9021One-On-One: Joey Slotnick

It's nine Ogen Onegin with Jenny Garth and Tory Spelling. Oh you guys. Today we have Joey Slotnik with us. Best known for his roles in some big movies like Twister, Blast from the Pass. He's been on a ton of TV shows and we are so happy to have him with us. He played Tuck right right season five.

The unreal world is now about to be a real world because we're going to interview him. I'm so excited. Hey here we Hey, Oh my god, what the talk? You look the same, Joey.

Hi everyone, Hi Joey.

Thanks for taking some time out of your day to be with us.

Oh my god, my pleasure.

You're a busy man. You've always been a busy man. I think you came out of the womb a busy man.

Well, I'd like to think that I'm as busy as everyone thinks I am. But yes, I'll take.

Go with it, go with it. Wow, it's so nice to see. We had just watched the episode.

In season five Everybody last week.

In Real World where you play the character of Tuck.

Yes, which was odd because our producer and co host Amy was talking about her hemorhids and were like talk.

Oh, sure, as one does normal.

But we were enjoying your performance, and you were really good at riding that bike, and you looked really cute in that hat. I don't know have you revisited lately lately than wow?

You know it's funny because I think I had when I came into the audition. David Semmel directed the episode. And when I came into the audition, I had said on my on my special Skills it said that I could ride a unicycle, which I did in college in a show. And he said, can you still can you ride a unicycle? And I said, yeah, yeah, and I if I remember, there was a unicycle on set and I could not ride it as well and as quickly

You like you circled dress rounds there that would have been hard to do on a you.

Cycle, and it was, and I was very I got very nervous. I was like, oh no, I'm gonna be fired. This is not I can't do this, and.

I lied, I can't assumed you were offered that part. I assumed for some reason, which is weird that you were friends with Priestley.

Like, no, no, Tori, that's a wonderful assumption, but no, I auditioned for that part. That was like the second or third thing I did. I think when I was in.

I know you so much.

I just wait, it was the second or third thing when you started acting. This was the second or third thing you got.

Yeah. When I came to La Yeah, wow, sorry, I did an episode. My first thing was an episode of Allen, and then I did some commercials and then yeah, when I was was one of the first things.

Oh I love that.

How was it walking on to set all of us there, like, not just working with one or two like we were all there.

I mean it was great. You know, I didn't I didn't watch the show as much as like my sister, who was a ginormous fan, so I was like, okay, you know this is I think. I was also nervous, just because it was one of my first gigs. So it was, you know, wanting to be good, wanting to everyone to like me and know all those things that an actor goes through. But everyone was really kind and I remember having a good time once I kind of got into it.

Mm hmm. That's good. So when you started as an actor, you studied acting and you studied improv before you ever moved to LA or after you moved to LA.

No, I did. I went to UH. I mean, I started in children's theater and I was about eleven, and I did acting all through high school. And then I went to studied theater at SMU, Southern Methodist University.

My dad went there.

Oh yeah, yeah, that's so funny. They had a wonderful theater program. And I did that. And then I'm from Chicago originally, so I came back to Chicago and did theater and started a company, started working with a company called looking Glass and yeah, and then I I kind of made the move out to LA.

And how long was it once you moved that you got your first job? Do you remember?

I came out for almost nine almost a year. I did it. My first movie was Not Was a League of their Own.

Wow.

I was in that. And then I when that came out, I came to LA and I was like, yeah, huh, and nothing happened, and I went back to Chicago for almost a year, and then I came back and I roomed with still one of my dearest bestest friends, David Swimmer, and we were roommates, and we were roommates during his first year of Friends.

Wow. What year?

Wow, you were roommates with Ross?

I love it.

Yeah, And so then I would just I would you know.

Oh my god, you were his Joey but literally.

And I yeah, I just started auditioning for stuff and had you know, got some how got side pocketed by an agent, an amazing agent, Paul Rossicker, and and yeah, just things started to happen.

So well, that's nice that you still you said, you guys are still friends to this day and keep in touch with him.

He's amazing.

That was like thirty years ago.

It's a good guy.

Yeah, well we're part of the same theater company. I mean, yes, it's it's yeah. Good.

May I ask why were you never on Friends?

That is a good question. That first season, I'm not sure. But then I got onto a show called The Single Guy, which I.

Know Jonathan Silverman, Yeah, which was.

Great, after which lasted a couple of years after kind of that same after Friends, timestop. But I don't know why I wasn't on Friends. I should have been, duh.

Do you know when you went to audition for the show that it was based off the real world San Francisco character of Puck.

Yes you did. No, I did know that, and so that was kind of yeah, because I mean, the real world was was huge back then, right, and that wasn't that the second season? The same Francisco was the second season?

I think seems like it, no idea. I would think that he.

Just threw some trivia in there that we don't know where.

It was the first season in New York, New York. Okay, m interesting that they would go to San fran for the second season.

Okay, I believe that was the second season.

You're right.

So then there's one scene at the beach house where you come in and you see that Brandon is dressed like your character, and Brandon stood there laughing at you uncomfortably for us, it was uncomfortable to watch. Do you remember the laugh? Was that a real laugh from Jason? Do you remember he just kept.

Going amongst the million things you've done since this is what he remember? We were, Yeah, Well.

Well, do you think his laugh was like making fun of the actor playing the character or do you think he was just Jen.

Heard a bit of his real laugh coming.

I couldn't tell.

So I don't know. I don't know. I think I remember remember maybe being a little nervous, like is he laughing at me or with me?

Or oh wait, you guys had to redo that because it was it didn't line up correct. I feel like it was like the third time you guys had to redo it. So he was laughing.

Am I oh like three like three different takes? Is that what you're saying?

Yeah, because they needed that like perfect, and it just like timing wise and everyone doing their thing wasn't working.

Maybe I'm just glad I didn't mess up the take.

But it kills me to think that you were in your head thinking is Jason Pracy laughing at my knees? Or is he laughing at my character? Because I was I was thinking the same thing watching it.

For ten years, So I thought you were thinking that for ten years.

No, no, and then yeah, that was it. That was the last we saw of you. But that was not certainly not the last of your extensive resume.

You are his career.

Wow, you a lot. That's got to feel good.

It's good. It's good. I would like to work more, but yes, it's good.

I think everyone says that.

Sure, my kids would kill me if I didn't ask which voices you did in Family Guy?

Oh, Family Guy. You know it's funny. I did the first Yeah, I was on the first season. I think maybe the second or third season, I played like, oh, maybe there was a Daryl Holland and John Oates. I played one of those guys. I played man at Circus. You know. I played all the parts that all the funnies that that I that Seth didn't do. You know, Seth does like fifteen or feels like fifteen voices an episode.

Tell us what you've been up to. I know you just had a movie come out, didn't you.

Yes, I did this Ethan Cohen film called Drive Away Dolls, this crazy, wacky lesbian road trip comedy, and it came out in the theaters. It opened on the twenty third, I think, yeah, and I play I play a hit man. And it was a great phenomenal experience doing it and I've gotten. I've been lucky because Ethan is also a wonderful playwright. So I've been in about four of his plays and we've done most of those in New York City, and then we did one at the Taper in Los

Where are you living right now? Are you calling us from New.

York, La? I'm calling you from Chicago, Illinois, from your home land home?

Yes, I as well, am from Illinois. Are you We're part of Illinois Champagne or Banna area outside of there. Sure, woods. You could have found me in the woods. But you're from the city.

Yes, born in the city and then and then I grew up in Evanston, Wilmett and yeah, and then moved around a bit. Yeah.

Nice. So you're home visiting family.

I'm assuming no home home because I live here now.

That's it permanent.

Yeah. I was in New York for my wife and I weren't well. She was. She was in New York for a long time. But I was in New York for about fourteen years. After being in LA for like twelve years and then yeah, we thought this would be a good place to settle for a bit. We have a daughter and she goes to school right across the from she she's seven, seven.

And you get to walk her to school like normal people.

Like my youngest just turned seven, so good age. It's they're no longer babies and they're yeah, little tiny adults that challenge you and make you laugh and very clever.

Yeah, she's just grown up right in front of my eyes. That's pretty wild.

If you could say, like, what was your favorite TV show, like just limited to TV shows, if you could say what was your favorite TV show that you were ever on? What would it be because you were on a lot of them.

Oh that I was ever on for an extended period or just like yeah, yest spotter.

But you will like to have a lasting memory from because and also there are going to be so many more but that have been on.

I mean, I guess you know. I had a really good time on The Single Guy. That was one of my first things that was big and that was really fun. I did have a good experience on Boston Public, This David Kelly Show, High School. Yeah, yeah, high school teacher. That was a great experience. You know, Curb Your Enthusiasm that was just one episode, but that was really fun.

I mean there's oh my god, what did you do on Curb Your Enthusiasm?

I played Larry had an assistant played his her boyfriend and she and she was really concerned with my character and not really doing her work. So Larry had to come to my work to.

Try and get me to Okay, Oh the best.

I love Curve your It's pretty fabulous.

Well, these are those are all good options, great shows.

On Nip Tuck, Who would you play?

I played a very bad I like that doctor named Merril Bobbolett.

Who is do you remember job?

I can't believe I just found that name in my head. Yes, who was uh you know, I mean not the most up and up plastic surgeon. Well, no, I think there was a while he certainly he got a little waylaid.

But yes, what do you do?

Oh? Because he started to do I think there was an episode where he had to he was trying to work on a dog, like there was a niptok that he had to do with a dog or something. I have to I would have to go back in my my rolodex of shows.

He was a bad doctor. Yeah, he wasn't great, bad guy, bad guy, but.

He was full of confidence, so that was good.

I want to know this. I want to know since you've done so many different forms, different ways of you know, acting on theater, in the theater and in TV shows and in movies, like which is your favorite platform?

Theater, theater, no doubt about it, and why you know, just that's how I started doing a play. There's nothing better than doing a play. There's nothing better than than rehearsing for four or five weeks and with a group of artists performing. It's always different every night, and there's that strange, wonderful repetition, the illusion of the first time and you're doing it again as though you've never done it before. You've never said the words before, you've never

There's nothing like it. Yeah, I've always wanted to feel that feeling. I've never done theater, but you should, a lot of people have said.

That great energy and the audience and.

The camaraderie, like you said that, just like common goal that you have as a cast every night, and you have to you have to depend on one another to make it happen. It's not just about one person, no, completely, and there's there's no cutting, there's no recess.

No exactly.

Mm hmm.

Yeah, it's great.

I love that.

Well, you're awesome.

It's so good to catch up with you.

Thank you, thanks for having me. This is really fun.

Tell ILLINOI hello for me.

I will definitely do that.

Shout it, shout it to them. I love that. Thank you for coming back and sharing your Tuck memories with us.

Sure, I know. I want to go back and watch the episode.

It's cute.

You should.

It is fun. It's fun to go and if anyone wants to slide into your d MS, we're big fans of that at Instagram it's at king slotty s l O T T.

I was looking at you thinking I would let you be my plastic surgeon. Like if I if you walked into the room, I'd be okay with it.

Appreciate it. This is another career I got to think about.

Look at do not say that lightly?

So yeah, oh, thank you so much. Joey appreciated.

We'll see you.

I'll see you you too, Bye, Thank you bye. I mean he's he's trustable, that face.

I'm a fan.

You were you found out for a second a little bit, a little bit like it is like he's that guy that you look at and you've seen him a million places, yes and everywhere. Yeah, he's cool. That was fun.

That was great.

Thanks Joey Slotnik for your interview.