Our Conversation with Brady Smith (aka Grant Larson)!

The man who brought back Power Rangers!!!!!! Thank you to Brady Smith for spending so much time talking about Parks, the Goddess Michelle Obama, working with Amy Poehler, writing and illustrating kids graphic novels?!, and so much more!

We also go on tangents about celebrity parasocial relationships (because he gets recognized as Grant, of course), and I remind him of the other projects he's been on that he doesn't always remember the details of LOL 

Please check out his artwork, his novels and follow Brady on Instagram for information on his work! Gift "Maxwell Dark" to your friends, your kids, your kids friends, your parents' kids' friends or just yourself! 

THANK YOU BRADY! 

https://www.instagram.com/bradysmithhere/

https://bradysmith.com/

Transcript

Holly Constant

So it's all good. Yay! Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. Thanks for all of the rescheduling and all of these things. I appreciate it so much.

brady smith (00:54.359)
Okay.

Sweet. Happy Friday.

brady smith (01:05.934)
My pleasure, absolutely. 

Holly Constant (01:41.332)
And you said you're in a little studio too?

brady smith (01:47.33)
Well, so this is where I do my art and painting and all the stuff. So it's a part of our house. But we have two kids, four dogs and 12 chickens. So it's quieter here than up there. So I'm clear. Yeah.

Holly Constant (02:07.382)
my god, so fun!

What, so you do painting too? my gosh, tell me all about that. Is that just like a hobby that you have or do you really love it or what's going on with that?

brady smith (02:21.089)
Well, no, I mean, I got my degree in fine art. So that's what I studied in college and I've always, always illustrated and painted. you know, I have a website with all my paintings. had a, I had a solo art show last December here in LA and, two weeks, three weeks ago, my eighth book came out. do children's books and young reader graphic novels. So yeah, that's, that's.

Holly Constant (02:49.39)
is so fun. my gosh, I can't wait to look that up.

brady smith (02:51.406)
That's what I do, yeah.

Holly Constant (02:54.83)
Oh my God, so fun. Oh my gosh. Okay, well, let's go ahead and get started talking about Parks and Rec because we have a lot to cover, sir. There's a lot going on and you are a part of such a crazy cultural moment. Well, especially with this season.

brady smith (03:01.547)
Okay. Okay.

brady smith (03:11.777)
Yeah, yeah.

Holly Constant (03:13.376)
I mean, this season you come in because there's this big shift that Leslie has, moving to Chicago, question mark, or staying in Indiana and all these things. And yeah, so I'm curious, how did you get your job on Parks? How was the audition? Tell me about it.

brady smith (03:22.338)
and it's really

brady smith (03:30.157)
It was a typical audition, you know, it was before obviously it was way before kovat where now a majority if not all auditions are done you know on zoom or You tape it and then send it in this was actually an in-person audition like it should be I Missed them, you know the actual human interaction, but yeah went and auditioned and then just

Holly Constant (03:52.322)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (04:00.301)
tried to forget about it and two weeks later got the call that it was gonna happen and it was that easy. I mean not easy but that it went that seamlessly if that might be a better way to do it. When you're an actor and you're auditioning, mean that's the job is the audition. I think Tom Hanks said,

Holly Constant (04:14.444)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (04:17.942)
Ha ha ha.

Holly Constant (04:24.428)
Yes. Right.

brady smith (04:28.333)
The job is the audition and the vacation is the work. And that's definitely how I felt on Parks and Rec. It was just a hoot the whole time. It was so much fun.

Holly Constant (04:38.958)
Absolutely. Oh my gosh, that is very true. Yes, I don't think a lot of people understand that so much of acting is the unemployed audition process, the unpaid, I guess, the audition process. But yeah, oh my gosh, do you remember if there were like what sides you were given at the time at all? like, you know, was it from that first episode? I'm guessing.

brady smith (04:52.18)
Yeah, yeah.

brady smith (04:59.942)
my goodness. No, it was from the first episode. Yeah. It was from the first episode. then, you know, the fun part about each show, each show that you do is different. And what I remember and love the most about working on Parks and Rec is that if I remember correctly, Grain of Dills a long time ago and a lot of life has happened in between. But from what I remember is we stuck to the written dialogue. We did that for a take and then.

whoever was directing that particular episode, were just like, all right, have fun, go for it. And you would just kind of ad lib. And that's a very freeing feeling when you're an actor. It's just a lot of fun. So a lot of the stuff that we did was improv.

Holly Constant (05:50.638)
Yeah, I was going to ask if you got a chance to improv with Amy and the team as well. And I mean, speaking of the directors, was like, you've got Dean Holland, you've got Mike Schur, you've got Sam Means. Those are all your episodes. Talk about heavy hitters. talk about improv also and mockumentary style. Those guys are just really at the top of the pyramid. yeah, so how often did you get to improv? Was it pretty much every take?

brady smith (05:57.344)
Yeah, definitely.

brady smith (06:19.859)
I felt like it was basically every take. mean, once they got what they wanted, then you were just kind of free to go for it. The neat thing about you said, the mockumentary style filmmaking, what I remember the first day showing up is usually there's marks and usually, know, where the camera are, you know, the cameras and everything. And I don't remember feeling restrained that way. mean, there were so many cameras that you just kind of did your thing and

Holly Constant (06:24.952)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (06:49.758)
lived in the moment, which is always a luxury when you're acting, you know, to feel that free. And, you know, I'm just like, are the cameras? And they were just kind of everywhere. It was nice. So you just kind of do your thing and they get what they want. It was great.

Holly Constant (07:06.578)
Yeah, we've heard that from a couple people where it almost felt, and I'm sure maybe you related to this too, because you did a lot before Parks where they felt a little uncomfortable at first because they really are just following you around as if you're not supposed to stand on a specific space.

brady smith (07:21.385)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (07:24.566)
spot for the lighting or whatever. I mean, you can be in the general area, but it is supposed to be very real and authentic to how an actual person would move about and the cameras being hidden. So did it feel weird to you or was it kind of like second nature?

brady smith (07:39.967)
it did not feel weird, did not feel uncomfortable. dug it. mean, as soon as I figured out kind of what was going on, you know, it's almost like jumping into a pool. You're, you're just all of sudden you're in it and it's, it's time to go, you know, it's sink or swim. And, and that's how I felt. the first day was just kind of like, Whoa, you know, you're seeing these people that you've seen many times before, and now you're actually.

Holly Constant (07:41.773)
Okay, good.

Holly Constant (07:53.898)
Yeah.

brady smith (08:09.053)
in a working environment with them and that was really cool. I mean, I remember being really excited when I got the job. mean, as an actor, you you get jobs that you're really thrilled about and then you get jobs where you're like, all right, whatever, it's paycheck. And this was one that I was really excited about.

Holly Constant (08:25.184)
Yay. And was it written as a four, well, I guess three technically. Well, technically four, but it's three episodes that aired back to back. The last two did anyway. So was it written as a four episode character or were you just called back? They just called you back.

brady smith (08:42.653)
It was, I, they shot the first episode and then I kept, mean, it's the best feeling in the world. Also as an actor, kept getting, you know, phone calls asking you to return. So that's exactly how it went. I, you know, I ended up, I mean, I like you, I say four, was, it was three episodes, but what the last episode was a long one. So they broke it up into two part one and part two. but yeah, they just kept, can you hear my phone doing that or are you good? Okay.

Holly Constant (08:59.383)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (09:03.789)
Right.

Holly Constant (09:09.472)
No. I can't hear it. What's it doing?

brady smith (09:11.912)
Okay, good. keep getting, it's Friday. I just keep getting texts. So sorry. If you, I didn't want it to throw you off. But no, that was definitely it. was, the phone continued to ring and I continued to do, you know, cartwheels. It was great.

Holly Constant (09:15.434)
no, you're good.

Holly Constant (09:28.98)
That's so cool. Yeah, I always ask because there are some it's actually very rare that on Parks that the guest stars are written for more than one episode It's usually written as one and then they just keep calling you back if they like you or if they think of something for you But I feel like your character I mean the way that it's you know, the way that they made the arc could have absolutely been you know a four character or four four episode arc

But I mean, that's a really interesting BTS I feel to know that it was only supposed to be one. And then they just kind of kept going with it. How cool. Oh my gosh.

brady smith (10:03.242)
Yeah, yeah, it was only supposed to be one. Yeah, it was was great. I remember where I was when when the when the phone would ring because it'd be a number I didn't recognize and I'm like, I answer this? And I'm like, hey, yeah, I remember I'm blanking on who called me, but they called about the episode with Michelle Obama and Amy. And I remember I was

Holly Constant (10:27.518)
my god.

brady smith (10:30.25)
True story. I was in our yard We have four dogs at the time we had to regardless they all they still poops I was in the yard picking up poop and Phone rain I answered it. They're like, hey Brady just wanted to let you know we're gonna We're gonna bring you back. We have an episode with Michelle Obama Your character is gonna be introducing her to Amy and da da da da and I remember him talking But it just kind of like I remember

It's almost like the gerbil fell off the wheel, you know, I didn't I wasn't comprehending what he was saying necessarily I'm thinking oh somebody's gonna play Michelle Obama's fun and then you know what and he's like So, you know keep this on the download. Don't say anything We're gonna get back in touch with you. We're kind of Figuring out the dates and times and blah blah blah blah blah I think we're gonna have to go shoot in Miami where she is. Da da da and then I and I was like, oh great Yeah, cool and I hung up I remember standing there with a bag

I'm like, what just happened? That? What? Wait, what? Yeah. And then my agent called. She's like, my God. And I'm like, is that, we, am I? And yeah, sure enough, flew to Miami. It was so much fun. Yeah, she was great. Michelle Obama was like, just lovely. She was wonderful.

Holly Constant (11:34.803)
gosh, you're like in shock.

Holly Constant (11:46.997)
my gosh.

Holly Constant (11:52.814)
Yes, we did a whole breakdown on her because well and this that was another question about where they shot that because they're supposed to be in San Francisco in the episode but so it was in Miami you said?

brady smith (12:06.823)
Yes. And I mean, again, this was a while ago. So from what I remember, Michelle was doing one of those, you know, exercise. The let's move campaign. That's exactly it. So she was in Miami at a school doing that. So then what they did is they kind of morphed the school hallway into looking like a hallway in a government building. yeah, that was it.

Holly Constant (12:07.329)
Okay.

Holly Constant (12:14.294)
Let's move! It was the Let's Move campaign!

Yes!

Holly Constant (12:34.978)
That is amazing. Okay, because, no, go ahead, sorry.

brady smith (12:36.216)
Wait, can we?

I just, what I remember is I remember driving to set with Amy and a couple other people, I want to say the producer, director. I mean, there was a few people in the van, not many. And the van pulled up to the school and the guy, you know, slid open the van door and he was like, Hey everybody, super excited to have you. Michelle's a big fan of the show. Blah, blah, blah. Just a heads up.

Don't put your hands in your pockets. We have a sniper up there, up there and up there. Have fun. And I remember yelling, wow, whoa, there are snipers up there. And it was like, was, was, it was the real deal. mean, there were, you know.

It was the real deal. There was like people everywhere. It was cool.

Holly Constant (13:24.844)
That's wild.

Holly Constant (13:30.021)
my gosh, amazing. my gosh, I can't imagine that. Well, and so, okay.

brady smith (13:32.751)
Yeah, it was really cool, but also kind of like, whoa, this is crazy, you know?

Holly Constant (13:41.036)
This is legitimate, this is wild, you can't believe this is your life. well, and to not have that written in too. Rights.

brady smith (13:45.596)
Well, the secret service part, especially the secret service part, like I remember because because of where we shot that in the hallway, there wasn't a whole lot of room. So there was, I remember there were marks and if you like were off your mark, just by a smidge, you were going to step on the toe of a secret service agent. I mean, they were right there. It was cool.

Holly Constant (14:00.846)
you

Holly Constant (14:13.656)
So they were like right behind the camera.

brady smith (14:16.059)
They were very, very close. remember them being close. Yeah. And they were all wonderful. They were all laid back and cool, but it was, you know, they were there to do their job. It was, it was awesome. It was kind of like, wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Holly Constant (14:18.824)
my god. That is wild. do...

Holly Constant (14:25.87)
I mean, it's still intense.

Holly Constant (14:30.916)
my gosh. I mean, I remember Amy saying, or in my research, she had a, I think she was telling some magazine or something like this, or Michelle Obama was telling some magazine or something, that she was doing that. And then Amy, think, came out there to do the Let's Move.

like to help her or like she introduced her, she was involved in one of the events or something like this. And so that is all tracking and that all comes together now. Okay, great. And so how long were you out there? Like did it take, like how long did it take? Like a week? Less, do remember? Okay.

brady smith (15:05.384)
Not very long, I think a couple of days. I want to say, mean, again, it was a while ago. I know we flew there. You know, it's the time difference is three hours and went to dinner, went to bed, woke up, shot it. And then we might've flown back later that day. I don't remember. It was quick. It was a really quick.

Holly Constant (15:28.708)
my gosh. And in that scene, it's just you, Amy, and her. So it was just you three, like, hanging out in the van, right? It would have just been you and Amy, and I'm guessing maybe the director or something, but my god.

brady smith (15:34.076)
Yeah.

brady smith (15:40.059)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Holly Constant (15:42.316)
And how was Michelle like, my gosh, Mrs. Obama queen, woman of everything. You said she was nice, but like, how was she acting and like on her marks? mean, I feel like she would have everything down. Tell me about it.

brady smith (15:53.007)
You know, it was actually really funny. again, she was lovely, super down to earth, very, very self-deprecating and just cool. She was just cool, you know, like somebody you would want to spend time with. mean, I didn't ever feel a sense of hierarchy or, you know, any of that stuff. She was just really, really laid back and fun. I remember we did a take

Holly Constant (16:04.343)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Holly Constant (16:14.497)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (16:22.98)
And then, and she like crushed it. Really, truly crushed it. And then we're like, all right, great, cut. And then I remember her saying some of the fact like, was that it? Are we done? I want to do more. That was fun. And we're like, let's do more. That was fun. Yeah.

Holly Constant (16:39.982)
Yes, my gosh, that's amazing. And I mean, were you on the inside like freaking out or, cause you don't seem like it, you were definitely, you're cool and calm and collected on camera.

brady smith (16:52.857)
You know, I, there were.

I remember, it wasn't necessarily freaking out, but I had a moment where...

I had this self-realization of like, holy cow man, this is a unique...

memorable experience. in the moment, I was like, this is something, you know, this is something I'm getting an opportunity to do something not only really neat, but something that a lot of people don't get the opportunity to do. So I was grateful for that. But again, you know, in the moment, I'm just like wanting it to go well and not flub a line and, you know,

Holly Constant (17:19.976)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (17:33.42)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (17:47.864)
live truthfully in an imaginary moment and just do what I was hired to do. it was like, was, again, I keep saying it was on, but that's just kind of how I felt about the whole experience of being on that show. It was just kind of like jump in and go for it. And that's a luxury because a lot of jobs are not like that. So it was a lot of fun.

Holly Constant (18:08.265)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (18:16.296)
Yeah, and I mean, by this point, I feel like they were pretty much a well-oiled machine. And like you said, as long as they got what they wanted, like scripted, what was written, it was like they had time to play and, you know, mess around a little bit. So that makes a lot of sense. And I mean, at this point, were you a fan of the show before you got the audition at all?

brady smith (18:38.18)
So I have to be totally honest with you and I...

Holly Constant (18:41.635)
That's okay.

brady smith (18:43.78)
So I had never seen the show. And it wasn't because I didn't want to watch the show. I just hadn't seen the show at the time my wife and I had. When did this when was this was this 2014? So it was like. I'm trying to remember the date. Was it 2014? OK, so. So we had a three year old or two and a half year old, and that's kind of like where my headspace was. You know, it was like baby.

Holly Constant (18:50.755)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (18:59.598)
Yeah. Yeah, it was 2014, yes.

brady smith (19:14.105)
It was both my wife and I's first kid. We have two now. So everything, know, everything's a first, right? And that's where my head space was. To the point of even auditioning, it's like you get the material, you do your best. I personally, the way I look at auditioning is, and a lot of people do this, a lot of people don't, but the way I've always been is I go into the audition completely off book and ready to go. Because I feel like that's my job.

Holly Constant (19:19.607)
Yes.

Holly Constant (19:39.426)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (19:42.053)
is to know the material and not read it. That's just me. So I remember working on it, going to the audition, a couple, however many days go by, I get it, I'm excited, but I had never seen the show because it's like, you know, my wife and I were exhausted. We have a young kid. It's like, just retired, you know? I never saw Breaking Bad. I still haven't seen Breaking Bad. Because it was all right when we were having, you know, when we were...

Holly Constant (19:45.678)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (20:00.738)
Yeah!

Holly Constant (20:06.378)
my gosh.

brady smith (20:11.33)
young parents and new parents. the funny thing is that I very quickly became aware of the cultural phenomenon that the show is, you know, very quickly. you know, people are, I mean, look, we're talking about it right now and it was 12 years ago. It's a Falkers, you know, people love the show.

Holly Constant (20:12.418)
Yes. Yes.

Holly Constant (20:27.168)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (20:34.908)
Mm-hmm. Nuts.

brady smith (20:41.539)
So yeah, it just, it needs to be a part of, you know, I mean, I, again, so many years have gone by, I've done a lot of little roles in very big movies and then, you know, lead roles in smaller movies. So I've done, you know, a good handful of work besides Parks and Rec, but to this day, I will be.

getting a coffee or doing something and they're like Grant Larson to the point where I'm I don't yeah hey what's up man like people no but truly I remember the first time that happened in the episode had just aired or something I remember I was trying to squeeze in like lunch and

Holly Constant (21:14.318)
yeah, that's me.

brady smith (21:30.115)
I was somewhere off Ventura Boulevards. had to pick my kid up from preschool or something and I had very, very short period of time. So I'm just focused on eating as fast as I can. And somebody sat down across the table from me and I thought it was just typical like, is this seat taken type thing? And then whatever, no, have a seat. And he was like, man, this is crazy. And I fully, truly holly, I was like.

Holly Constant (21:57.12)
Are you talking to me?

brady smith (21:58.435)
And yeah, and he goes to Grant Larson. Unbelievable. It's so cool. It's just, know, when stuff like that happens, it's neat, but it's, it's, it's a little odd, you know, little odd.

Holly Constant (22:12.574)
Well, there's a line, there's a balance of like, this is really nice, but also kind of creepy.

brady smith (22:19.553)
You know, I've never, and again, I'm not saying either way is right or wrong. I personally have never been like a starstruck type dude. I realize that people are people. Some people just are in extraordinary situations, right? A lot of people see television and then when they are really familiar with the show or they see the show a bunch of times, you know, that person, that actor, that character becomes a part of their

Holly Constant (22:33.1)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (22:48.769)
almost like their existence sort of in a way. Like they're just very familiar and they feel like they know the person and whatever. And that's great. But I've never, I've just never been that dude. know, my wife has been an actress since she was like eight years old. And she's also been on some shows where she, you know, it's like a part of the culture, the pop culture. And, you know, I see the way people, they get really excited and feel like they know her.

Holly Constant (22:50.456)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (23:08.43)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (23:18.234)
and it's just a part of the, it's a part of the deal. So I never, I just think it's, I think it's cool that it struck a chord and that, you know, I got to be a part of a show that still has people talking, you know.

Holly Constant (23:34.252)
Yeah. Did he leave you alone eventually or did he stay for a while? Do you remember?

brady smith (23:39.841)
That guy, mean, usually, like I've never had somebody sit down at the table with me. That was a first and his only time it ever happened. And he was, he was fine. He was just, he was just like, whoa, you know, it literally was like that. think he was just, I don't know. He might've been on a few substances at the time. And he was just really excited to see somebody that he seems exactly. Yeah, that was it. He was pleasant.

Holly Constant (23:49.003)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (23:55.885)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (24:02.894)
Talk to Grant Larson. Oh my gosh. I am very a starstruck person. I mean, I think this podcast is helping a lot, but this podcast also like gives me a reason to like talk to people. Whereas sometimes when I see people out on the street, I feel like I'm bothering them, but also I am so enamored by them. Like, oh my gosh, this is such a tangent, but just really briefly, do you know who the comedian Mark Maron?

brady smith (24:13.73)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (24:32.854)
Mark Maron? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, yeah, I actually watched this documentary on a plane just a couple weeks ago.

Holly Constant (24:33.728)
Yeah. Yeah.

Okay, yes, my gosh, I did that too. I saw it on a plane as well. So he was in DC a long time ago. I took my mom, she's like, she knows him, but I'm the fan and I just wanted to bring her. And it was so funny, we were waiting outside and I didn't really realize that comedians just come out of the front and are just like.

normal dudes walking around and my mom is like, isn't that the guy we just saw? And I, was the most starstruck I've ever been. It was like so embarrassing. It was like frozen because also at this time he had his podcast. So it's almost like you, do have this parasocial moment where you're like, my gosh, I like know him, but he doesn't know me. But also he like bears his soul. So like, I totally can't talk to him because that would like, I'm just.

brady smith (25:13.772)
Yeah. Yeah.

Holly Constant (25:21.89)
He's just here for the show. And I just like get so twisted about it. But my mom was really sweet and she like kind of pulled me over and like we got a picture and everything and it was very, it was so sweet. It's so nice and gave me, just like you gave that guy at the time of day. Like you said, everyone's a person at the end of the day. Like, and if they're rude, I mean, that's really just showing their personality more than anything else. So it's like, yeah. And I haven't really run into a ton of rude people, but.

brady smith (25:32.674)
That's cool.

brady smith (25:39.202)
Everybody's a person.

brady smith (25:47.723)
That's what I was going to say. feel like if somebody is rude, know, like we're only here once, man, there's already so much negative stuff going on. I don't want to contribute to that. you know, sadly, I feel like it says a lot about that particular individual if they're not cool or kind. And I get it. Sometimes you're just like, dude, I don't whatever, but you don't have to be rude about it. It needs to be like, Hey man, appreciate you appreciating.

Holly Constant (26:01.237)
Hmm

Holly Constant (26:09.196)
bright.

Holly Constant (26:12.844)
Right. Right.

brady smith (26:17.708)
The so yeah. The starstruck that, sorry, something just popped up on the screen. The only time I've been starstruck was a couple years ago, we went and saw Wicked at the theater off Hollywood Boulevard. I believe so. I can't remember. My wife got the tickets and everything.

Holly Constant (26:18.338)
Yeah.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Holly Constant (26:35.342)
Mmm.

The Pantages.

Holly Constant (26:44.161)
Yeah.

brady smith (26:45.095)
I'm not a wicked kind of guy if you haven't picked that up. I had no idea what the story was. I had zero idea what was going on. It was my wife, my daughter, my son and I, and my son at the time was eight. And I remember when, when it was intermission and the curtains closed, I was like,

Holly Constant (26:46.928)
Ha ha ha ha!

Holly Constant (27:07.105)
no one's.

brady smith (27:07.541)
And I started to get up and my wife was like.

And I remember just going, oh man. Okay. So I'm six, I'm six, four and the seats were real little and I'm like kind of framped up and I was just, you know, whatever. So when the show ended, I was ready to go. And I remember, you know, everybody's filing up, going up the, the, the aisle and there was a traffic jam in our aisle. So I'm just kind of like.

Holly Constant (27:16.817)
oops.

Holly Constant (27:21.738)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (27:38.132)
Okay, yeah.

brady smith (27:39.969)
Let's go, you know? And my daughter was like, Dad, that's Luke Skywalker. And I was like, what? She's like, that's Luke Skywalker. And I'm like, Albie, damn, that is Mark Hamill. wow. That is so cool. you know, we, it was a traffic jam, but it was our only artery out of the theater. So we had to just continue trucking that direction. And when we got close to him,

Holly Constant (27:42.025)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (27:54.571)
No.

brady smith (28:09.824)
My daughter's like, take a picture with him. You gotta take a picture with him. And also I'm not wired to be that dude. I'm just, I'm not. And I was like, no, no, no, I'm looking at it. This is neat seeing him. We're good. And my wife's like, you need to take a picture with him. I was like, I truly do not want you guys to ask him for a photo. He's getting hounded right now. Hounded.

Holly Constant (28:16.429)
Right.

Holly Constant (28:30.03)
Yeah, with how crowded it is too.

brady smith (28:33.534)
I mean, there were, it was, there were 55 people around them. And then we eventually get kind of a hundred percent. It was crazy. It was crazy. Now where I'm going with this is, is going back to what we were talking about with the way individuals are wired. So by the time we finally got out there, it's been eight minutes, you know, I'm, I'm adjacent to them. And my freaking wife, whom I love more than life itself goes, Mr. Hamill.

Holly Constant (28:37.185)
Really?

brady smith (29:04.031)
my husband and just called me out. it was a weird moment because Mark Hamill recognized my wife, which was cool. And then he was like, oh, this is your husband. And I'm like, how's it going? And then my wife's like, he loves you. He's always loved you. You're Luke Skywalker. And I was like, I go, and he just kind of looked at me and I go, Hamill, think it is incredibly cool to.

Holly Constant (29:17.363)
brady smith (29:33.448)
to meet you, but I think it's even cooler that you're spending all the time with all these people, man. It just shows your true colors. And I think I just appreciate that because you're just, you're being incredibly engaging and open and kind. And he was like, well, that's the way it should be. Right. And when he said it like that, I was like, that is the way it should be because you know, he's in a position where so many people

Holly Constant (29:49.506)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (30:03.219)
I mean, you talk about people that think they know him, you know what I mean? Like generations of people. And he was so kind and he was taking the moment to truly address each person and give them their time where they can go back and say they talked to Mark Hamill. It was amazing. was, mean, I just, it impacted me. When I left, I was like, I even brought it up to the kids. was like, see that's...

Holly Constant (30:05.897)
Mmm, mm-hmm.

Yeah, with him. Yeah.

Holly Constant (30:24.087)
Yeah.

brady smith (30:32.211)
That's how it can be and how it should be. And it was amazing.

Holly Constant (30:36.044)
and how we can connect with people. And yeah, look, don't fault anyone for not wanting to take a picture on their off time or whatever. Like at the end of the day, I don't feel like owe us anything apart from like being an actor and providing the service that they provide. But like there are people, I feel like there are audience members who are like really rude. So in that regard, like to the celebrities. So in that regard, I get it.

brady smith (30:56.542)
Oh, 100... Absolutely. Yeah.

Holly Constant (30:58.722)
But like if you're just like what you said, my friend Chris and Logan are so good at this, they're just, we met Ron Funches, my God, amazing, another comedian. He was so nice. And again, like saying, just saying like, really respect your work, and like leaving it at that. I think that's totally valid and acceptable, and they like to hear that.

brady smith (31:19.934)
100 % and it depends on where and when you say it. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Holly Constant (31:23.636)
Yeah, that's true too. Yeah, like maybe not at a funeral or a graveside or something. Read the room. Right.

brady smith (31:29.148)
No, let's stall. Let him be. Read the room. That's perfect. There's a perfect way to put it. Yeah.

Holly Constant (31:36.334)
my gosh, well thanks for going on that tangent with me. my god, amazing. I was gonna ask if people recognize you from it, from Parks, because that makes the total sense that they would.

brady smith (31:41.768)
Okay.

brady smith (31:48.573)
I mean, if they're gigantic Parks and Recs fan, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, there's another show that I did and I only did one day on it, but it's always sunny in Philadelphia. And that also like cult following, you know, and I was only there a day. mean, one scene and still it's like.

Holly Constant (31:52.181)
Yeah, I love that.

Holly Constant (31:59.854)
Mmm.

Totally.

brady smith (32:11.612)
What's up? You know, they'll quote the line. They'll quote the monologue. I don't remember it. And people are like,

Holly Constant (32:18.542)
What I was gonna say, especially that show has so many episodes and so many guest stars, like, wild.

brady smith (32:25.852)
Yeah, it's this I mean, you know if there's a show that people absolutely love I mean, it's like it brings them joy and it brings escapism and it takes them out of their normal daily routine and I get it. I mean, you know when it when it's when the story turns Yeah, maybe so I mean it brings joy right totally anything that Can kind of brighten the mood. I'm down for

Holly Constant (32:28.246)
Amazing!

Holly Constant (32:39.96)
think it saves lives at the end of the day. I think it does. Yeah.

Holly Constant (32:53.248)
Yeah. And did you like know anyone on Parks before you got there? know because you've worked a lot in the industry. Did you know anybody personally or not so much?

brady smith (33:00.83)
I didn't know when he... So my wife was on a show called White Collar and it shot New York. So when my daughter, when our daughter was six weeks old, we had to move to New York. And I was buddies, or am buddies with a guy named Dan Finnerty who, you know, he's always recognized from old school and the hangover. He's the guy, the wedding singer guy that throws in all the profanity and stuff.

Holly Constant (33:08.984)
Okay.

brady smith (33:29.499)
and he's married to an actress named Kathy Najimy. And unbeknownst to us, when we moved to New York, we were basically one building away from each other. So Dan and I would just kind of hang out. And I remember Kathy had a New Year's Eve party. And this was probably, I mean, this was a good three, two years before I did the Parks and Rec episode. And I remember we were on the

Holly Constant (33:32.258)
Okay.

brady smith (34:00.006)
the balcony of their apartment looking out on the New York city lights. It was really cool. And Liza Minnelli's there, like all these like New York people, right? And I remember Amy Poehler showed up and through Cathy and Dan and you know, it's part of your just talking to people. We talked for a little bit and then, you know, again, I had a...

Holly Constant (34:07.489)
Hmm

Mm-hmm.

brady smith (34:26.834)
very young baby and I promised my wife I wouldn't be gone too long and then I went home and I was like, that was cool. Liza Minnelli, Amy Poehler. That was a total New York experience, you know? And then a few years later when I got the show, I never expected Amy to remember, you know, but I was like, I actually met you a couple of years back. She was like, yeah, yeah. And she, you Amy's just, you talk about laid back. She's incredibly cool.

Holly Constant (34:37.495)
Absolutely.

brady smith (34:55.707)
And then funny enough, I'm not gonna name where, but our kids, my daughter and her sons are in the same school, same grade, which is just full, you know, crazy. So I saw her at like a parent teacher conference. It's just crazy. like, you know.

Holly Constant (34:55.737)
my gosh.

Holly Constant (35:02.593)
You

Holly Constant (35:18.306)
That is crazy! The universe is wild, man. my gosh.

brady smith (35:22.361)
wild. It's very LA. It's very LA. I remember our daughter came home and she was talking about this very, very, very, very, very big celebrity that she bumped into in the hallway. I'm from Houston, Texas, right? Like this is very different from my high school experience. And I just remember having a moment like, what is going on? It's so crazy. It's so different. But yeah, it's the,

Holly Constant (35:41.07)
you

Holly Constant (35:45.808)
It's so crazy!

Holly Constant (35:52.07)
my gosh, talk about working with Amy Poehler. Like, just tell me about working with Amy Poehler and how that experience went.

brady smith (35:52.773)
where we are.

brady smith (35:57.72)
Amy was very, she's just awesome. mean, she's, you know, they're just incredibly, I keep saying the word cool and I sound like a broken record, but it's the perfect word to just, it really is. It's the perfect word to describe a majority of the people that I interacted with on that show. know, Chris Pratt was hilarious. Nick Offerman was wonderful and cool and open. I mean, they were all just very, very nice.

Holly Constant (36:07.038)
No, it's accurate!

brady smith (36:26.758)
But Amy, know, we had several scenes together and it was hard not to break character and laugh. mean, you know, it just would, especially when we would get the written dialogue out and then we would get to just kind of make up stuff. It was just super fun. You were talking about being nervous and I haven't thought about this in years, but the only time I felt like fully nervous was my last episode.

when I confronted the entire cast about Amy coming with me and they were all and they all kind of had their their beef with that you know but it was the first time where I was literally it was me against the whole cast you know and I had a second where I was because the way it was shot I'm in the elevator the elevator door is open I walk out and they're all like you know waiting for me

Holly Constant (37:24.215)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (37:26.715)
And I remember looking at the doors in front of my face and just having a moment like, man, here we go. Not like in negative way, but in a like, here we go. Like, know, and then we did the first take and then you're good. But it's like that first, the first take. It was actually super funny.

Holly Constant (37:34.446)
You

Holly Constant (37:38.242)
No, yeah.

Holly Constant (37:43.214)
It's a big deal.

Holly Constant (37:51.628)
The first intimidation to them staring you down.

brady smith (37:55.789)
Yeah, but it was only on me because they weren't giving off that vibe. was just like, you know, the way I look at guest stars, which is what I was, I guess I turned into a recurring, which is kind of neat to say, but, you know, ultimately I was a guest on that show. you know, I've been in a lot of situations, if you will, on a lot of different shows where the guest stars show up.

Holly Constant (38:01.436)
totally.

Holly Constant (38:13.582)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (38:23.343)
And they just kind of want to be best friends with everybody. they just want to, you know, like, and again, I just, I don't feel like I was like, I'm wired that way. Like I, I look at it like I'm a guest at somebody's house and I'm eating dinner with them. You know, I kind of speak when spoken to be polite, know my stuff, and then go home and have a good night, everybody. You know what I mean? And that's kind of how I looked at it.

Holly Constant (38:38.316)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (38:48.802)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (38:53.486)
whenever I would work with them. I wanted to do a good job and be open and friendly and, you know, play ping pong and bounce stuff back and forth with the improv. And then ultimately like I had a great time. Thank you for having me and adios, you know, not like linger by the trailer and be like, Hey, what's everybody doing after this? You know, that kind of guy. just, I don't know, you know.

Holly Constant (39:20.812)
Yeah, no, I hear you. Well, and especially in that last scene, you're not really even saying that much. They're just kind of spewing all these things at you, which I think is really funny too, because Maddie, my co-host, and I talk about this all of the time, you think that Leslie has gotten her binders out of the way, her questions to Grant, like just done and done, and Grant just keeps getting slammed, and he's like.

Okay, more binders. Okay, I get it. And I really loved the nonchalance and the openness you had with Leslie's character because I think that's the way it was written, but I do wonder, did you happen, or do you remember if you got any direction on how to kind of interact with her relationship-wise?

brady smith (40:05.274)
Not... Not really.

I'm again, I'm trying to remember. want to say that one of the directors said, great audition tape. Just keep doing what you did, which was incredibly sweet to say. However, you know, a few weeks had gone by. I didn't remember what I did. I was like, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. And then I remember like, wow. I have no idea. Like what I did. So I just was.

Holly Constant (40:19.969)
I know.

Holly Constant (40:37.644)
Yeah.

brady smith (40:49.303)
myself and just, you know.

Holly Constant (40:50.112)
Yeah, I mean that's kind what I was gonna ask too if you had if you were kind of like sinking into you Brady as Grant which it sounds like from talking to you it's very you know kismet I feel it's not too much acting you were doing.

brady smith (41:07.457)
Yeah, I could agree. I agree with that. Absolutely. No, I agree with that. you know, I think I said it a minute ago. I, me, I'm trying to figure out a way to word this word. Does it sound all uppity? And, because I don't mean it that way. I mean it to be anti uppity. I, the way I look at acting is that, and a lot of people might disagree, but I don't

Holly Constant (41:07.97)
Or how did you feel? Yeah, I guess I should ask how you feel if you feel that way.

Holly Constant (41:22.709)
No!

Holly Constant (41:28.846)
You

brady smith (41:36.558)
I don't think you need to make it that hard. Ultimately, it's just you're listening and you're responding and you're living truthfully in an imaginary world. That's it. I mean, it's something that you and I are doing right now. You say words, I hear you, I have an opinion, I say something back. That's it. I'm not one of those deep method guys that like, I need to live. It's like, come on, man.

You know, what's that funny that, that true story with, Laurence Olivier with Dustin Hoffman about Marathon Man. I mean, it's a very famous story where he, you know, he, guess, overheard that. And granted Dustin Hoffman was very young and like supercharged. I mean, this is like, I don't know. He might've been in his thirties, but he was running like miles and miles and miles before work, before shooting.

Holly Constant (42:03.703)
Ha ha!

Holly Constant (42:32.59)
Mmm.

brady smith (42:32.941)
because he was playing a marathon runner. And Laurence Olivier heard that and he was like,

called acting.

But again, I think every artist has their process and I think it's whatever, look, what it boils down to is you do you however you feel like you're accomplishing it, but be kind. That's my only thing. I can't stand when people are not. And I've done many, many shows where the stars, the series regulars are complete tyrants. And I remember

Holly Constant (42:49.368)
Totally.

Holly Constant (43:00.076)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (43:16.183)
Every time I get in my car and I'm driving home and I'm like, man, what a, just a bummer. It's a bummer, you know? Like they should be high-fiving every butterfly that flies in their general direction because they're doing something that ultimately a lot of people don't get a chance to do and a lot of people want to do, you know? And they're making their living as an artist, as an actor. And some of them make very, very, very, very, very good living. So.

Holly Constant (43:20.302)
Like why does it have to be that way? Yeah.

Holly Constant (43:37.993)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (43:44.844)
What's there to be bummed about, you know? Anyway, that's my high board, so I'm stepping off now.

Holly Constant (43:47.358)
Yeah, totally. mean, every... No, I do agree with that in that, I mean, yeah, everybody can have their bad days and everything, and just because you're rich doesn't mean you can't have bad days, all that kind of stuff. But that is one of the things that Mike Schur is famously known at, well, famously on our podcast that I say all the time, that his one rule for all of his shows are no assholes. And I'm like, that's a great rule. And I think that trickles from the top down.

Like Amy was fantastic and so was Mike and they were all just like willing to be there for the, doesn't like just willing there for the teamwork. I mean, that's really, it doesn't matter if somebody random on set had a joke. It was just like, what are we doing in service to the show, to the story, to the everything and why can't we just like have a decent time with it too? You know what I mean? Yeah.

brady smith (44:30.838)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

brady smith (44:35.852)
Absolutely. I mean, you can have a bad day and that's completely normal, but it's how you react to other people when you're having that bad day. You know what I mean?

Holly Constant (44:42.125)
Yeah.

Yeah, and like you said, the bummer part of it, it's just like, what the F, dude? Just ruin the whole day for everybody. You know what I mean? It's crazy. But yeah, that's why I love hearing about Parks and Rec. Yeah. Yeah, because...

brady smith (44:51.596)
Yeah, no, it didn't and it kind of guards

I love that, you know, I have to tell you, in prep for us talking, I don't know if it's the algorithm or however social media works, but I have recently been getting these, these Parks and Rec blooper videos, you know, on my, on my feed and I've been watching them and I'm like, golly, it's just so dang funny, man. I love it.

Holly Constant (45:18.465)
Love.

brady smith (45:27.381)
I love it. I remember, I think like a week ago, you know, I'm just scrolling, it's before bed, whatever, you got 15 minutes, just kind of downtime, decompress. And one of the actual bloopers from that scene I was telling you about where I was confronting the entire cast was there. And it just brought so much back. I was like, God, it's so funny. I mean, the only time I...

Almost

broke and and and ruined a tape because I I laughed was was Chris Pratt's reply because they were asking me you know you work for the government you should be able to do anything like what can you do and and Chris Pratt Chris Chris Pratt asked if I could bring Power Rangers back and I I freaking it took everything in my power to not

Holly Constant (46:16.726)
Yeah, because you were a Power Ranger. You look like a Power Ranger.

Holly Constant (46:28.43)
you

brady smith (46:30.721)
Gaffaw, like just... It's so funny. man.

Holly Constant (46:34.926)
You know what, I have a funny story about that. So we just reviewed Unity Concert, your last episode. I believe it was like, we took a little bit of a break. I think it was like about a month ago that it came out. But when we were researching that, 2017 is when they rebooted Power Rangers. And 2017 is the year that they skipped to in season seven after your episode. And it was like this f-

crazy universe moment. was like, that's not real. And I was like, my God, Grant Larson brought back Power Rangers. You did it, man.

brady smith (47:05.355)
Yeah.

brady smith (47:08.81)
He did it. He completely did it without even realizing I did it. I totally did it. It's amazing. Grant.

Holly Constant (47:15.703)
So crazy. So when you were were you in the in an actual elevator? Do you remember? Because you were saying the doors were in front of you

brady smith (47:24.918)
Well, the doors were in front of me. remember the doors opening, but it was a set. mean, it wasn't like two story. No, I don't think so. Again, I'm like kind of operating on memory here. I don't think there was a rise or a decline. It just kind of the doors open, but I remember they were reflective. And to add to my moment of nervousness, I'm like looking at myself, looking back at

Holly Constant (47:29.28)
It doesn't like it go down or anything. Yeah, okay, Okay, gosh.

Holly Constant (47:38.049)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (47:41.742)
That would make sense.

Holly Constant (47:52.546)
Yes.

brady smith (47:54.186)
You know what I mean? I remember that you're like completely stainless steel, almost mirror reflective.

Holly Constant (48:01.298)
my gosh. That is funny. my gosh. Well, and I mean, speaking of bloopers too, like that's one of, feel Amy Poehler's best times is the Michelle Obama moment because she like freaks out and does her whole voice facial expression thing. That would, to me would be the moment when you would break or at least that I would break on set. Do you remember that day? Like trying to break or trying not to break?

brady smith (48:01.856)
That's so funny. Yeah.

brady smith (48:14.977)
you.

Mm-hmm.

brady smith (48:21.332)
Yeah.

You know what I, I'm remembering, I'm remembering stuff just by us talking about it. I remember right before, you know, because Michelle's doing her thing and you know, they're setting up the lights, they're setting up everything, you get the cameras in situation. They're like, you know, Amy and I did a run through of where we're supposed to be and then where Michelle's gonna be. then, and then we were off to the side and Michelle was over there. We met her.

very briefly or talked to her very briefly. can't remember, might've met her before, but regardless, we spoke for a second and then it was go time. It was like, okay, please take your marks and action. And right before when Amy and I were to the side,

Holly Constant (49:01.816)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (49:13.526)
And I'm kind of like in my head, like, you know, like thinking, okay, this is what I'm supposed to say. And I remember Amy, like had this moment where she kind of grabbed my shoulders and she was like, mean, right? What? Right? What are we doing? And I was like, I don't know. And then action. then we walked up did it. And I want to say we only did it like three times and then,

Holly Constant (49:43.455)
Amazing.

brady smith (49:43.935)
And then that was it. And it was like, everybody have a great day. That was awesome. But I remember Amy had a moment of like, like what? And I'm like, I know. And then we went in. It was cool.

Holly Constant (49:47.406)
my gosh.

Holly Constant (49:56.12)
Like I can't believe we're doing this. Yes, my gosh. And so, I mean, I think... go ahead.

brady smith (49:59.112)
Yeah, it was exactly. It was that. Yeah. No, no, no. What you said, I can't believe we're doing this. It was like a moment of like, you know, even.

we were all in the same bandwidth of like, wow, this is cool.

Holly Constant (50:12.908)
Yes. So it really wasn't acting on Amy's part, feel, when Leslie's like, you are from Chicago, so you like it. Like going crazy about it.

brady smith (50:22.406)
It was, yeah, it was, it was, it was just a really neat moment. Yeah. She was, it's funny. I mean, it's, it's a funny scene, you know, and like, you know, an actor has a reel, that your team sends people to whatever, hopefully get you more work. on my reel is that scene where it's like, where it's like, well,

Holly Constant (50:33.205)
Yes.

Holly Constant (50:38.862)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (50:48.0)
as it should be.

brady smith (50:52.798)
think about it and then I walk off. was so fun. And then she just kind of puts her head in. That's great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Holly Constant (50:55.598)
my god. And then she puts her head against the wall. And just like chuckles to herself and kind of maniacally. my gosh. And I just also like, that's one of the things that I love about parks too, because the way that they intertwined the parks in real life and the...

developments and government in real life, what Michelle Obama was doing was such a huge game changer. When we did a breakdown on her, I mean, I don't think people really understand how influential she was in the park system, but also how influential she was with the childhood obesity rate and school nutrition programs and things like that.

getting out and hiking like she says in the show. So I just, that part I think is doubly layered for me because not only is it one of Amy Poehler's best performances ever, it's just like what the show does best is create this imaginary world that is based in truth and is really just so well done and well written.

brady smith (51:56.276)
Yeah, and everybody was kind like I haven't seen or spoken with Nick Offerman since But I'm like man. I would hang out with that dude. He he was just so

Holly Constant (51:59.019)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (52:11.864)
He's cool too, to use that word again. Yes. Amazing. So cute. Do you remember also having the scenes with, there was two other guest stars. You introduce Amy or Leslie to two guest stars at lunch. And it's like Liam Bonneville, the resident bad boy. And do you remember that scene at all?

brady smith (52:13.032)
He was just awesome. He was just so awesome. Yeah, he was so awesome. Very nice guy.

Holly Constant (52:39.306)
I'm wondering if that's in Miami or if Miami was just Michelle Obama and you did the rest in LA.

brady smith (52:42.484)
I remember the resident, I remember that description. This is the resident bad boy. Weren't they at a picnic table and we were, were they at a picnic, were they sitting in the evening? Okay.

Holly Constant (52:55.552)
Yeah, and like you're...

Holly Constant (53:00.682)
They were at a restaurant. Yeah, they were sitting and eating. They were at a restaurant. It was outside. you... Okay, because that was your line where you were treating these people like famous celebrities, but they could be your colleagues. And I was wondering if that was in Miami, too, or if that was in LA. Do you remember? Okay.

brady smith (53:07.24)
Yeah, I remember that.

brady smith (53:19.207)
No, that was in LA. Yeah, that was in LA. The only thing that we shot in Miami was the hallway scene with Mrs. Obama. That was it. Yeah. That's funny that you said that line. I remember that line. The resident bad boy.

Holly Constant (53:26.272)
Okay, okay, amazing. Okay, got it. And then

Holly Constant (53:33.486)
Well, you know what? He is so nice. I actually spoke to him. Well, we didn't have an interview, but he sent in some voice memos. He was so nice too, and he actually told us that they did some fucking around with the name tag, and he flipped his name tag upside down because he's the bad boy. And I was like, you're such a nerdy bad boy though. It is funny.

brady smith (53:38.888)
How did you?

brady smith (53:51.635)
It's funny.

That's funny. You know, I again, I haven't seen I haven't, you know, I haven't watched any of this in over a decade. And so it's really fun for me to hear you saying this because I'm like, yeah, the resident that, you know, it's just

Holly Constant (54:09.432)
Dude, you gotta watch it. Do you have peacock? I'll give you my login. I mean, that's what it's all on.

brady smith (54:13.221)
We do have Peacock. We got Peacock. That's funny. I think I have the DVD right here in my desk. think I have that episode, that season. Yeah, wow. It's funny. It's like a walk down memory lane.

Holly Constant (54:18.85)
Yeah, because it's all on there.

Holly Constant (54:24.838)
my god.

Holly Constant (54:28.362)
Amazing Well speaking I Know I mean I think the more you talk about it the more you remember it because it was so long ago But speaking of picnic tables, okay So this was another question I had so picnic table you were on a picnic table with Nick Offerman and or no Maybe it wasn't Nick Offerman. It was Amy and Adam Scott

brady smith (54:38.493)
Hands down.

brady smith (54:47.739)
Adam with Adam Scott. Yep.

Holly Constant (54:49.814)
Yes, at the Unity concert. And I was gonna ask you if you had any memories about the Unity concert too, because from our research, it showed that they really made it seem like a full-on festival. And I'm just curious what your remembrance of that day was, if you were there for multiple days, kind of what the vibe was.

brady smith (55:09.106)
I can't remember if I was there for one or two days. I remember being really, really pumped because where they shot it was like a seven minute drive from where I live. And I remember being like, sweet, you know, because obviously driving in LA is just not a good time. It's a mess, traffic. So I was thrilled about that. I remember that at night they shot

Holly Constant (55:17.068)
Mm-hmm.

Ugh, amazing.

Holly Constant (55:26.134)
mess.

brady smith (55:36.324)
a lot of footage of the festival, like the concert and stuff. Again, going back to what I said earlier, I kind of show up, I do my thing, and then I'm like, have a good day everybody. I didn't hang out, I didn't stay around for the concert, but I remember watching the episode and I was like, sweet, they got some actual concert footage. When I was there, it was in the daytime obviously, and they had a bunch of background actors.

walking around and stuff, but it wasn't the actual festival part. I think that was later.

Holly Constant (56:09.902)
Mm-hmm. Okay, gotcha. So you didn't stick around. Okay, that's one of the questions I had. Well, I don't know if they, yeah, I'm sure, I don't know if they would have said like, yeah, that's fine, or what they would have said, to be honest with you, so it's fine.

brady smith (56:14.13)
I did not. Yeah. Again, we had a bit.

brady smith (56:23.058)
I can guarantee you they are a laid back cool bunch and they'd be like absolutely hang out. That's another way that they're wired. They're just laid back. mean it was...

Holly Constant (56:37.708)
Yeah, well, and especially for that episode, they had, like, the most extras I think they've ever had for the show. It was, over 400 people. I mean, so you could have blended in. Yes.

brady smith (56:38.609)
was awesome. Great experience.

brady smith (56:46.609)
Wow. See, you have all the factoids. Like you, I should be asking you questions. You're the one who, you're like that 400 people they shot at night and yeah, like I didn't know that, but there was a lot of people there, a whole lot of people.

Holly Constant (56:59.182)
Yeah, crazy. I mean, we are definitely like going deeper, I think, than any fan ever should. But I mean, we're not the only ones on. It's crazy. These little factoids and like trivia moments I find on IMDB are so hilarious. That's how I found the Power Rangers thing. was like, somebody found that out before me because it was on IMDB, like just on the trivia. That's a fun fact that I don't think a lot of people know about IMDB. If you scroll down, there's a little section that says trivia and quotes and soundtracks. And it's this whole thing. And I love BTS. I mean, that's one of the reasons I started.

brady smith (57:15.047)
really?

brady smith (57:25.445)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Holly Constant (57:29.206)
this because I just love hearing behind the scenes stuff. But yeah, that's hilarious.

brady smith (57:34.801)
I got a BTS for you on the Power Rangers subject. I am friendly with an actress named Erin Cahill. I've done a movie with her. We've just stayed in touch. She's lovely person. And she was one of the first Power Rangers.

Holly Constant (57:37.069)
Yes.

Holly Constant (57:41.591)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (57:46.39)
Okay?

Holly Constant (57:53.262)
No. That's awesome. Okay, great!

brady smith (57:55.9)
Yeah. Which I also haven't thought about it forever, but there's a lot of Power Ranger talk right now. And I was like, Erin was a Power Ranger. I did, I did. I keep forgetting that I did that. Erin Cahill. Yeah, she was, I believe the, I don't know, pink or red Power Ranger. I'm not sure, but she was a Power Ranger back in the day. Yeah.

Holly Constant (58:01.646)
I Well you brought Power Rangers back, it was gonna come up. Wait, what's her name?

Holly Constant (58:11.36)
Erin KU. Okay.

Holly Constant (58:18.222)
Yeah, Amazing. That's amazing. I love that. Okay, what I am gonna ask too is a question I ask all the guests is I know that you haven't watched a ton of it currently or whatever, but I am wondering...

brady smith (58:30.257)
Okay.

Holly Constant (58:37.034)
Who do you relate to the most on the show? Like for example, I relate the most to Leslie because I feel very organized but sometimes chaotic but I try to be really generous and try to just do the right thing. And my friend Maddie relates a lot to Anne even though she has some Leslie tendencies. So for you, what would your character be out of the main cast? And it can't be Grant Larson.

brady smith (58:57.945)
Wow.

brady smith (59:04.601)
I mean, I guess there would be parts of Nick Offerman's character and parts of Chris Pratt's character, just because I feel like we're in the same demographic and probably wired. I mean, I just remember the stuff that they find funny, I find funny. can I do a combo? Can I combo it? I know that also feels like the easiest.

Holly Constant (59:11.662)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (59:26.55)
Yeah. Yes, of Andy and Ron, absolutely.

brady smith (59:33.433)
It feels like the easiest answer and I apologize, but just off the cuff, would probably say those dudes just because I feel like the very little time that I spent with them, were, they were laid back kind people. And that's kind of like how I try to go through my day. So that would be my answer.

Holly Constant (59:35.745)
No!

Holly Constant (59:49.578)
Yeah, absolutely. think that's a great answer. I love that. And do you remember, I mean, I meant to ask this earlier, but it's just coming back to me. Do you remember any of the improvs that you did or improv lines that made the cut or do you just remember playing?

brady smith (01:00:07.447)
I remember one improv where...

Again, try and remember exactly, but I think when they being the cast, when they're confronting Grant Larson about not wanting me to take Leslie away, they kind of like would ad-lib stuff like, can you do this? hence, Nick off, mean, hence Chris's, can you bring Power Rangers back line? And I want to say that Nick,

Holly Constant (01:00:19.886)
I know.

brady smith (01:00:46.411)
said something about can I change the, I'm butchering this, but can I change the weight of fishing, like the weight where you get to keep the fish or something, you know, like can I change it from this many ounces to this many ounces? So the regulation, whatever. And I remember my line back that I just kind of threw out there. I was like, you fish. And he was like, yeah. And I was like, do you fly?

Holly Constant (01:00:54.484)
yeah.

Holly Constant (01:01:00.908)
Yeah, like the regulations, yeah.

Holly Constant (01:01:15.79)
That's great!

brady smith (01:01:17.536)
And I remember they in true form, like Nick Hofferman looked at me like, how dare I assume that he fly fishes like that's so below him. You know what I mean? And he just, didn't even say anything back. He just looked at me and I remember going, sorry.

Holly Constant (01:01:35.531)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:01:41.294)
No.

brady smith (01:01:43.957)
And then I remember Chris said, he doesn't fly. He's a man. And then it was like, just kind of off to the races. So stuff like that. But again, it all, it all happened. mean, true in the moment improv, whatever it's, it's, it's organic and it's happening fast. you know, there's zero,

Holly Constant (01:01:50.326)
my god.

I love that.

brady smith (01:02:12.515)
like premeditation involved. So it's hard to remember because it's not a planned thing. just is a something that like, if I, if I went back and rewatched a bunch of episodes, I'm sure I'd be like, yeah, that's funny. I remember that.

Holly Constant (01:02:14.38)
Mm-hmm, right. I know.

Holly Constant (01:02:28.49)
Right, or like that wasn't in the script or whatever, yeah.

brady smith (01:02:31.651)
Yeah, yeah. Or just the, you know, I remember the scene with Amy at the diner when she, you you said the binders, like I had completely forgotten about that. And she had all these binders and I remember all that. And it was just funny. It's just funny circumstance, you know? I mean, the scene where she has a black eye.

Holly Constant (01:02:41.166)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (01:02:53.075)
Mm-hmm, yes.

brady smith (01:02:55.407)
And I don't remember the dialogue, but I just remember how freaking funny that was.

Holly Constant (01:03:03.309)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:03:03.886)
trying to keep a straight face, you know, and just trying to get through the scene without cracking up. Like that was, that was kind of my goal and keeping it, you know, real to the, to the moment and, you know, situation, but not.

Holly Constant (01:03:07.448)
Totally.

Holly Constant (01:03:14.806)
Yeah, well, and the way that they stretched it out to to have you like be able to come back so often and then create the chemistry in order to improv and in order to have that kind of relationship is always nice because a lot of times with improv, especially on these shows, like you don't know the people because a lot of times you're just there for one day. So you just kind of have to roll with whatever chemistry you have. And a lot of times if you have an improv background, you're really good at that. But the gift of being there for so long.

brady smith (01:03:29.186)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:03:43.662)
or not so long, like, know, long enough, longer than one episode is really nice. But that black eye episode, you're right, was hilarious. And that was where she had the big necklace too, to try to distract you. But again, going back to like the length of how long, the length of how long you were on, I think that episode in particular was like, I need an answer. And you were like, you know, I've...

brady smith (01:03:57.805)
That's best part.

Holly Constant (01:04:09.368)
given you time, you've asked all your questions, like I need an answer at this point." And she was like, okay, I'll think about it.

brady smith (01:04:11.853)
Yeah. Yeah. The neat what I remember.

vividly is just continuously getting a phone call to come back. And that was just the, it was just phenomenal. And you know, a majority of the time I was shooting, since there were so many cameras, you know, they have all these different angles that they can edit and cut to and stuff. So it wasn't.

Holly Constant (01:04:28.012)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:04:46.54)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:04:48.46)
Like other experiences that I had on set where you're there for fricking hours, hours and hours and hours. You see the sun come up, see the sun go down. This was not the case. I remember parking and then coming back to my car and like, was that two hours? And being done and having the whole day and not even knowing what I'm going to do with the day because you know, my kids in preschool, I don't need to pick her up until so and so. And my wife is like,

see you later tonight because you know I'm working and that's just the norm you're gone all day. I just remember moments like that where I'm like man they got it like it's just it's seamless and that was that I mean maybe it was three maybe it was four but I just remember it being super duper duper quick you know I'd show up 100 % I was in hair and makeup they put me in wardrobe do I need to shave no you're good I'd go out we'd shoot it

Holly Constant (01:05:28.994)
hours.

No but-

Less than six for sure.

brady smith (01:05:47.789)
I mean, you don't even know what like that was also the most freeing thing for me because Even though you don't want to be aware of where the camera is you have to be aware of where the camera is You know what I mean for the light and whatever and you're not Blocking anybody but with that experience I had zero white I mean it was a hundred percent just talking and focused on the other person which is what it should be but again, I was

Holly Constant (01:05:59.851)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (01:06:17.485)
completely oblivious to wear cameras and it was just it was really cool it was was it was awesome I loved it I have nothing but good memories looking back at it

Holly Constant (01:06:26.53)
Yeah. Do you feel like that helped you stay more in the moment, like more in the present to not know where the cameras are? Because I could imagine like knowing where the cameras are. You're like, OK, I'm on camera. But with that mockumentary style, it might seem a little bit more real. I know we talked about that kind of, but I'm just curious.

brady smith (01:06:45.322)
Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, look, you're going to be aware of the camera. You know what I mean? You know you're on set and you know that you're saying what the writers wrote. And ultimately the writers are the funny ones, right? Like, I mean, the actors are funny, but they're saying the lines that are funny because the writers wrote them, you know? So you're, you're, you're

Holly Constant (01:06:50.978)
That's true. You know you're on set.

Holly Constant (01:07:11.16)
right.

brady smith (01:07:13.888)
privy to all that information, but.

It just, it just was a different vibe. Maybe that's the best way to say it. Like I'm aware, I'm aware that there are cameras there, but I don't, but I'm not worried about them. Maybe that's the best way to put it. You know, because when you, when you're doing a multicam or you're doing, or, or one camera, especially like, know, that it takes, you know, there's so much time goes into the camera setup and the lighting and you have to be where you're supposed to be.

Holly Constant (01:07:20.096)
Yeah, unique.

Holly Constant (01:07:26.144)
Yeah, totally. That makes. Yeah.

brady smith (01:07:47.142)
or it doesn't work for the rest of the people involved. And there's so many people on set that are there to do their job. And you don't want to, at least the way I look at it, is I'm aware of other people and I don't want to be a hassle for them. Like I want to do what I'm supposed to do. And then again, not to be a broken record, but say thank you, good stuff, and go home.

Holly Constant (01:08:14.35)
Now I have heard from other people that Amy likes to rehearse her line sometimes were you guys doing that at all the scripted stuff Do you remember?

brady smith (01:08:22.057)
I'm sure that we were, but I don't remember it necessarily like.

like it happening a lot, you know what I mean? I'm sure we...

Holly Constant (01:08:31.03)
Yeah. I mean, your stuff was shorter, but still.

brady smith (01:08:36.041)
Well, just also, I feel like, you know, we probably set our lines and then, but I don't remember it being like a necessarily like a rehearsal, if you will. Most of the time with my part, like they had already been shooting for a couple hours and then they had gotten to my scene and then we shoot it and then it was a very well-oiled machine, you know? Or I'd be first up, or I shouldn't say I, but.

Holly Constant (01:08:46.87)
Yeah, totally.

Holly Constant (01:08:59.723)
Absolutely.

brady smith (01:09:04.341)
the scene I was in is first up and then you do it and then that's when you go home and you have the whole day. it was phenomenal. Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:09:09.942)
Yeah, totally. I love hearing when people on set of my favorite TV shows want to run lines or from the guest stars that I've talked to on this show, just because it's like, I don't know. In my head, it's like back to they're all humans too. We're all just people. And I'm like, that's so nice to just be like, hey, you want to come run lines even though I'm the lead and I'm the star? Let's just run lines. I'm a normal person too.

brady smith (01:09:28.159)
Yeah. Well, yeah, it makes you feel. It makes you feel. It makes you feel also like you're part of a collaborative effort, right? Like you are a part of that. You're a cog in the wheel. You're a part of it. You know, I've worked with a lot of actors that love to rehearse and I'm always for it. And then I've worked with people who you don't even talk to. You show up on set.

Holly Constant (01:09:40.492)
Yeah, absolutely.

Holly Constant (01:09:45.249)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (01:09:58.002)
you say the written word and then they turn around and walk away. Or on your close up, they have their stand and stand there and you're talking to. So it, you know, I mean, yeah, I've had that happen many times where you're like, that's jacked up.

Holly Constant (01:10:02.06)
And you're done.

Holly Constant (01:10:09.972)
Isn't that crazy? I've heard that before. It's so wild.

Holly Constant (01:10:18.158)
acting with the person we're not having a connection at all it's like I might as well just sent in my audition tape and you can use that for your footage yeah wild my gosh okay last no go no no no you go it's funny with the audition

brady smith (01:10:24.19)
No.

brady smith (01:10:28.958)
Yeah. Yeah. You know what's funny? What we all do. go ahead.

Well, you just said audition tape. You just said audition tape. And I was actually talking to a couple of friends about this, I think like a couple of days ago. A director friend of mine, my son loves to skateboard and I've got back into it. So we go to the skate park and skate together and it's super fun. One of the other dads that goes as a director and we were just kind of having a conversation and we were talking about like the self tapes and how there's no more in-person.

Holly Constant (01:10:56.994)
fun.

brady smith (01:11:06.606)
auditions or at least for me it's been very rare. And he brought something up that I never really thought about where he was like, you know, it's hard for me as a director because these self tapes come in and they're, know, whoever we decide to get has done a great job. Hence that's why they get the role. However, on the day when they're filming, when they say action,

and the person does the exact same thing that they did on the self tape. If the director's like, that was great, but let's try it like this. Nine times out of 10, they can't because they have not been working in the moment, right? Like that's, the self tape, you have the luxury of, if you want, you can do 150 takes and then pick the best one. And the director does it.

Holly Constant (01:11:53.1)
And they're not used to getting direction. Yeah.

brady smith (01:12:05.768)
necessarily know that. when you're in person and you're auditioning and the casting director's like, that was great, try it like this. You try it like that, you know, and it's a give and take, right? And with the self tapes and all that stuff, and again, this is just my opinion, but I agree with the director of Printed Mind. It's like, it's losing the...

Holly Constant (01:12:33.72)
the craft a little bit. Yeah, that too.

brady smith (01:12:33.93)
for lack of a better word, humanity of it all. What about the humanity of just like, of having a conversation with another person, you know? And not being in your head. Like that's the, that's the part, right? Like being open to making it life and not a mannequin, you know, just robot or something.

Holly Constant (01:12:40.558)
Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

Holly Constant (01:12:52.91)
Totally. know and like feeding off of people's energies is such a huge part of the job and like you said collaboration but Yeah

brady smith (01:13:01.02)
It's what you do all day, every day when you talk to somebody. It's you're feeding off the other person. You're having a conversation, you know? Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:13:08.96)
Yeah, totally. I mean, so I'm an actor too, and that's the thing that I've definitely, in all my classes, they've said this, but I've been trying to take it into account as well, whether it's voiceover, commercial, TV film, whatever, like to not do more than three takes, because you just don't, it doesn't change. Like you think you're doing it differently, because you're like, I'll just, on the fourth take, it'll be a little different. It's not.

It's just like you and your, again, like you said, you're so in your head and also to just kind of practice that what the audition process is actually like instead of like, I can make it perfect, I can make it perfect. Because that's not real either, you know?

brady smith (01:13:31.186)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:13:46.61)
Yeah, and nine times out of 10 when you're on set, I mean, you have to be available and go with the flow. You're not in your room with the iPhones on a tripod in front of you. It's not necessarily 100 % controlled environment, which is what makes it exciting. It's a collaborative art form. There's a lot of people doing a lot of things at all times.

Holly Constant (01:13:47.64)
wild.

Holly Constant (01:13:57.293)
Yes.

Holly Constant (01:14:02.924)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:14:16.168)
You you have to be, again, broken record, but you have to be open to that.

Holly Constant (01:14:21.548)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely.

brady smith (01:14:23.804)
What were you going to ask me? You one last question.

Holly Constant (01:14:26.562)
yeah, one last question. Okay, so I saw that you were in two episodes of The Comeback, not the most recent one, but The Comeback, and I was wondering, I didn't actually see your episodes, because I just saw this before we got on, but I'm curious how that was, and if you remember your experience, did you get to work with Lisa Kudrow? Tell me.

Holly Constant (01:14:45.406)
brady smith (01:14:45.896)
I love that you know all this stuff. It's so challenging for me because...

I'm like, the comeback.

Holly Constant (01:14:52.716)
You don't remember, do you?

brady smith (01:14:57.614)
Yes, I do know. So my wife and I are friends with Dan Bukatinski. My wife has known him for years and we're actually pretty friendly with him. My wife had a cooking show on Food Network a few years back and Dan did an episode of it and we've known him forever. And Dan, when...

Holly Constant (01:15:03.15)
Okay. Who's that?

brady smith (01:15:26.344)
via Instagram when he posted about the comebacks coming back and da da da. You know, I just replied back. I was like, dude, congratulations. This is amazing, man. Like so cool. And he was like, he responded back something like, like, yeah, you, you, will always be a part of its history or something. And I didn't know what he was talking about. I was like, cool.

Holly Constant (01:15:50.318)
Okay.

brady smith (01:15:52.968)
And he was like, yeah, no. And then he said my character name or something, which I think was, if I remember correctly, it was Mike from Dan's reply to the Instagram message or something. So I don't, I don't remember doing it. I remember auditioning for it. I do remember auditioning for it because it was one of my very, very, very, very first auditions. And I remember going in.

to the audition and, you know, Dan, before I knew Dan, because I don't even think, I don't know if I was even dating my wife at the time. I think I, I don't remember. Anyway, I remember Dan was behind the desk, Lisa was there, and you know, the producers and whatever, director and stuff. And I remember being, like the moment I told you about before the elevators opened, Right, I had been doing stuff for years before that.

This was one of my firsts. So it was like nervous times a hundred. I remember wondering if they could hear my heart. I was so nervous because, you know, I was doing it from Elisa Kudrow and I was just like, what? And I think I remember that more than actually acting. I remember there was something like.

was on I remember there was a file cabinet in the scene or something like I just remember I don't know if there's have you seen footage of it I don't know if I've ever even seen

Holly Constant (01:17:22.958)
I'll have to go back.

I haven't watched it yet because I just saw it before I got on with you. was like, my god, you were on the comeback. Because I might think it was a while ago.

brady smith (01:17:32.645)
Yeah, that was like 10 years before Parks and Rec. mean, that was like 20 years ago or something crazy.

Holly Constant (01:17:40.47)
And watching it, Lisa is so good, my God, but watching it is heartbreaking sometimes because the way that that dude treats her, but like she wrote it that way. And there's all these jokes that she says too, where she's always like, you know, first of all, people just didn't really get it. Execs didn't get it, whatever. But secondly, people would always kind of ask her like, I think it was Conan, because her and Conan are friends and I've listened to them on each other's podcasts or on his podcast. But Conan was like, who's like making you say this stuff? Like, who's writing this? And she's like, me.

Like I did that, but it's because like they're like, it's so awkward. A lot of it's very cringe like, but this was like a different kind of cringe than The Office, but in the same kind of vein. And so I didn't, I didn't stick with it. But again, I started watching that so long ago. And so I really need to watch it again. But I just saw it on IMDB and I was like, my God, because I'm a huge Friends fan as we most of us are, but I love Lisa Kudrow very much.

brady smith (01:18:11.836)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:18:22.875)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:18:36.134)
That's funny.

brady smith (01:18:41.006)
Yeah, I remember I think that it has been 21 years since the second season of the comeback and like it's been like the longest in between of a show's return or something like 21 years or something totally bonkers. Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:18:49.122)
Wow.

Right.

Holly Constant (01:18:57.902)
I know, it's wild. yeah, that's funny though that you just remember being nervous.

brady smith (01:19:01.786)
This is fun. Tell me what else I've... Tell me what else I've done. I don't remember.

Holly Constant (01:19:07.746)
Well, you've done a lot of procedurals, a lot of CSI stuff and NCIS, all that kind of stuff.

brady smith (01:19:11.43)
That's... I have done a lot of CSI. I'm a tall guy and I think a lot of the times people just find that if you're taller you can play more menacing, I guess. I don't know. So I feel like a lot of the CSIs and the... You know, I did Grey's Anatomy last year. know, play a bad guy. Which is always fun playing a bad guy. So I don't feel like I'm a bad guy. feel like I'm a pretty nice guy.

Holly Constant (01:19:25.119)
Interesting, okay.

Holly Constant (01:19:31.662)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it's always nice. And be different from your normal everyday. Okay, so is there anything that we can promote for you or talk about for you? your paintings out right now? Are you selling them? You said there's a website?

brady smith (01:19:40.612)
So you get to, you know, do stuff.

and be different. Yeah. Those CSI, man.

brady smith (01:20:00.847)
There is a website. Yeah, my website's just my name bradysmith.com. Thank you. And then my Instagram obviously is always funded for me if you throw that in there. But yeah, no, the books. mean, the books are super important. I feel like since all the writer's rights and all this stuff, but like,

Holly Constant (01:20:06.381)
Okay, I'll post it in the show notes.

Holly Constant (01:20:14.391)
Peruse.

Holly Constant (01:20:20.952)
yeah!

Holly Constant (01:20:25.569)
Yeah!

brady smith (01:20:29.829)
This is a young reader graphic novel. It's 203 pages long. And it's like, I wrote and illustrated it and you know, it's just, it literally just came out. Like it's, it's the, it's my eighth book since 2019. So it's a new, it's a young reader graphic novel series. This is book two. Book one is Maxwell Dark Nightmare Hunter.

Holly Constant (01:20:35.277)
Holly Constant (01:20:43.905)
That's amazing.

Holly Constant (01:20:48.033)
What's it called?

brady smith (01:21:00.099)
was Maxwell Bark, Bad Blood, and basically, my wife and I's son a few years back was having horrible night terrors, like horrible night terrors. And I came up with a character, basically a 12 year old boy who has the ability to travel into other kids' and help them fight what's scaring them.

Holly Constant (01:21:21.313)
my god, that's so cool.

brady smith (01:21:23.653)
that's the book series. So yeah, we're pitching it. See what happens pitching it as a show. So yeah.

Holly Constant (01:21:25.727)
Wow.

Holly Constant (01:21:30.861)
my god. Do you think animated or action?

brady smith (01:21:38.541)
I, you know, I think that it could work both ways.

I have another young reader graphic novel series called Louie and Bear in the land of anything goes and it's skewed for a little bit younger audience and we're trying to make that a show as well. That's definitely animated. Maxwell Dark I feel like could be either, especially with the popularity of like Stranger Things and Wednesday and all that stuff. you know, the entertainment business right now is very, very...

Holly Constant (01:21:58.601)
Okay. Okay.

Holly Constant (01:22:05.557)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:22:15.908)
It's just, I want to say fragile and funky. It's just a weird, weird time. With all the streaming, people like myself, know, a majority of the income is from residuals and with streaming there is no residuals. So it's, and also it's weird. It's like there's less, I can only speak for myself, but there's less

Holly Constant (01:22:20.845)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (01:22:45.964)
opportunity. So my wife just did a show that was picked up and comes on later this year on Disney, Disney Plus. So, but that was shot in Vancouver, you know. So my point is, is that I'm not very good at sitting still. And again, I got my degree in fine art.

Holly Constant (01:22:55.277)
Mmm.

Holly Constant (01:23:00.395)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:23:11.436)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (01:23:12.428)
So I am just incredibly grateful that even when there is slow down times as in the showbiz acting universe that I am incredibly creatively fulfilled doing these books. it's the books are joyful, but the hardest fricking thing. I mean, it's like.

more work than you can shake a stick at. But I'm grateful for it. But it's like, you know, I'm writing a book, but not only writing a 200 page book, I'm drawing it as well. You know, it's like, so I'm.

Holly Constant (01:23:49.183)
Yeah, it's long. And the amount of detail that goes into graphic novels is insane.

brady smith (01:23:56.067)
I feel so lucky to be able to do it. really do because you know, I feel like I'd go bonkers if I didn't. I joke that the reason I started doing books is because I'm just not good at waiting for phone calls from agents or managers and stuff. I want to feel busy and I want to feel like I'm being creative on a daily basis. So it's painting and writing and drawing and all that.

Holly Constant (01:24:13.461)
Yeah. Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:24:21.013)
Yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah, so do you have like an author, a writer's agent as well and a publisher and all that kind of stuff too? Okay, great. That's awesome.

brady smith (01:24:31.617)
I do. I am rep'd at UTA with by literary and then all of my books, every one of the books is published by Penguin.

Holly Constant (01:24:41.612)
my gosh, congratulations, that is so cool.

brady smith (01:24:45.539)
Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. It's like what I've been doing for

in my whole life drawing and stuff. But the first book I think came out 2019. So yeah, I've been doing it since then. My wife and I were on a show called Alexa and Katie on Netflix. My wife was one of the series regulars. I did, I think eight episodes. And I remember working on the book. The only reason I brought that up is because that's how long ago it was that I did the first book.

Holly Constant (01:24:54.829)
Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:25:00.065)
That's awesome.

Holly Constant (01:25:07.213)
Mmm.

Holly Constant (01:25:20.225)
That's so wild, my gosh. Well, I know a lot of people with kids, so listen, there is an audience for it. And that's so sweet and so cool. Has your son read them? Like, have you read them to him, you know, about his story or how it was inspired?

brady smith (01:25:35.383)
Well, he likes to take ownership and brag about it, but like with anything, your kids will humble you very quickly. So, you know, he's like, yeah, whatever. My dad wrote a book. Yeah. Pretty much.

Holly Constant (01:25:38.049)
Ha ha ha ha!

Holly Constant (01:25:47.223)
Like whatever man, that's fine. I don't even care.

brady smith (01:25:52.835)
I had some, this is a true story and short suite, promise, but I did some, a guy that likes to ride skateboardings and the culture and all that, I love vans. Vans are my favorite shoe, I love them. So I did some vans last year. I did a pair of lace ups and a pair of slip ons with my art on them. They were released. Super cool moment for me. I did some vans and I remember

Holly Constant (01:25:57.644)
No.

Holly Constant (01:26:17.643)
Mm-hmm.

brady smith (01:26:22.284)
Fans sent me a bunch of the shoes for my family, my wife, my daughter, my son, in their size. And I remember opening the box and I'm like, check them out. And my daughter, I quote, looks at them and goes, I don't wear fans. Okay? And then my son looks at them goes, they don't come in high top? And I'm like, wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow.

Holly Constant (01:26:45.804)
my god.

brady smith (01:26:50.323)
So they keep me in check is my point.

Holly Constant (01:26:55.137)
my God, that's so funny. Have you seen Tina Fey's talking about her kids where she relates it to having like an office crush where you'll go up to your kids room and be like, so like, think we're gonna have like dinner later maybe. Like if you wanna come, it's totally fine. If not, it's like not a big deal. It's like whatever. But like it'd be really cool. It's such a good related, like relation, you know.

brady smith (01:27:09.313)
That's funny.

brady smith (01:27:18.495)
Yeah, it's definitely more like that with our soon to be 16 year old daughter for sure.

Holly Constant (01:27:23.149)
Mmm, maybe it's more of a teenager thing. Yes.

brady smith (01:27:25.857)
Yeah. Yeah. The 10 year olds like, I'm hungry. What are we having? know, boy. Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:27:30.445)
Yeah, love that. Were you about to say something about CSI by the way? I feel like I cut you off.

brady smith (01:27:39.283)
No, think no, no, no, I was just saying the CSI is like I You know, those are the gifts that keep on kind of given. I mean, they just are they continue They're just there's so many of them, you know, and I feel like I've done I mean, I don't even know I I've done most of them, you know as a guest star you show up You're either the killer or you were killed Or you were mistaken for the killer and not the killer

Holly Constant (01:27:46.701)
Mmm.

brady smith (01:28:08.802)
But you know, those are shows that are network TV and they're residuals. So they're, you know, it's a blessing. Same with Grey's Anatomy, you know, like I've never watched Grey's Anatomy. It's just not my, it's just not my thing, you know? And I know a lot of people love that show.

Holly Constant (01:28:12.887)
helpful. Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:28:20.919)
Not your jam.

Well, listen, you've got a lot of seasons to catch up on, buddy.

brady smith (01:28:28.811)
That's the thing. It's the gift that keeps on giving. it truly, mean, my goodness. mean, I think I did it last year and I think that was season 22 or something. It's, and it all shoots in LA. So it's like really good for our city, you know, and the wardrobe people, the gaffers, I mean, everybody that's involved, it's like a great job for them. So I'm just always, I'm,

Holly Constant (01:28:40.573)
nuts. Wild.

Holly Constant (01:28:55.093)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:28:57.993)
The way I'm wired is I want people to work and I want it to be a good thing. I'm not one of those, I know some actors that are like, damn it, I can't believe you got that. I totally was going after that. I've never been like that. I've been like, dude, that's awesome. Try to be supportive.

Holly Constant (01:29:05.761)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Constant (01:29:15.243)
Yeah. If there's room for you, there's room for me, all that kind of stuff. Yeah, totally.

brady smith (01:29:20.287)
Yeah, I mean, ultimately, you know, it's. Any anybody that is going to put themselves out there and try to make it as an artist, I have complete. pulling for him, you know.

Holly Constant (01:29:34.453)
Yeah, totally. Unless they're a terrible person, then you're just like, you don't need this. I do. No, I'm kidding.

brady smith (01:29:40.405)
Well, and I also feel like unfortunately in this business, lot of the times for terrible people continue to work. And that's my only beef, man. I'm like, know, but it's the way it's, it's we are, we're fighting the good fight. We're fighting the good.

Holly Constant (01:29:45.965)
Fail upwards. Yeah.

Holly Constant (01:29:53.653)
We're holding down the fort over here, okay? We're trying. Yes, and I think that's, yeah, necessary. you know, Amy Poehler and Mike Scherr are coming out with a new show called Dig. I don't know if you've heard of it. It has not come out yet, but you know, the reason I'm bringing that up is just because there are people that are not assholes and that are just like doing amazing. I love Amy's podcast, Good Hang, if you haven't listened to it yet. Ugh, it's so good. And she has on a lot of Parks people too.

brady smith (01:30:16.222)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:30:20.98)
I've seen clips of it on Instagram. I've seen clips, yeah.

Holly Constant (01:30:25.427)
Yes, she just interviewed Nick Offerman, who's in an Apple TV show where he plays like a retired MMA fighter or whatever, which I haven't watched yet, but it's a good episode.

brady smith (01:30:32.874)
Yeah.

I saw him playing the ukulele on the clip that I saw.

Holly Constant (01:30:37.237)
Yes, that's exactly right. He's good. He's so good. It's really fun. And he wrote that song and because he goes on tour with Megan, Megan Mullally, his wife sometimes, and they like open for each other or they'll have their own show. And they do like, you know, kind of a variety show with, you know, music and dialogue, monologues, whatever. So, yeah.

brady smith (01:30:42.112)
That's awesome.

brady smith (01:30:55.017)
Yeah.

brady smith (01:31:00.8)
awesome. All right, well, Holly, this has been fun. I feel like I got a chance to walk down memory lane with you. mean, it's been super, super fun to talk to you. Thank you.

Holly Constant (01:31:01.835)
Well, I just appreciate you so much. Thank you so much for be-

Holly Constant (01:31:12.993)
Thank you for your time. appreciate it so much. We'll tag you in all the show notes and get you on Instagram and everything. I really, really appreciate your time and thank you for being our Grant Larson.

brady smith (01:31:21.201)
Absolutely.

brady smith (01:31:25.216)
You're very welcome. All right, Holly. Well, thank you. Have a good weekend. You too. Okay. See you later. Bye-bye.

Holly Constant (01:31:27.149)
Have a good night. Yes, you too. See you soon. Bye