Episode #7
Dead Eyes
With Host Connor Ratliff
Note that transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and are checked by over-worked and under-paid interns. So, please excuse any inaccuracies. Thank you.
SPEAKERS
Zack, Connor Ratliff
Connor Ratliff 00:00
There's no way that my memory of that room is anything close to what it was like, in reality, but I've thought about it so much because it was like such a vulnerable place to be. And that's the room where I met Tom Hanks. That's the room where I showed Tom Hanks, how well I could act the scene. And that's the room where Tom Hanks said was very nice to me. And it's also the room where I left and then he decided ‘no, no, not this one.’
Zack 00:28
That and so much more coming right up on today's episode of the pod spotter.
MUSIC INTRO
Zack
Hi, you're listening to the pod spotter. I'm your host Zack Robidas. There are just a shitload of podcasts out there, guys. By the time I finished, this promo for new podcasts will have been created. There's just too many. That's why we're here. We're going to do the heavy lifting for you. We're going to find the diamonds in the rough and every Monday we're going to talk to the creators and the hosts of those podcasts. We're going to learn about the pods. We're gonna play clips, and we hope you find it useful and entertaining. And if you do subscribe to our little podcast, visit us at the pod spotter.com and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at the pod spotter. And there you're gonna be able to find some extra content and some information on upcoming shows. Thanks everybody.
MUSIC
Zack
Hi, everybody. Our guest today is actor writer comedian, Connor Ratliff, who you may have seen on the marvelous Mrs. Mazal search party the Chris Gethard show, or perhaps he took part in one of your favorite heralds at UCB. His podcast, which has recently released its ninth episode embarks upon a quest to solve a very stupid mystery that has haunted him for two decades. Why Tom Hanks fired him from a small role in the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Our guest is Connor Ratliff and the podcast that you all should be listening to his dead eyes. cutter. Welcome. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for sharing this pod with the world. How are you?
Connor Ratliff 02:43
Thank you for having me. I'm very happy to talk with you about it.
Zack 02:47
I maybe listen to five minutes of your podcast before I was like, ‘gotta get him. We got to get him in here.’ This is why our podcast was made to highlight. You know, these quirky fun, interesting, honest podcasts. And before we get too into it, I want to just jump right to the sort of inciting incident and the impetus for your podcast the call that you got from your agent, which 20 years ago has sent this whole thing into motion. Let's hear that agent call.
Cut to clip
Connor Ratliff
The day before I was due to film my first scene. I had booked an afternoon train ticket from Liverpool to London. That's when I got a phone call from my agent and a panicked voice. I was delivered this news.
‘You have to get on the train to London right away. Tom Hanks a senior audition tape. He's having second thoughts. He thinks you have dead eyes.’ dead eyes. What did that mean?
Zack 03:47
How did this all begin? Connor? How were How did we get here? how did how did this start as a pod?
Connor Ratliff 03:52
I mean, that's the that's the that's the question, isn't it? How did we get here? And where are we going? Where are we going? I went to drama school in Liverpool, England. And I graduated in 98. And then I was an actor for a couple of years in London. It sort of ended roughly around the time the band of brothers dead eyes incident happened. And then except for a few sort of stutter stops. I basically took like, my next professional acting job was in 2013, I think. And it was sort of I sort of stumbled back into acting after really giving it up for a long time. I tried to do a bunch of other things, nothing worked out. So really, I would say I've probably been an actor - a professional actor for less than a decade, even though I started in my early 20s. And I'm currently in my mid 40s.
Zack 04:41
Yeah. Initially when listening to it, I had two thoughts. The first was oh my god, I can't wait to talk to Connor and tell him my Dead Eyes story. And then the second thought was, oh God, Connor is going to become the patron saint of shitty actor stories. Are you prepared? Have you been prepared for the sort of, you know, because obviously there are guests on your show that share their stories, but I'm sure there are other people reaching out to you, that are like, hey, this shit happened to me too. Here's this, you know?
Connor Ratliff 05:11
Yeah, I mean, it's a, every actor has something like this, you know, the thing that sort of distinguished mine was that a weird turn of phrase and the fact that it involved one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and most beloved, you know, but there are stories that people have that are actually truly like horrific to the point of being criminal. And this isn't that, but it is nice to hear back from some people who listen to it and find some comfort in hearing. This kind of tale told in this way, where it's, it's both taking it seriously. And also acknowledging that this is not the end of the world, you know, like we we lead with the fact that this story is not a big deal.
Zack 05:56
But it's taken seriously at the same time. It's not a big deal, but it is you're, you're you're handling it with care and concern.
Connor Ratliff 06:04
We're taking it seriously as storytellers and we are really exploring that. But in part because that's a funny thing to do to unpack. Normally, this kind of thing is something that you just sort of try to forget about it, you know, you try to move on. And, and part of what is fun about the podcast is that we're actually like picking at this tiny little scab. And so this one has a couple of factors that make it spark a little bit. One is that if you treat it as if it's a big deal, it's inherently funny
Zack 06:38
if it's cereal, if it's totally cereal, yeah.
Connor Ratliff 06:42
Yeah, at the same time, it's not a spoof. These are all true. And so if I say I was sad about something, I was sad about it. And you know, it's like, I might not still be sad about it. But there's no there's no artifice to it, you know what I mean? There's, we're doing this in the form of a, you know, serious journalistic autobiographical podcast, but it's sort of like the ceiling for how serious this story can get is, is fairly low. You know, we try to keep this in perspective, even one of the episodes that we did that the eighth episode was a completely unplanned thing, because
Zack 07:18
this is Dad.
Connor Ratliff 07:22
Yeah. I was taking a break to go on tour with the band Guster, I was basically opening for them doing comedy stuff. And halfway across the country, halfway through the tour, was like March 11, everything got canceled by COVID-19. And so I was two hours from my parents house. And it was made more sense for me to come here and help them than to go back to New York City where things were spiking. And that was not a planned episode. It also is like, the subject matter is more serious than any other episode because it is about like, it is a tiny little fragment of a larger story that's, you know, immense and tragic and has, you know, changed everyone's lives all over the world, you know. And so and yet we still find a way to frame it so that it kind of has something some little connection to my Tom Hanks. I mean, there was a Tom Hanks connection to that episode because it was triggered by Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson getting the Coronavirus
Zack 08:20
that was Tom Hanks day that was March 16 or 17th. we all remember NBA, Tom Hanks, this is real. Yeah. And a lot of ways there is that that feels like the reason why this pot has been very sticky is that we all these problems are so macro and are so huge. And when you listen to Dead Eyes, because it's so small. And you can just kind of pull these little threads here we can we can solve this. We are behind you. We are getting in this and invested with you we can we can solve this little thing and right, this little injustice right? And in a way that is like, I don't know that’s liberating
Connor Ratliff 08:55
same time. Maybe we can’t
08:56
Yeah, that's true.
Connor Ratliff 08:58
Also, it's so small that we It feels like we maybe we can solve this but at the same time it's like anything or maybe not, you know, maybe, maybe I won't find the answers.
Zack 09:07
For those of you not listening you should be listening. Connor had this situation happened to him when he auditioned for Band of brothers. He had the part I had money coming in from this went through various rounds of callbacks. And then the role is taken away from him after Tom Hanks sees his audition. And the note that gets sent to him through the various channels is he's he's got dead eyes. And so time goes by and he gets the idea to start this podcast and the podcast now is on its ninth episode, and it's sort of blowing up. And you talked about being at home now in missouri. And how the pod sort of morphed and changed and you're at home with your parents. And there is a really well there's a there's a conversation that you have in episode eight with your dad that I want to just listen to a couple moments when you then have to relive the disappointment of that of that day. with Tom Hanks all over again, but this time with your father, let's hear the conversation a bit.
CUT TO CLIP
Conor’s Dad
Well, I thought the whole dead ice thing was kind of silly. But the more I thought about it over the years, I think it's because you were too tall
Connor Ratliff 10:12
for that character in that scene?
Connor’s Dad.
For that character, when I saw the actual show itself, the guy is much shorter than the other characters. And he's, although there's no lines, really very few lines that he has their looks are kind of comic looks. He's kind of a comic relief in a way. And if you were the same height or taller than the other actors, I don't think it worked. Sorry to say that, but I think they try they picked a good credit score.
Conor
I agree with you dad.
BACK TO INTERVIEW
Zack 10:44
Are you able to watch it objectively now the scene and say, okay, it's probably Yeah,
Connor Ratliff 10:48
by the time I watched the scene, my main thought was like, Oh, they cut most of the lines. And also that guy makes more sense for the scene. One of the most satisfying experiences so far in doing this podcast was talking to the actor who replaced me, because he obviously didn't know who he had replaced, or even necessarily that he had replaced someone. He just knew that there was like a last minute audition. But I don't think anyone told him at the time, like what had gone wrong. He was just like having to audition for a thing that was shooting the next day. And hearing his experience, and also realizing that he was auditioning for the part on the same day that I was re auditioning for Tom Hanks and getting fired. Like we were in the same building, we were probably within a few rooms of each other being kept apart.
Zack 11:37
It's one of the episodes where you actually do actual investigative, actual,journalism and you guys actually solve a thing
Connor Ratliff 11:43
It was a real thrill to do that interview. Because part of me was like, oh, man, can you imagine if we were like investigating a crime or something that really, because when we started piecing it together was like, This is what Woodward and Bernstein felt like when they started cracking Watergate, you know, except it was like, oh, it doesn't matter. It's just me and Adam, you know,
Zack
this is Adam Sims. This is Adam Sims, the actor who would eventually replace you in Band of brother.
Connor
Yeah. And when I was talking to him, he's now a very acclaimed successful voice actor. I mean, he does a lot. He does all kinds of acting, but he really has, he's like, won awards. He, I think one like audibles like like, audiobook narrator of the year, a few years ago, and, and which is funny, because private solinsky You know, he has almost no lines in the show. He says almost nothing. So it's funny to think that, Oh, this is where he landed is like he does all this great voice work. But we both realized he was telling me that, you know, around 2010, he was living in Canada, and he was working in a bookstore and his career had kind of fizzled. At that point. Like he was sort of struggling and wondering, like, what, what he was going to do next. And Ron Livingston, who's one of the actors who was in the scene with him, came into the bookstore he was working at. And I was like, oh, did you say hi to him? And he was like, No, I was too embarrassed. I was too. Yeah, I was too embarrassed to say hello to him. And I said, um, you realize, we were I was working at a bookstore in New York City at the same time that you were working at a bookstore in Canada. And we both in 2010, or there abouts. We both were in positions where we felt like we had blown it. And we were like, I guess we're never going to find success as actors. And I found that incredibly kind of heartbreaking and moving to just realize that we had this, like other strange connection in common, which was that even though he got apart that I got fired from, at a certain point, our careers lined up in a bad way, regardless of what had happened back then, like we both found ourselves thinking like, Oh, we squandered our potential or like, we didn't get the breaks.
Zack 13:51
It is the illusion of this business. You're sort of fed this fantasy as young actress that like the big break the idea of I get in this and then it snowballs, and then I'm a movie star 10 years down. But the reality is, the longer I've survived in this business, I should mention Yes, I'm also an actor. I've been in New York also for the last 20 years. Also in Queens, New York, 20 years, you know, paying my bills doing this, the reality is more people are doing what we do, right where it's like you book a thing, and then you don't work and then you get thing you a little momentum and then it kind of Peters and dies. That's more along the lines of, you know, most of us survive, but it's so hard in those moments, too. Yeah, to think about that and not just think about the opportunity squandered.
Connor Ratliff 14:35
I've had experiences where I've booked a role on a show and then I booked another role on a show and then I've had a couple of things going at once, and you start to think like, oh, maybe I'm gonna become a series regular, or maybe I'm gonna get a big role that's really gonna pay dividends or something down the road, you know? And then a year will go by, and nothing will cut your way. And you'll think, Oh, am I done? Then a strange thing will happen, which is that all the work you did a year earlier will get released. And everyone around you will think, oh, you're doing really well. And you're like, No, I haven't worked in a year.
Zack 15:11
I'm working at a bookstore, actually. Did Adam happen to mention anything and talking to him about what set was like, you know, did he interact with Hanks? Did he interact with the other? Was there anything because you talk about these multiple timelines a lot on your show, and I'm just curious if you saw anything, or heard anything, where you your personality, or your sort of natural ability as a charismatic human could have used a situation to, to build relationships?
Connor Ratliff 15:37
Yeah, I mean, it was such a huge production, a story that was actually we haven't had room for it on the podcast. I don't know that, that maybe we will at some point, but I'll go ahead and say it, which is that when I went to my costume fitting, which was like, maybe a week or two, maybe more before me getting fired, I went down to London, and got they they gave me a military haircut, they shaved my, my hair, so I had short hair, and they fitted me for the costume. But before that happened, I was picked up by a driver in London, in a town car who took me to the set at Hatfield airbase, where this is where they filmed band of brothers is where they filmed Saving Private Ryan's huge, huge place. And they drove me, it's probably a 45 minute drive, the same drive that I would later take with the casting director Suzanne Smith. Well, in that case, it was this terrifying, awkward ride to re audition for Tom Hanks. But a week or two, before that, I had this kind of glamorous version of that was like, Oh, my God, I have this driver, and he's taking me to the set. And it's just me in the car. It's nothing like a van at people. And he took me, we pulled into what looked like this golf course, we pulled over to this old house, it was on a golf course. And there were there were all of the things that you would associate with a movie set. I had never been on a movie set before. But there are trailers and lights and rigging and this crew people coming in and out of the house. And I get out and I there's no indication of where I should go. Like, where do I go? Where's the there's no sign saying like wardrobe is this way or anything like that are no one there waiting for me? No PA. So I kind of wander into this house where they're filming. And I'm very nervous because I don't want to get in the way I don't want to. And I'm going up to people and I'm trying to ask them where I'm supposed to go. And nobody Everyone seems baffled by me. They're all confused. And finally I get to someone high enough up that he's like, what are you looking for? And I said I'm supposed to have a fitting for this and and because I film next week, and I'm in the fifth episode or something, and he realizes, oh, you're looking for the band of brother set. This is a this is apparently a completely different production that was filming in a completely different location. It wasn't someone was making a movie or TV show in some house on a golf course. We were not at Hatfield airbase we were at a golf course near Hatfield airbase, and the driver just taken me to the wrong she saw signs. And then just let me out to wonder about until somebody realized. And the funny thing was, no one wanted to talk to me when I when they didn't realize what it was. And then when they realized I was part of band of brothers, everyone became very interested because they're like, oh, oh, and they're very helpful in wanting to like, do you need me to, you know, help you get there as like, No, no, now that I know, I'm in the wrong place. I'll just have the driver find the right place. I thought like, Oh, this is going to be my funny story for my band of brothers experience the day that they drove me to the wrong place. This is good for the talk shows.
Zack 18:37
Yeah. Chatting with Tom.
Connor Ratliff 18:38
Yeah. And I thought, Oh, great. I get an anecdote out of this experience. I have told that story. So few times.
Zack 18:50
You got to experience what being Zalinsky would be like on a separate set.
Connor Ratliff 18:56
yes, yes.
Zack 18:58
I went in for a pilot one time and in the pilot. I was testing for a pilot and in the pilot there was a Luke Perry cameo. I'll never forget this. And so I show up to like CBS Radford to go and read my part. And as I'm walking in the there is a cameo halfway through where Luke Perry, you know, has some, you know, brief moment where he is stealing a car, something like that. And I'm walking audition and Luke Perry is walking in with me. And I'm like, they're making Luke Perry audition part of Luke Perry. And was just like, tough business pal. Like that was like the most ridiculous endeavor and the most ridiculous pursuit and you set up what is going on in the actor's mind you know, before the rejection, you set it up so well in your podcast, I want to just listen to what is going on in the actor mind when they are the moments they find out they book a role and sort of the peak before you hit the Valley of your podcast. Let's listen to what is going on inside the actor mind.
CUT TO CLIP
Connor Ratliff 19:55
I was going to be in the TV event of the decade produced by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and the two time Academy Award winner whose work I had admired since I was a small child. Now, I'm not gonna pretend it was a meaty role. It wasn't, my character only had a handful of lines. And they tended to be short and to the point. But I would be on screen talking to the main character. And I really felt like this was going to be the thing that would jumpstart my acting career. People would look back later and see me in this minor role in a major show and say, that was this first onscreen performance. That's where it all started. I remember saying to someone out loud, that it felt like everything was finally falling into place for me. Later on, I remember thinking I shouldn't have said it out loud.
BACK TO INTERVIEW
Zack 20:44
It's so sad and so true. Like you never want to celebrate until a thing has aired.
Connor Ratliff 20:52
I'm almost inclined to say You never want to celebrate. You’re, just asking for it.
Zack 20:57
Well, let me tell you, I booked the scene with the female version of Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, right? So in my 20s, sort of similar to your timeline when you would went in for this. And it's her and I and I got the part I went through many circles, the seven circles of hell to get the part I get it. And I have the scene with her. So let me just tell you what you're missing what you've missed out on by not booking Band of brothers. Every on average, a maybe once a year, someone will find out that you were in it. And they'll say, ‘Oh, cool’. That's it. That's really, really, it's a movie called it's complicated. I have a scene where I check her into a hotel. It's nothing. And you know, I remember at the time I was like I'm gonna quit my job. It's with Streep. Here we go. And like and then you get your $600 and you're got your cool credit and it really doesn't mean anything. But the reality is that it it on top of like you said, being a respected improviser it on top of all your body of work is what makes you know the actor Connor The interesting thing,
Connor Ratliff 22:03
the truth of it is it's complicated. Like that title of that movie is not wrong. It applies to your experience as well that it's like, well, let me ask you this. I want to dig into it because I'm gonna Obviously, I'm gonna I'm gonna be more interested in this than all the people who are like, Oh, cool. I'm the person you're going to talk to you. I'm gonna be like, no, this should be a three episode Ark. Why not make a meal of this? Did you meet her before you were filming the scene? Or did you basically know her on the day?
Zack 22:36
On the day
Connor Ratliff
You were in costume on set
Zack
and costume on set I'm walking in she comes in flanked by two of the largest body guards that I'd ever seen in my life. Yeah, because you gott protect the Streep. We’re in Manhattan. We're in this crazy man. We're out in the elements. You know, we're not on set so--
Connor Ratliff 22:51
there can never be too many bodyguards protecting one of our greatest national treasures
Zack 22:55
national treasure. She can't just be out there in the elements. So, you know, you navigate them and Yeah, hello, we're gonna do the thing together. And she's just as you know, she's Hanks. She's who you think she is? There is no separation between that person that she is sitting playfully at the Oscars, and the person she is in person. And she was great. And we did the scene and she stayed for both coverage. So you know,
Connor Ratliff 23:21
that's what I was gonna ask.
Zack 23:23
you don't have to stick around. A listers don't have to stick around folks for your coverage. They shoot their stuff, their back at craft eating or in their trailer.
Connor Ratliff 23:31
She didn't have to do that. Not for that. No, not for that character. Like I remember her checking in. If it's what I remember. I've only seen the movie once in the theater. I think it was on Christmas Day. Whatever year that came oute. I picked Its complicated because I'm like, This will be fun. It's gonna be fun. It's got Meryl Streep smart. It's got Alec Baldwin's got Steve Martin. It's got
Zack 23:51
Zack Robidas.
Connor Ratliff 23:52
Zack Robidas. It's gonna be great.
That's right. That's right. It's it's a small roll. But he digs into it. And you can tell you can see Streep in his eyes when it cuts to him.
Zack 24:01
His Alive Eyes you can see Yeah,
Connor Ratliff 24:03
Live eyes. Um, but I remember the scene. I remember her checking into the hotel. I can't say I can't say that. I remember what your character says or does
Zack 24:13
I am meat reflecting light. I say Jay in a superior sweet I could of course I can remember the lines I said htem a billion jillion times. Heather Jay in superior sweet. I have two standard doubles. So it was like a I have you here for you know the low level stuff. And she says no, no, no, that's not me. You must have someone confused. And then I look it up again. Oh, here it is. Yes. Adler j in a superior suite. Yes. You know, I'm sorry. It's the other way around. I have it backwards. So I think she's in the superior suite. She says no, I'm not in the superior suite that someone else because it's actually Baldwin and the girlfriend and hilarity ensues. the anecdote from that is Nancy Meyers is she's directing. She realizes she casts the wrong person and she says it To the actor who's working across from Meryl Streep, she says it to me. And she she has me do it a couple times. And then she says these words to me, Connor. ‘Oh, I thought you were a different type’. Okay, let's go again. She must have thought that I was this. I don't know what she thought she just thought it was a different type based on whatever i'd worn to the audition, or whatever she just said the words I though you were a different type. I wanted to just run right out of there immediately, but I had to stand there and do the thing. I just keep doing the bid. I had to just like, okay, I can't respond to whatever is happening there. I'm just gonna keep talking to Meryl. She said those words. Yeah.
Connor Ratliff 25:38
So this is stunning to me. It's also stunning that you didn't lead with this is
Zack 25:44
this isn't about me. This is about you. I have millions of these horrible stories.
Connor Ratliff 25:48
This is Nancy Meyers. This is Meryl Streep. This is a big deal. Do you think she actually what do you think really happened? You think she
Zack 25:57
I think that because in my like, whatever. second or third callback? I I didn't have any clean clothes to be honest. So I went in. I'm not a good shopper and I got one of those like twosies-pieces. I got the tie with the shirt. matchy match thing. It was all I for what I was panicking, and I grabbed purple. It was all purple. And I think that she thought I was like, a little like, sassy LGBTQ, like I was that type. And based on the clothes that I was wearing, and the manner in which I speak. And she didn't realize until we were on set that I'm not that person and I'm a sort of a different type and that I wasn't willing to go and take direction towards that. Well, you know, what she I think that we were at odds with what she wanted me to do. And I'm just too young to know like and to move on the fly I was like 20 something and I I didn't adapt at all I just kind of kept it straight. And so it's the reason you don't remember me is it's blank nothing seen. That could have been something more with an actor that was a different type. But this is, this is how I broke me down in my mind and learning from your podcast is that my memory is you know, this could be nothing
Connor Ratliff 27:11
It’s fascinating to think that. So in her mind, maybe that moment was going to be something where some quirky character actor was gonna just make it pop and it might be a scene-stealing
Zack 27:22
Make it pop. scene stealer. Here we go.
Conor
Did you feel like you had leeway to play around with the scene?
Zack
She gave us a couple takes. They gave us a couple moments. They she we had a major motion picture. JOHN Krasinski standing there, these people, and there's there's definitely time to do something. But she couldn't say, ‘Hey, can you be a little more sassy?’ You know, she couldn't you knew she couldn't. All she could say was that? Oh, I thought you were a different type.
Connor Ratliff 27:53
That's fascinating. I wonder what was going on? You know, like, I wonder, I don't know. And this moment, like, were you aware when she was saying Merrill
Zack 28:03
Merrill's objective was make this young poor boy just feel so good and cozy Merrill's just like, oh, you're from Queens. I used to have an apartment in Queens. My husband and I. just couldn't have been just more down to earth. And just like, you know, helping me through. It wasn't like, it wasn't even a big, it wasn't like a 20 takes. We're not getting it. You know, what we were getting was fine. It was telling story. It was good. It was fine. But it was clear that--
Connor Ratliff 28:28
she got checked into the hotel
Zack 28:29
Got her bagsin
Connor Ratliff 28:30
Gotta get her in the hotel. Just make sure that the information about the rooms is conveyed.
Zack 28:35
That's all just to say, hey, you just missed that moment. You just missed. Oh, cool. You're in that. Oh, cool.
Connor Ratliff 28:44
Yeah, see? Now I think the other part of the story is something How often do you tell that part the part … so I thought you were a different type
Zack 28:52
Less frequently
Connor Ratliff 28:54
Yeah, that's that's the meat of the story. That's that's the dead eyes moment.
Zack 29:00
Because it messed me up for years. It got me in my head for years. Oh, did I not take advantage? Did I not swing big enough? Did I not? Yeah, hard enough?
Connor Ratliff 29:07
Yeah. Was this your moment to be like Martin Short in father of the bride and really do a character moment that people would be like, remember the guy who checks her in to the hotel,
Zack 29:18
But you don't want to do that? Because you're with you know, big dogs. So you don't want to you know, you don't want to take a big swing. Do you?
Connor Ratliff 29:24
Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot to ask. And
Zack 29:27
I thought that would be enough.
Connor Ratliff 29:28
And it was enough. nobody watches that movie and thinks well, it's good. But there's a moment where it dips. There's a moment she checks on the hotel, and for for a few seconds. You feel like they're really off course and then they they course corrects it. Once she gets up to the hotel room. The movie is back on track and it's fine. I never made it to set really for Band of brothers. I made it close but I made a new wardrobe. I madeit to a different movie set. But But being in the room with Tom Hanks, I was in for less than five minutes. And there's no way that my memory of that room is anything close to what it was like, in reality. But I've thought about it so much because it was like such a vulnerable place to be. And that's the room where I met Tom Hanks. That's the room where I showed Tom Hanks, how well I could act the scene. And that's the room where Tom Hanks said, he was very nice to me. And it's also the room where I left and then he decided no, no, not this one.
Zack 30:35
Okay, let's, uh, let's take a quick break here. We'll be right back.
CUT TO MUSIC
Zack
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BACK TO INTERVIEW
Zack
Conner we're watching the guests on your podcast. We're watching their IMDb numbers tick up and up and up. You're getting fancier and fancier boys and girls on your show. That inevitably it as the listener, you're thinking, Okay, we see where this is going, Tom, Tom, Tom's gonna come right, Tom is going to come on the pod and talk to him. Have you thought about when you're going to be in that room again with him? Have you thought about him actually sitting down talking with you not in the same room, obviously. But in this scenario? Have you considered the conversation?
Connor Ratliff 32:08
Yes, I have thought about it. Every now and then I have a file where I will jot down if a good idea comes to me that I think because I've had several, very what I think are and I could be wrong with this. I think I've had several very good insights and ideas that have occurred to me over the past six months and over the past, you know, 20 years prior
Zack 32:27
Do any of them include doing like a pre interview and then firing him and saying that he has dead voice and you can't use him?
Connor Ratliff 32:35
Um, it has been suggested to me. But the this this would be this would be among the the least likely options I have for me to actually put into motion
Zack 32:46
when you're listening to the pod what the big question that comes to me is not do not. Why did he say dead eyes? Or if he even if he's because you know, that probably could have been filtered. But what is interesting is what the listener just wants to know is like, Did this matter? Do you remember this? Do you remember Connor? Like did this day happen the way?
Connor Ratliff 33:11
I guarantee you his memory of that week is so different than my memory of that week. It's crazy. It's gonna be I just want to know what he remembers about that week. And about directing that episode
Zack 33:24
what he remembers. Yeah. I think that there is a world in which because of the mystical nature of Tom, he, you know, he sort of exists in this bill murray urban legend, the mythical character that likes typewriters and does weird things that he sort of takes credit for your now current success. And it's like, you weren't ready young man, I had it all planned, you know, like that, like, Well, look, what I did for you, you know, just takes credit for the dead eyes. And
Connor Ratliff 33:49
He's entirely responsible for success I've had with this. If if, if I had been fired from an episode of banner brothers directed by, I mean, any other director of any episode, and they had said, so and so thinks you have dead eyes. I don't even know the names of the other directors of the episodes offhand. There's no podcast, no one would listen to it. The reason that people get hooked is because it also wouldn't have meant as much to me, it wouldn't have been as traumatic. I would have thought some director on Band of brothers didn't like my tape. Right? I would have recovered from that so quickly. One of the things that is the most of the response to the podcast, most people get it, and most people understand the tone of it. And so that, inevitably, with anything, the more people listen to it, they're going to be people who just are not the right audience for it. And also people who either don't get the joke or they take it the wrong way. I've seen a few. You know, I'll get alerts for things sometimes, and it'll say like, someone reviewed this, and their response will be like, Good Lord, like go to therapy. This isn't for a podcast. It's okay. It's fine and The thing that people who are like, Oh, you know, get over it. Why are you still dwelling on this? The thing that is impossible about that notion is that Band of Brothers is so big that I am constantly reminded of it, even if I just was like, I never want to think about band of brothers again. Tom Hanks alone, just if it was just him, you know, he does a couple of movies every year, he's constantly being referenced in one thing or another, there's no you can't escape him. And nor can you escape, you know, half of the cast of band of brothers went on to be huge stars. And so it's something that it's not that I have been thinking about this, stewing about it non stop for 20 years. But it is a thing that like, I'll be watching HBO or something or I'll be on HBO Go and then I'll see like, I'll be browsing and then I'll see a thing that says band of brothers, I'm like,
Zack 35:56
Oh, right. I was supposed to get a text from a friend. Hey, you saw your buddy Tom Hanks in a thing, that thing and what you know, like, yeah,
Connor Ratliff 36:02
I'll be watching, you know, 30 rock or something. And like Tom Hanks will have a cameo, or I'll watch, you know, SNL at home, and they'll be like, surprise guest host is Tom Hanks. And it's like, I can't not think about it. Because it's not like Band of brothers ever went away. It's this isn't some obscure thing that was big for a moment and then disappeared. You know,
Zack 36:28
you know, you're working right now on a podcast at a time when a lot of people are not working. And you have a creative outlet. And you have income for our sag health insurance. And so the longer this pod goes, and more successful it becomes it sort of is no longer a conversation with Tom about a loss. It's about it's more about thank you for like, I'm glad that it happened. Is that we is that have you reconciled with that yet that like
Connor Ratliff 36:58
yeah, I mean, there is a you know, I have a successful lemonade stand. Thank you for the lemon is yes, um, those lemons that you gave me, I've turned them into lemonade. And now I run a country time lemonade stand. And I have this recurring role on search party, which is now come back on HBO
Zack 37:19
my buddy Meredith hanger who's the best human in the world?
Connor Ratliff 37:22
Yeah, yeah, she's great. She's great. And this was a dream gig for me, because I never auditioned for it. They knew me from UCB. Not personally, they just had seen me and they knew what I could do. And they offered me the role with no audition, which is to be in a good show that you didn't have to go through that process just because they know your work was so pleasant. And so I made a couple of episodes in the first season. And it's a character that I honestly thought would never return. I really thought like, well, this is a, I made it a little bit. And then, because of the way the story goes, I thought that they probably won't bring Ted back. No reason to bring Ted back in this. And then in season two, they did bring Ted back and my scenes in season two, I liked even better than my scenes. In Season One, I was really like, Oh, this is this is really fun. They're gonna bring me back. And then I got it in my head that I was like, Oh, I bet they're gonna bring me back a bunch in season three, like, when I saw the way Season Two ended, I was like, Oh, I sort of imagined that, oh, Ted could do this and do that. And I bet they'll have to do this. And, and they did bring me back. And I'm in one episode, and one scene very short. I'm very grateful for it. But it was like another thing where I did it again, where I was like, Oh, boy, I, I got carried away. And I started thinking, Oh, it's gonna it's gonna be like this, it's gonna be like that, instead of just being happy with what, what the good thing you already have.
Zack 38:49
Why I think, you know, this has broad appeal is that you sort of navigate how we all should be thinking about rejection in an interesting way and how, you know, just you don't know the trajectory that that a failure is going to lead you down. And so all you can do is control how you respond and react to it. And I think that the story of dead eyes isn't one of rejection or failure, it's that it's one of taking a bad situation and you know, using it to sort of as you said, make lemonade and I hope that that is what becomes synonymous with dead eyes and not just an idea that you got rejected.
Connor Ratliff 39:33
One unexpected development of it is someone on social media tweeted at me that when they see me in a pop up in a movie or a TV show now, they will be like, Oh, it's dead eyes. Yeah, like oh, I have I have accidentally given myself a terrible nickname.
Zack 39:54
It's a great nickname
Connor Ratliff 39:57
Connor dead eyes Ratliff, it's a name for I don't know, a pirate or a zombie or something. And then for a working actor,
Zack 40:06
I had this experience with my buddy janaza. Shout out to janaza who I was asking him if he's listening, but I was talking to him about your pod. He's like, Oh, I'm a dead yyer. I'm a dead eyer. So do you have any expectation about what your fan base should be nicknamed? Speaking of giving yourself--
Connor Ratliff 40:21
I don't know dead heads is taken. I don't think--
Zack 40:25
Can I float two by you.
Connor Ratliff 40:27
Yeah, what do you have let's let's map this out. Got it. I like this.
Zack 40:30
I got band band of Connors. It's not as good. It's just rattlers. I'm a rattler.
Connor Ratliff 40:38
Rattler?
Zack 40:40
okay. They're not great
Connor Ratliff 40:41
dead eye or there's something there's something that that it's, it's, it's that sounds like you're not quite sure what you're hearing if you if you don't know what it's referencing. There's something about it. Because it sounds like a virus, like wrath like
40:56
dead IR
Zack
optometrists. I'm an optometrist,
Connor Ratliff 41:00
someone who is a deadeye like that is already a nickname for someone who's like a great shot like a sharp sure is dead like dead I dick, like that sort of thing. So like, I almost like the idea of it being singular was just like I'm a deadeye.
Zack 41:16
that's good. I have a bit of an evergreen on the show where I do. How well do you know your baby? And I asked trivia about people's podcasts you only have eight episodes. Nine now you would be able to answer all these questions. So I'm not going to do How well do you know your pod today? instead? I thought I would do a little Tom Hanks trivia. And we play for steaks in these parts. You'll notice some pot swag behind me. And so if you answer three out of these five questions correctly. Okay, I'm going to feature some dead eye pod swag in perpetuity up here on the bookshelf. Behind me. You have five Tom Hanks questions get the majority correct. And we will advertise your show forever. Are you ready for Tom Hanks trivia?
Connor Ratliff 42:02
I will say this. How well I do in this is not a reflection of either my knowledge of Tom Hanks or my enthusiasm. I have something there's something wrong with me that once things become a game. my brain runs away. Got it. I would be the worst Jeopardy contestant because I would forget everything I've learned. So I'm very nervous about this. But excited to play
Zack 42:27
Tom Hanks trivia. We won't hold it against you if you get any incorrect.
Connor Ratliff 42:31
I'm devastated by this.
42:32
Zack
It’s not a game just don't even think of it. It's just a couple guys chatting.
Connor Ratliff 42:36
It's genuinely fun. It's genuinely fun. But it's also so terrifying. going to make a fool of myself.
Zack 42:39
it's True or false. Tom has a planet named after him. True or false? Tom Hanks has a planet named after him.
Connor Ratliff 42:49
I don't know the answer to this. I'm going to say yes. Because it feels like I'm just trying to psychologically analyze the nature of the question. It feels like a bad question for the answer to be no, unless you're just that much trickier than me. So I'm gonna say yes. With no knowledge. And I'm just trying to think whether you're bluffing or double bluffing.
Zack 43:11
This is false. This is a bit of a double bluff. Its an asteroid a star an asteroid asteroid named after him he and Meg Ryan likely had asteroids named everything when they close to Earth This is tricky that it's gonna be the only tricky one. asteroid number 12818 Tom Hanks is his and then Meg Ryan.
Connor Ratliff 43:31
It's heartbreaking to think given how much Tom Hanks loves NASA and space that I have now diminished myself.
Zack 43:40
you just you just you knew there was something. Alright, let's let's move on from that one. Doesn't matter.
Number 2. Hanks revealed that he had type two diabetes on what late night talk show back in 2013.
Connor Ratliff 43:59
In 2013, I'm trying to think the landscape of talk shows from that point was that one Conan had the tonight show because I feel like the most Hanks friendly late night talk shows would be Letterman, cuz he's a longtime great Letterman guest but he's also the one who named Conan O'Brien Coco.
I feel like it could be Letterman. I could be wrong on both counts, but I'm gonna go ahead because of the weird time framing of that. I feel like that was on Conan at the Tonight Show. I'm gonna say it was Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show.
Zack 44:32
Your first instinct was correct. It was David Letterman. You said you lead with Letterman, you got to sweep these corner you got to sweep these three now. I think you can do it.
Connor Ratliff 44:43
When did when it was I showed I had a knowledge base within my losing of the question. When did Conan have the tonight show because I do get very hazy about the timeframe of that 2013 was that he had already lost it at that point
Zack 45:00
I think it's gone by that point.Like that last question.
Connor Ratliff 45:01
I gotta run that I gotta run the table now right or run the What is it?
Zack 45:05
I think you can definitely hit two out of three here.
Connor Ratliff
That's not enough.
Zack
In 2010 Spielberg and Hanks were executive producers on what HBO miniseries
Connor Ratliff 45:17
2010. I feel like that's too late for the Pacific. But I'm unaware of what other playtone miniseries would have done on HBO. I'm almost positive that the Pacific was way earlier than that. But it's since it's the only title that I have in the chamber. I'm gonna go ahead and say it the Pacific.
Zack 45:40
That's exactly right
Connor Ratliff 45:44
That was 2010? That’s the nature of time. I'm very bad at like, things that I think were two years ago. And then I'm like, Oh, that was 2007. Really, okay.
Zack 45:53
I hope this process isn't indicative of your audition process where you have all of you've done all the work, you have the right thing right away in the chamber, and then you talk yourself right out.
Connor Ratliff 46:03
I mean, sometimes I do sometimes
Zack 46:04
we all do. It's a horrible, horrible thing. The audition process.
Connor Ratliff 46:07
All right,so now I've got my first first one,
Zack 46:11
you got to sweep these last two
Connor Ratliff 46:13
I hate also hate that with this kind of thing that there's people listening who are like, you, idiot.
Zack 46:18
No one is listening to this podcast. You kidding me. Number four- What is the only film to feature Tom Rita? Colin? and Elizabeth? The entire Hanks family?
Connor Ratliff 46:32
Um, I wonder if it was that thing you do? Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and say that because there's a film what was the incredible buck Howard, that Tom and Collin were in? I think.
Zack 46:50
For those of you just listening, he's trying to read my poker face to see what is the right answer?
Connor Ratliff 46:57
I'm gonna go ahead. I don't know if this is this might shoot me in the in the foot. But I'm gonna go ahead and say that thing you do?
Zack 47:06
And once again, your first answer is correct. Yes, that thing you do is the right answer. I'm not gonna let you talk yourself out of it anymore. I don't know where all the characters are. I just know they're all featured and credited.
Connor Ratliff 47:18
I just watched not too long ago, I'd never seen the director's cut of that thing you do? You've seen that thing you do? Yes,
Zack 47:24
I have little recollection of the first five minutes or the last five minutes,
Connor Ratliff 47:28
I'm going to spoil the end of that thing you do. So if you haven't seen it, scan ahead two minutes. They're in the studio and the lead singer blows it. And so they lose a record deal. And they're and Tom Hanks is like you can hang out in the studio. But you got to check out of your hotel later today. And that's that's the way it goes. He then finds out that this jazz hero of his he's been talking about the whole movie is in the next studio. And he goes to talk to them and then decides to record his conversation with these jazz legends. And then he calls the jazz radio station that he was on earlier in the movie and says I have these tapes. I can I give them to your station is like if you bring me those tapes, you can have your own show. And that's how that character has a happy successful ending. And what does that remind you of? He starts out trying to do music and he basically does a podcast.
Zack 48:20
Fired by Tom. Sent back to the hotel
Connor Ratliff 48:25
Basically the closest thing you could get in the 1960s to a podcast which is I have a bunch of interviews with a jazz legend. Can I play them on your radio station? And they give them a show? Okay, so I've distracted where I've now gotten two right two wrong
Zack 48:42
it's just the beauty of what you're doing you know his breath of work is so vast that there are so many you can just find so many parallels Do you know your journey your story and it's really fun. I've been thinking a lot about the the forrest gump run across country and how this one man starts out with this one singular task and sort of like community support rallies behind him by the end of it all the way through to fruition you know, and it's like it's very similar to your story arc. I can't wait to see what other ones come along. I digress. We are to you have to add five yep to to to have to have to hit this one in this this. I'm just going to set this up. This is the one of the trickier ones on the list. I did I'm not sure what let's just give it to you. You know, forget the preamble. A League of their own premiered in 1992 name one other Tom Hanks movie that premiered That same year, which he has opted to go uncredited for despite narrating the entire thing and appearing in person at the end of the film. 1992 narrates it appears at the very end
Connor Ratliff 49:50
1992, narrates and appears at the end. appears at the very end. That's interesting. Oh, this is going to drive me crazy. I don’t know how much time you have, but
Zack 50:04
we're gonna chop off all of this thinking
Connor Ratliff 50:17
gonna leave it in. Just I feel like there's six more hours in the podcast.
okay so 1992 League of Their Own around that era he had Sleepless in Seattle he had Philadelphia shortly after that, right?
Zack 50:27
I'm going to give you an actor I'm going to give you Elifah Wood, because it's it's such a deep cut in the Tom Hanks cannon. I'm going to give you Elijah Wood.
Connor Ratliff 50:37
The movie that keeps popping in my head is radio fLyer
Zack 50:41
Ladies and gentlemen. It's radio fire. He's hit it Have you seen the movie? Do you like the movie? Do you remember it ever? Oh, it's great. He and Elijah Wood
50:52
Connor Ratliff
I can't believe that. I got that right
Zack 50:53
I can't believe you did either. I am going to proudly
Connor Ratliff 50:56
You have seen my hands, I have no--
Zack 50:58
you were looking to the sky. You're good. You're good. Connor, I'm proudly going to display some dead eye swag
Connor Ratliff 51:03
What if the camera falls down you see a giant poster of every possible
Zack 51:08
Tom Hanks movies. You got it correct and so I just want to show you to the end of time. I have your headshot up here on the bookshelf. Your your dead eyes will be peering out.
Connor Ratliff 51:20
Can I tell you how can I tell you how stupid I am. On the zoom? There's a little window in the in the corner. Yeah, of me. Yeah. And for a split second. I looked up and I'm like, how did you get a photo? You had printed out a photo from this. And then I moved in realize oh, he's pointing somewhere else? Yes, I see my headshot there. That is so perfect. Thank you. I'm honored.
Zack 51:43
Your eyes will be a part of this. until the end of time. I've enjoyed your podcast so much. I have a I had a weird experience. I forgot to tell you about what a while listening where it was the Seth Rogen episode. And you were talking to Seth and I had a moment where something that he spoke about my eyes sort of rolled back in my head and I had that like out of body experience where I'm just seeing memories and flashes. I just want to play the Seth Rogen clip for you for one quick and then I'll share the story the the brief anecdote of my of my dead eyes. Let's play seth.
CUT TO CLIP
52:17
Seth Rogen
We do specifically try to reach out to actors and tell them they've been cut out of things and tell them why before the movie is seen. So they aren't expecting to see themselves. And they know why they're not seeing themselves. And that only comes from learning the hard way and literally having actor show up at the premieres to some of our early movies. And me and Evan looking at each other and being like, Oh shit, like, we didn't tell this person. They're not in the movie anymore. Like they're, they're about to have a very bad evening, you know,
BACK TO INTERVIEW
Zack 52:51
Connor I hadn't thought about this email. In five years, I hadn't really thought about the experience at all. Until I heard that clip. And I had that moment. I was like, Oh, my God. And I quickly went to my inbox, and I found this email, ready.
Connor Ratliff 53:07
I'm so excited by whatever this is.
Zack 53:10
Hi. We work together this past year on Steven Dawtrey’s film, I'm writing to you to say that we have finally locked picture. And what has been a long journey is coming to an end. I know Stephen and I both want to thank you for your immense skill and imagination that you brought to the film. Simply put, you did a fantastic job. And you were an absolute joy to work with. Unfortunately, Zach, I'm writing to let you know that your scenes did not make it into the final cut. I'm so sorry. We both wanted to have everyone in the film, especially your character as the material was so strong. I do hope we can work together in the future. It would be my honor.
That film is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close stars Tom Hanks, and I was cut out of it when I received this email. And I think the reason it had been buried this because this email is so sweet. Like it's so nice. It's very thoughtful and I think I was able to process and have closure to it. And I I want that for you. I want that same closure for you. I had forgotten that I got cut from that movie because I blocked it in I guess you know deep down subconsciously out of my out of exist
Connor Ratliff 54:16
What role did you play in that film?
Zack 54:18
So this experience was you? You got it? You got the job? you booked it Tom Hanks movie, same stuff. You tell everyone I booked a Tom Hanks I'm gonna be in extremely loud, incredibly close. It's a Tom Hanks movie you get that Tom Hanks sugar attached to your name right? You know, you get that pop. Yeah. And this sort of just kept going. It just kind of kept getting worse in that. Okay, you book the time. It's still your job. But it's going to be with the second team. You're going to be shot you're gonna be shooting with the second unit. Don't worry, you still got the lead kid. Everything's great. I show up to set right. It's the second unit and the kids not there. It's the kids stand in so the leads not even in it. It's just me. It's just gonna be my stuff. The kid if you remember the film is going around trying to learn about his father.
Connor Ratliff 55:04
He’s going around trying to solve this mystery
Zack 55:06
I still we're still here. I still got you know, there's this I have this beautiful day on set neighborhood kids are asking for autographs. It's a dream job. And then I find out, you know, we can't use it. We can't use the clip. It's not the scenes. No, it's just we're over. I get I get the email, right. That's fine. Okay, I processed that. You know, this kind of kept getting downgraded. I'm going to keep the credit up on IMDB, though. I'm going to keep you know the time I'm going to keep having that little little credit next to mine. And then like a week went by and they removed. IMDb was like, No, you're not in this film. You can't even have the credit. Things just kept getting ripped from this experience. And by the end of it, I just had nothing. Nothing left. They beat me.
Zack
You got to get into that. You know, you got to do I don't know. I don't I'm not. I'm not pretending to be any kind of expert in how to maneuver IMDB but you got to get in that trivia section. Gotta go on that trivia. trivia yourself into the trivia
Zack
One other thing I wanted to bring up to you was this AI thing that happened a couple days ago. Did you see that the first AI robot not robot AI person AI entity has booked a lead role in a major motion picture 70 $70 million sci fi film, the lead characters artificial intelligence, which theoretically has the deadest of all eyes. And here she is. Her name is Erica. And she's going to be the lead of a show of a film
Connor Ratliff 56:35
I mean, I had not heard that story. But I guess a week before was this. This was this week or last
56:40
Zack
This week here. What's the date on this?
Connor Ratliff 56:43
Yeah, I think a week ago, I saw an article saying that AI's started making pizza. So I guess this makes sense.
Zack 56:49
That was the natural progression pizza to lead of a major motion picture.
Connor Ratliff 56:53
You’re making pizza one week, the next week, you're starring in a movie.
Zack 56:57
You know, I can just extrapolate this out and see where they're, you know, she's gonna do the late night junket. Like she's gonna do Letterman, and she's gonna like, this is the end for us. No one will ever have to suffer an audition of dead eyes because AI will take it over here. She learns lines. It's crazy.She learns better than us. And she doesn't she won't get lost. She won't get lost and go to the wrong set. She'll be there on time. Yeah, we're done. We're done here. We're replaced.
Connor Ratliff 57:24
I mean, it's it's one of those things that is I'm terrified of those robot dogs. You know, that Black Mirror episode. It's all about that robot dog.
Zack 57:34
Yes. best episode.
Connor Ratliff 57:36
I'm more. I'm more I'm more worried about those than I am about the AI is taking my acting jobs.
Zack 57:41
You think we’ll be alright.
Connor Ratliff 57:43
Well, no, I don't think we'll be all right. But I think the robot dogs would get us before for AI actors do, you know, it's you got to triage these concerns.
Zack 57:54
Well, thank you, Connor. As you know, it is the last five minutes of our podcast here. And one thing I like to do is use this time to creatively do whatever you'd like. You could tell a poem or share a secret. It's the last five minutes of podcasts, which means no one is listening. They've ended their jog and they're no longer cooking their meal there. They've left us it's just you and I. And if there's anything you want to share, I'd like to share a story with I'll go first and you can think of something. Yeah, and I did want to I wanted to share this. The secret of Kevin Spacey this moment I had with Kevin Spacey, I thought this would be a good one to share with you and that I had an interaction with him after a show that we were all working on where he I was sort of MeToo’d he he crushed the small of my back and just kind of said some some nice words to me with what I perceived as an advance. And that over the years has been you know, that's family lore now and whenever sort of like with Tom Hanks, whatever, Kevin Spacey thing would happen. You know, people would be like, Hey, Kevin, I saw you buddy Kevin, you know, like this weird instant instances, but it's been canonized by the family.
Connor Ratliff 59:11
A few years ago, I was doing a corporate event, UCB used to get these corporate events and there was a keynote speech that was being delivered. That was about this. This like advertising guy was the point of the speech was that he was declaring that rumors to the contrary, creativity is not dead. Hmm. And then he was going to talk about like advertising and tech platforms and stuff. And we thought this was such a ridiculous premise. We were like who said creativity was dead like nobody's I don't hear anybody saying that. But he was like, defiantly saying that creativity is not dead. And so we planned this whole thing that had to do with when we'd start the ceremony, someone would dress up like the Grim Reaper, and come in with a tombstone that said, like creativity from like the beginning of time to like 2014 or whatever year this was we were doing it and so they approve this sketch we're like, we'll just make a big thing about like the Grim Reaper coming in declaring that creativity is dead and, and don't believe them. And the guy who was giving the keynote speech got drunk, and got locked out of his phone mid speech, and couldn't remember his password to unlock his phone. And he never delivered in any form a single sentence referring to the fact that creativity is not dead, or the death of creativity, he never said anything about it. And we're standing at the back of we're getting ready to host the show and open with a sketch that is entirely in response to him giving a speech about creativity. Contrary to rumors, to the contrary, creativity is alive and well it is not dead. And I remember and they had, they had like, nitpicked us for days writing this like sketch, then we turn to the people like our sketch doesn't have a premise doesn't make sense. Someone's gonna wander through the Grim Reaper, delivering a punchline to a joke that has not been set up. And the people who are running it who for the all afternoon, they'd be giving us notes on Well, this won't work and this work, they were just like, oh, they just like shrug. Like just you got to go out there. And so we had to go out there and do a sketch to do a ballroom full of people. That made no sense. Like, they just stared at us because we're confidently delivering this. We start delivering a speech and then the Grim Reaper enters
Zack 1:01:29
the real stuff that pays the bills and it shows your history of taking lemons and making lemonade and just soldiering through I thank you
Connor Ratliff 1:01:39
I don't think we made I don't think we made lemonade. I think we just like dropped the lemons on the floor and said, look at these lemons.
Zack 1:01:44
You've juggled the lemons a little bit. You took the lemon? Yes. And you were like maybe this, you guys into this.
Connor Ratliff 1:01:51
We squeezed the lemons at the audience in their eyes, but it's not what they wanted, and they didn't understand why.
Zack 1:02:00
I can't wait to see what is next for you, Connor. I think that you are uh
Connor Ratliff
I hope we work together
Zack
I'd like that very much. Thank you, Connor. Can't wait to hear what's next.
Connor Ratliff 1:02:09
Nice to meet you.
END MUSIC UP
Zack 1:02:24
This has been the pod spotter where we showcase the pods that you need to know about if you have one that you think we should know about let us know via thepodspotter.com or on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram @thepodspotter one that is just burning a hole in your heart you need to let the world know and nobody knows about it. Let us know and we're gonna tell everybody. Thanks.
This has been Zack Robidas. The pod spotter is created by the Price brothers produced by oink ink radio associate producer Tori Adams and is recorded and produced at Baker sound in Philadelphia.