. And
I was like, you know some you're You're right. Mom was right,
But she was right for a few reasons. She was right that I wasn't
ready because once I got out to California four years later, seventeen, probably
wouldn't be talking to me right now. Yeah, that's fair. It would
have beat me up. But here here's you know, and I talked to
a lot of kids, right there's like, oh how do I do?
Yeah? And my pop's always used to tell me there's something in your hand.
And I was like, you know what I'd always meant, And what
he meant was that that you know you want something, so something you want,
you really want, but there's something that is in your hand right now,
or or think your sphere of influence that you're not seeing that's vital to
you do what you want. That's good advice, right. I remember telling
me that man, and it was like it was like, there's something in
my hand. At Wayne State, there's something in my hand right now in
this say there's something that can that can help me and other people, like
some bird in the hand is worth two in the busk. Mama, you
should always say that so so so so. Anyway, she says, stay
here, stay here in Detroit. So I went to Wayne State. Everybody
knew. By the time I was a senior in Wayne State, I was
known in the city as an actor doing professional theory, and everyone everyone knew
I was going to LA. So by the time I was about to leave
that dean of the Department of theater department said, Dave, you know you
should know a few people in LA. I know someone. Let me give
him a call. He just so happened to know the head of daytime casting
at NBC all right, So he made a call. It's not bad,
not bad. He made a call. She faxed me size because back then
you were facing right. She said, when you come out here, just
audition for me. Right. So I went out there before I graduated because
there was a friends going out went out there and I adition for it.
She said, you need an agent right there. She called three agents.
Dang right there, dang wow right. She and I went to all three
meetings. One stuck. And that was and I stayed in LA and I
stayed and I had an agent when I got off the boat, you know
what I mean, because I had already had I went actually Detroit, graduated
that came back to LA with my agent. Yeah. So nothing wrong with
that, man, it was just great. But if going back to that
advice of like, you know, use this place where you are. You
know, so a lot of kids ask me like, oh, you know,
I'm in this little small town and I can't wait to get to LA.
What advice will you give me. I'm like, staying in a small
town. Yeah, well that's like the exhaust everything there, the old line
bloom where you're planted. Yeah, yeah, exactly where you bloom yep,
go ahead, yep. Because there's something, there's something there that you're gonna
get learn. And it wasn't just that contact. That's the obvious, the
obvious reason why. It's like, oh thanks mom, great advice, But
it just I grew. I grew, you know, I was seventeen to
twenty one, you know by the time I left. In those four years,
you know, wow, So that was my LA experience. Man,
that's what that's Yeah, that's why I went out and I had a similar
thing like that. I ended up getting like the very first job I ever
auditioned for, but thank you lord, you know. And uh and then
next thing, I knew I was worth working And uh, it's kind of
like what you just said. Do you know, I didn't I didn't dive
in. I wasn't like eighteen or nine, you know, I was thirty,
you know. And I said, Okay, well I think I'm ready
cracked my knuckles, gave it a shot. Now I'm hanging out with you,
hanging out with each other. Man. Yeah, yeah, So it's
a beautiful thing. It is beautiful. It is Yeah. And you can
be on this couch one day. Oh yeah, man, it was great
just coming up. I'm just trying to get on the other side of that
table at the convention. Man a time, he'll be there. He'll be
there thousand percent. Yeah, no doubt about that. Yeah. Yeah,
So enjoy him. Well you can still, you know, while I'm still
a Yeah, he's not charging you exactly. Picture played picture oh man.
Yeah. Now there was one convention. We went to Dragon Con last year,
two years that was two years ago now or something like that, and
just for fun, like, you know, because I was on the one
hundred for a couple of episodes, and so I've printed out a couple of
little headshots and I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, table Like
I'm just gonna sneak on and see if anybody is like, like nobody,
it's like, what are you doing here? Right? Well, they're lost
a bunch of stiffs. Yeah, oh man, man, So is there
something we should be looking forward to? You know? Something? No,
but I mean no, I mean these conventions count Yeah, any conventions coming
up? I love they will be hearing something soon. In terms of the
convention, there's one of having Brazil, Brazil, Brazil coming up soon.
I can hear the music. Yeah yeah, I know, but I can
hear the music. Uh yeah. And there's Boston might be having We'll see
what happens with that some other thing. Ones might be happy. But that's
pretty much. And you know, we're we're working on a little low budget
movie that I'm putting together as a director. Can't really talk about now,
but it's I'm very excited about that. So hopefully when the strike is over
that we can get to production. Yeah. Nice, nice, Yeah that's
right. Yeah, there's only so much you can do right now. Very
true. Well that's awesome. Well thank you so much for joining. Great
conversation, bro, Yeah that's glad Man. He's like literally letter hustle me.
Yeah yeah, yeah, that's right. What can I say that?
That's who God bless you.