- Thank you very much.
- You're here in person this time.
- I'm here in person this time.
- I know, I like it.
- That's wonderful.
- I will say though,
I was very jealous of your trip
that you were taking all the pictures I loved.
That was like my favorite Zoom.
Like that board that you showed us all the pictures,
it was so cool.
- It was fun, I like to travel.
I like to get out in the world when I can,
when I'm not in production.
- You do like to travel.
- Yeah.
- I was gonna wait later in the interview,
but I heard that you did even more traveling-
- Oh man.
- after you wrapped the last production.
You go everywhere.
- I did. I went everywhere.
God, where do I start?
I went to Portland to go surprise my sister
for her birthday.
- Oh I know Oregon, that's beautiful.
- Then I flew to Indianapolis
to go wave the green flag at The Indy 500.
- Oh, I've done Indy 500. That's fun.
- It's fun. - Yeah, yeah.
- One of my buddies, Connor Daly's a racing driver
- Oh wow.
and he was like, "Do you want to come out?"
- And I'm like, "Yeah, cool, great.
I'm not working so let's do it"
- Yeah.
- God, I was everywhere.
I was at Fort Bragg doing some work
- Oh, that's cool.
- with special forces teams there.
I went to Switzerland to go visit a friend,
went to Vancouver to visit another friend.
I took two weeks in my camper - Wow.
- around on the national parks,
in like Yosemite and Utah.
- Are you always by yourself? - No.
- Like, do you ever get lost?
- There's a few U turns.
(laughs)
There's always a couple U turns that happen
within a trip or whatnot.
- Yeah.
- But I like to wander.
I just like to wander around and sometimes
I'm with friends and sometimes I'm by myself.
But if I'm just kinda seeing something new-
- Yeah.
- I'm seeing something new, then I think, you know,
that's the way to go.
- I mean, that's beautiful.
- Oh Yeah.
- Where are you there?
- That is in Switzerland.
- I love Switzerland.
- That is, yeah, so that's the real Matterhorn.
I mean, of course growing up in Orange County,
California at Disneyland.
- You did arrive, yes.
- Yeah. You have the Matterhorn and there's the fake one.
That's the real one.
- That's so cool.
- Yeah.
- I feel like you need a traveling show
called "This is Me."
"(laughs)
- Something like that.
It's the play of the plan of "This is Us."
- Maybe, maybe.
- I'm just saying, you love traveling
and people don't generally get to go see
all that kind of stuff and it's awesome.
- I think if anything,
hopefully me being out in the world
inspires somebody else to say,
"Oh, I wanna go there. I wanna do this.
- Yeah.
- I wanna, you know, spend time with my family.
I wanna spend some time with myself.
Just kind of get out in the world and see it."
- It's so good. It's so good for you.
You're like a walking therapy session.
It's great.
(laughs)
And congrats, I want to say, on your star
on the walk of fame.
- Thank you.
- That's really huge.
- Yeah, it's-
- Is that a huge thing for you?
Like that you dreamed of since you were a kid?
- I mean, I think when I was younger,
I would think about it.
- Yeah.
- And you know, you think about,
"Hey, I want to win an academy award"
and then you get older and you're like,
"No, no, no, that's fine. Let me just work.
- Yeah.(laughs)
- I mean do some good works in people.
- Yeah.
- And then I realized, you know,
26 years had gone by and career.
And I was like, "Oh wow. I've been here for a while."
And they presented me with a star,
- It's so cool.
- and you know, it's just, it's there, it's there now.
- Absolutely, with all the other names.
You walk down there and you're like,
"Oh my gosh, you're in great company."
- Yeah.
- It's amazing.
- Yeah. A lot of great people that have them.
And again, I just, I hope it inspires
the next generation of like young artists
and kids and all that to like go out
and do what they want to do.
- Absolutely. We're lucky.
I just said that the other day on the couch with somebody.
I was like, "We're so lucky."
They were like saying, "Oh, you get to do what you love."
I was like, "I know we're so blessed.
There's so many people that love to do what we do.
And we're like the few that actually got to."
It's amazing.
- Yeah, yeah.
- But, so you started by acting
and running tech for your high school production.
I started in high school,
like singing and stuff like that.
Was that fun to do the tech stuff?
- It was a blast.
I mean, I think it was a good learning lesson
to, you know, not just be on stage and in front of people,
but it was like, "Hey, how's the entirety production happen?
- Yeah.
- So, I mean, when I was a kid,
I had a truck in high school.
And so my high school drama teacher, Mariana Herrero,
she would be like,
"Hey, you're in charge of going to Hollywood to pick."
"Cause I grew up in Orange County-
- Oh and you're the guy with the truck.
- I'm the guy with the ruck,
so I'd go pick up the lights, pick up sets,
pick up lumber, pick up all this stuff
and build sets and hang lights and sew costumes.
And I kind of continued that through college too, so.
- I think that's amazing, 'cause you're well-rounded.
And also I think that sometimes people
don't respect everybody's job on set,
because you don't know what it's like
and it might seem easy to you.
I think that that's really well-rounded of you,
because you're on set and you know
that kind of what everyone's doing.
And you've been in there a little bit.
I think that's important.
- You understand but at the same time it's like, why,
like we should all just respect each other's jobs
to begin with.
- Totally, but it's a different thing.
It's like, have you ever gone out to dinner
with somebody who's never waited tables?
- Absolutely.
- Yeah and you're like, "Okay."
- And they're not looking the waiter in the eye.
Like, "Oh yeah, I'll take this, whatever."
- Yeah.
And it's like, just stop,
look them in the eye, say please and thank you.
- And there's other tables.
It's not just you that came in to eat tonight.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- It's so fun to do that.
'Cause I was a waitress.
- So was I. I waited tables too.
Yeah and it's like,
I feel like every like actor, musician
has waited tables.
- Yeah. You have to, you have to have had,
because it's a nighttime job.
So you got daytime to do your stuff.
- Exactly and you can change your hours.
- Change your hours, yeah.
You're always like swapping shifts and whatnot.
- You get it.
- I totally get it.
- But wait, I also heard that you're learning Japanese.
So one, like why?
like that's so, it's such a random thing
to want to learn.
- I kind of needed to do something different with my brain.
Cause like, you know, you settle into what we do
and like great.
I learn my lines, I show up I'm Mo, I'm an actor.
Point the camera wherever. Great, I'm directing,
I'm putting projects together, working with writers.
Great I'm producing.
I needed to do something else with my head
just to keep active, to keep learning,
to kinda keep growing.
And I was like- - Breaks up the monotony.
- It does. It absolutely does.
But then this is, you know,
a few years ago I haven't been up to date on it as much,
but like I started learning Russian, Spanish,
and Japanese at the same time.
- What?
- Realized it was too ambitious
with my work schedule on "This is Us."
So I just backed off on Japanese.
And now I haven't been in class like
with my teacher in a while,
but like it's floating around in there somewhere.
- Yeah, that's why I love my kids.
And so I went to a school where there,
you could learn Spanish. That was it.
That was your option basically.
And it's cool, cause now they have all these options
and it's so good when you're a kid to learn.
- Oh yeah.
- Like, you know, 'cause when you're older, it's harder.
- It's hard, yeah, when you're in your forties yeah.
'Cause I have like every language
from Rosetta Stone in my house.
(laughs)
'Cause I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna do it this year.
And then I'm, I know a bit of Spanish, that's it.
And French. - I've done Rosetta Stone,
I've done all those sayings.
- Oh, Duolingo that owl is so disappointed in me.
(laughs)
- Yeah, totally.
- I'm like, "Look owl, I'm a momma too with a lot of jobs."
- Yeah, totally.
- But anyway, I want to say,
do you have like a favorite phrase in Japanese
that you've learned?
- You know there's, what I loved
about the Japanese language is,
you know, it's not just word represents this,
but they'll have a word that would represent
kind of an experience.
- Oh.
- Like there's this one word it's, (foreign language),
which is the way that light,
specifically I think the sun,
travels through a tree and makes a shadow on the ground.
- That's won-
- But it's like,
It's a whole expanded experience with it
besides just being a word
that you can use to describe something.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
- That's beautiful.
- I don't really have a lot of opportunity
to talk about ( foreign language),
but like that's a really nice word.
- But it's cool that it exists. I love that.
And like different languages that they're like,
you don't have a word for it, but it's this.
And I'm like, "That's beautiful.
Why don't we get a word for it?"
We're such a confusing language in general.
- Yeah.
- Like we couldn't do that as well.
So everybody is sad that "This is Us" is coming to an end.
So are you feeling kind of bittersweet about it?
Like it's a great cast,
but are you excited about doing new things?
- I mean, you know, look, I'll be honest for me.
I mean, I don't really work with anybody,
but Mandy 'cause I'm, you know, deceased in the present day.
- Oh, that's true, that's true.
- I never worked with the kids.
- But you see every-one, right?
- No, no. - Oh my God.
- I see them when we're doing press.
- Oh.
- So the thing is like,
they'll be on set like wherever we are.
And like they'll just kind of group together
and inside joke inside joke and I'm lost, dead dad.
I've no idea what's going on.
- I'm lost, dead dad.(laughs)
(claps hands)
- Well, like for me, for me it's like, yes,
it is a little bittersweet to like leave the group,
but for me it's like, it's the crew.
It's always the crew.
I mean you spend day after day with, you know,
the people that you're with all the time,
you see them, you walk past them,
you know their kids' names,
you know everything about them.
- Yeah.
- And then it's just gone and done.
- Yeah.
- You know, move on.
- It is true though.
Like I still see the crew from like 20 years ago
when I won American idol.
I still know the crew when I run
into them like awards stuff.
It's so crazy 'cause we've all grown up together
for like 20 years.
And those are the people that you see
and you'll still see on different productions.
- Yup, absolutely.
- Yeah. That is true.
Well, someone told me that you have a set photographer
who's very passionate about getting the best angle,
which first of all, God bless you, sir.
Angles are important.
- Yes, they are.
- But I want to see that,
'cause let's see some photographer Ron.
I feel like he took y'all.
He took pictures of y'all. - So yeah.
So this is Ron.
- And then y'all started taking pictures of him.
- so this is Ron Basstore.
How it all started was, there was a scene
where I'm standing in front of one of my children's desks
and I'm looking at something on the desk.
And I have James over here with his camera
and I have Coy over here with his camera
and the only place for Ron to get a decent photo
was to wedge himself behind the desk
and shoot up at me.
And I'm like, "Ron, you realize you were in my eye line."
I'm looking right at this, this book, this frame.
And he's like, "Well I need to get the shot."
- Oh, my God.
- And I was like, "Okay man."
So then I took some photos of him
and it became-
- A joke.
- a joke and a gag where
whenever Ron would be in just a funny position,
I would take a photo.
Then I started an Instagram account.
(laughs)
Then the entire crew started contributing to it.
So I mean, I would take photos,
but then, you know, somebody else would take a photo
just and they would send them to me,
but , "Oh my God, you should've seen
where Ron was today.
He's on the kitchen counter."
"Oh my God, you should've seen
where Ron was the other day."
"Like he's outside under a ladder under, yeah."
- [Kelly] I love it, he's sneaking in there.
That's Coy, that's Ron. Yeah.
(laughs)
- [Kelly] You're pointing.
- [Milo] Well, that's it.
And that's the thing, like he always dresses in black
to blend in with a dark set, a dark dark stage,
unless we're filming at a pharmacy,
then he's wearing all white 'cause a pharmacy.
- [Kelly] Oh, oh God. (laughs)
- [Milo] I mean, so this one right here, Logan Scheuer,
it's a big scene.
I think season three, where Kevin breaks his knee
and his football days are over
and I've got this massive speech
where I'm talking to Kevin, telling him,
like, he's gonna find his true calling.
And I see Ron just creeping out from behind the-
(Kelly laughs)
- While you're like trying to be like so-
- And I'm like, "Ron, you gotta leave man."
- You're killing my vibe.
- You really are, yeah.
- Well that's another thing, I'm never doing that.
I'm usually just like (loud guffaw)
singing what I like.
- [Milo] Oh yeah.
- [Kelly] What? What? That's creepy.
- [Milo] So, that was reflections.
So again, you know, Ron would dress in dark clothes
'cause he never wants to reflect
or something in a surface.
- Oh, my God.
- So this was, he couldn't reflect in wherever we were
so he just shrouded himself entirely.
I got so many photos that day.
That one was I think, taken by Creaky,
our sound board operator.
Everybody though that day sent me a photo
of Ron in a black Cape, just.
- If Ron were really funny
he would've had someone else just sit there
and then just walk up with another camera. (laughs)
Like who's the guy under the sheet?
- I mean, I have photos
of just his camera sitting on tables,
like on the Instagram account too.
we're just like, "Ron, like literally where are you?"
- It's on auto.(laughs)
He's like, " I was busy."
- I mean there we go. And here's your gentlemen.
- There's Weiss! Get it Weiss! Yes!
(claps hands)
- Weiss has actually been. That's what I'm saying.
Weiss has been around me for, God,
I don't know, 15?
I don't know how many years we been working together.
But on tour, I don't even notice Weiss is there.
Like there've been times,
(laughs)
things have happened and I have no idea Weiss is there
and I'm like, "Well, anyway."
Well, one of your other jobs is narrating audio books.
So this is my question. Like, I have two.
One, do you do different voices for them?
And then also, do you enjoy audiobooks?
I try and read, but I like something tangible.
- I like reading. I like reading too.
I particularly like thumbing through
an actual page of a book,
but I will read on an iPad or a Kindle
or something just because it's just easier when traveling.
- You get a headache. Okay.
- I do.
- But sometimes the audio people are boring.
- Well, sometimes you just don't like their voice.
- That's what I'm saying.
- I've been on really long drives and I'm like,
"Oh God, I didn't have time to read this book
and I'm so excited."
- Yeah.
- And I'm here for hours and then I put it onto mic,
"Wait, no, oh God, I'm not gonna.
And I turn it off and then I would never read the book.
Then I'd hate the book.
Then I hate the author and all of this.
And you're like-
- Yeah, 'cause it's a whole thing.
No, I literally, this is the best thing ever.
It was like supposed to be this
like inspiring, self motivating book.
And it was like, it was like,
the author wanted to do it
and I was like, "You should have had someone else
read your book for you,
because it's literally the opposite
of inspiring and motivating."
Your voice, yeah.
- Yeah, yeah totally.
- So do you do that though? You do audio books?
- Oh, I have. I've done a bunch of audio books,
a bunch of podcasts and things like that.
- Are you interesting? Would I like them?
- I think so. Well-
- Okay.
- So, there was a series of books I did
called The dangerous days of Daniel X.
This is a couple years ago now,
but they're for, you know, young kids,
- I like the later stuff.
- they're for kids about like eight to 12, 13 years old.
- Okay.
- It's about this alien hunter who is also an alien
and he goes to other worlds and planets
in different times and dimensions.
So there's all kinds of wild characters in there.
- I'm 39 and I'm gonna enjoy that. Go.
(laughs)
- It's amazing.
But I would have to track every book that I would do,
the characters that I would voice
and make them different in like,
you know, his best friend who's a girl
sounds a little different than him.
And he's got a different voice than his,
you know, crummy brother-in-law.
- Oh, I like that, you go in-
- Oh yeah, I go super detail.
- Okay, okay.
If we gave you a line to read, do you think
that you could show us the difference in the characters?
- I hope so.
- Okay. Don't fail. - I mean, yeah.
(laughs)
- Yeah.
- No pressure, Milo.
Okay, let's put a line in prompter.
Let's do the first as oh, the romantic male lead.
- Around noon the next day things took a turn
when Jane let her true intentions be known
and one thing became abundantly clear.
I had to act now.
- That was, yeah.
(apllause)
- Romantic lead.
I'm thinking flowy hair, like shake it out.
- Yeah, you don't even have to wear Vera's lenses. Nice.
Oh, that was nice. For later.
(laughs)
Okay, I want you to be a villain.
Do it as a villain.
- Do it as a villain.
- Okay. What's a villain?
- Around noon the next day things took a turn
when Jane let her true intentions be known.
One thing became abundantly clear,
I had to act now.
- Oh my God.
You could be, you should play a serial killer.
(applause)
- I did. I did on Gotham.
- You did? Oh my God, I missed that.
- It's Okay, a lot of people did.
- I saw Hero's, I saw Gilberger,
I saw all of them but that one.
- Dammit, I was like the one I didn't.