Maile Flanagan (Naruto, Piggley Winks in Jakers) | AW 52 - podcast episode cover

Maile Flanagan (Naruto, Piggley Winks in Jakers) | AW 52

Apr 20, 202242 minEp. 52
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Episode description

We’re back and better than ever! To kick off the second season of Alicyn’s Wonderland, we are joined by the one and only Maile Flanagan, best known for her prominent roles, including Naruto Uzumaki in the English dub of iconic anime series Naruto, Piggley Winks in Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks, and Terry Perry in Lab Rats. Maile has also made guest appearances in several popular television shows such as Shameless, The Office, and Grey’s Anatomy. 

In this episode, we jump down the rabbit hole and take a walk down Maile’s memory lane, where she takes us back to the very beginning with incredible anecdotes from her early life spent all over the world, to her collegiate days in Boston College, and becoming a part of the comedy troupe and hanging out with Semisonic before they blew up in the scene. Maile and I also talked about her work, including how she booked the job of voicing Naruto in the English dub. She talks about the time when she won an Emmy for her performance in Piggly Wiggly. 

Timestamps:

[2:42] Maile talks about her early life and college 

[4:04] Why moving to Minneapolis turned out to be an awesome decision

[5:59] Maile’s interesting neighbors 

[8:31] Maile talks about her on-camera roles

[9:37] How Maile balances her career

[13:47] Becoming Naruto

Follow along with Alicyn's Wonderland on:

Instagram: @Alicyn

TikTok: @alicynpackard

YouTube: Alicyn Packard

Twitter: @Alicyn 

Alicyn's Wonderland | Inside the World of Animation & Games

Transcript

Alicyn  

Welcome to Alicyn's Wonderland. I'm your host, Alicyn Packard. Join us as we journey through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole into the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. 


Hey, do a girl a favor, and please subscribe to this podcast and go on iTunes and leave us a good review. If you like the show, please help spread the word. It really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much! 


Welcome to Alicyn's Wonderland coming at you live from the Real Voice LA Studios. I want to say welcome. Thank you guys so much. This is actually our first episode in the Studios today. So it's going to be a very exciting day. 


I want to ask you guys to all please subscribe on YouTube because we've built such an awesome community on Instagram and I would love to help build that community over here. So go ahead and smash the Follow button. Today we have a very special guest the one and only Maile Flanagan. So let's welcome Maile!


Maile Flanagan  

Hi! Thanks for having me.


Alicyn  

Hi. Gosh, it sounds like... I love the way you spell your name. M-A-I-L-E. I also have unique spelled name. It's A-L-I-C-Y-N. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. 


Alicyn  

So I'm curious. Is there any story behind that?


Maile Flanagan  

Not really. It's Hawaiian. I was born in Honolulu. So that's that means like when you get to away I think you get a Miley Lei. And it also means Mary, you know that everyone thinks it's Irish. Because my last name Flanagan. They're always like, "Maile Flanagan!" you know, but I'm always like, "Yeah...". I don't bother to correct them. I think it's an Irish. 


Alicyn  

Oh, that's perfect. But it's such a like a nice mashup of who you are. I mean...


Maile Flanagan  

Right. And thank God for Miley Cyrus because now I could just say, Miley, and then like, oh, Miley, you know, whereas before, it was impossible for me.


Alicyn  

I mean you guys are practically indistinguishable. So that like...


Maile Flanagan  

We're the same. We're the same. Yeah. 


Alicyn  

She looks like by the way he or she is doing... Oh, yeah. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, she's, uh, everyone I know who has worked with loves her. 


Alicyn  

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan  

So I don't know why she gets so much heat because she's really from what I hear. She's totally cool and hard working. And yeah...


Alicyn  

When you're that hot, I guess there's gonna be some haters. 


Maile Flanagan  

I know. 


Alicyn  

Exactly. Preaching to the choir! So you grew up in Hawaii, but you also grew up all over Europe. You were in Austin...


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, not really. I didn't really grow up in Hawaii. Though I'm going there in a month. Whaaat? 


Alicyn  

Whaat?


Maile Flanagan  

To HawaiiCon. Yeah, I know. And then I'm gonna blow all the money and stay on the Big Island for like a week. Yeah. But so I was born there. Then we moved to Florida for like a year, then back to Hawaii. And then when I was about five and a half, I moved to Bangkok. And -


Alicyn  

What was that like? 


Maile Flanagan  

It was great. I love it. We live there. And then I moved in March - March 20th. And the end of the end of fifth grade. I moved to Nurnberg, Germany. That was interesting. And then I moved to - huh?


Alicyn  

Culture shock? 


Maile Flanagan  

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, also, we were like riding horses and Bangkok. And you know, we had, like, we lived on this great house. We had servants, you know, the whole thing. And then we moved to this military temporary quarters. It was It was awful. Like on the sixth floor, there were old maids quarters and till we got our house. Then we moved into the Red Barons Commander's old house, which was not on the housing area. And it's a long story. It was it was hard at first, but then we moved to Munich. Then I went to college in Boston. So I go back and forth from Boston to Munich.


Alicyn  

You know, I'm from Boston.


Maile Flanagan  

I know. 


Alicyn  

That's amazing. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, right.


Alicyn  

You went to [unintelligible]?


Maile Flanagan  

I went to BC.


Alicyn  

 BC! 


Maile Flanagan  

Come on. 


Alicyn  

My bad dude. 


Maile Flanagan  

Come on.


Alicyn  

Dude. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, wait,


Alicyn  

So but I heard your mom and your dad both had Boston accents. 


Maile Flanagan  

They did. But they didn't live there for like 30 years. I mean, they were it was so thick. They're both from the Boston area. Then I moved. After college. I lived for like a year on my sister's pull out chair in DC. 


Alicyn  

Pull out chair... Not even a pull-up chair. 


Maile Flanagan  

Not even a pull-up chair! That I was waiting to become a spy, which we'll talk about later. And then then I decided to read for my comedy like college comedy improv troupe, and booked us all over Cape Cod. And then we decided to stay together and we voted on where to live one day, hungover sitting on the beach, just, you know, show hands throwing darts at the beach. Yeah, one guy was like from Minneapolis. We're like, Alright, let's move there on. I think it was supposed to be like October 1. 


Alicyn  

It's like a less intimidating city. You know? 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. 


Alicyn  

New York. Hmm!


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. Well, yeah. 


Alicyn  

LA. Uh...


Maile Flanagan  

That's exactly what it was. Yeah. Yeah. And we didn't want to stay in Boston. 


Alicyn  

You get to shine. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. And so we see what the people were from the Midwest. They went and got us a house. And we all drove out there, got jobs and put up a show.


Alicyn  

Wow. That's amazing. So your improv troupe in at BC. It was like one of the oldest improv trips in the country?


Maile Flanagan  

I think so. I mean, I'm sure Hasty Pudding at Harvard is...


Alicyn  

Oh.


Maile Flanagan  

But they're not improv, really. They aren't, are they? I don't think they do improv. I don't know actually wasn't that old. One of the one in Minneapolis that I did eventually do some shows with is one of the oldest.


Alicyn  

Wow.


Maile Flanagan  

 Like I think it's older than Second City even but for our college troop, it's like, you know, it was only in its second generation I helped get it going because the seniors graduated and stuff and then but after us came like Amy Poehler and you know, she was in it, but not when I was in it. She's younger than me. She was like with some of the people that I did it with, but yeah.


Alicyn  

That's amazing. 


Maile Flanagan  

I don't know her. I think I, one time I met -


Alicyn  

Can you get Amy on this show? 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, I introduced myself to her. She's like, hey, yeah, great. Yeah. I mean, she was nice. But yeah.


Alicyn  

You're like, Boston! 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. Hello. I actually do know quite a lot of people that know her well, but yeah, and she was eating dinner. We both went to the same restaurant that was closed, and then we're all standing around looking for another restaurant. And so finally, I've seen her a lot, just out. But finally I said, Hey, I just want to tell you, you know, I want to be seen as a fleabag. She's like, "Oh!", and then I sent somebody she's like, "Who?" you know... I don't know if I said the wrong person or what but she's cool. We all wanted to eat dinner.


Alicyn  

Really please. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. 


Alicyn  

Yeah, so now when you moved to Minnesota, I heard you guys had some really, really interesting neighbors!


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. So next door. We were the comedy house. We all lived together till we all started fighting each other.


Alicyn  

Post college frat. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, it was.


Alicyn  

We're like the comedy house. 


Maile Flanagan  

'Till y'all don't get along. But next door was the rock'n'roll house. And it was the guys from Soul Asylum and the Jayhawks. And then who we hung around with was Semi Sonic, and all those guys. 


Alicyn  

That's amazing. 


Maile Flanagan  

In fact, that song closing time, we all used to go to the same bars, and we'd walk to the same bars, and one was liquor Lyles. There's a guy there that had sideburns and he was like, his old kind of, I don't know if he got hit, like hit by a motorcycle, you know, motorcycle accent or something. But he was the bouncer and he'd be like, closing time. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. And that became closing time. You don't have to go. But you can stay here. Yeah, that's from him.


Alicyn  

So don't even 


Maile Flanagan  

That's what he would say every night!


Alicyn  

Before they were before they were rock stars.


Unknown Speaker  

Well, they were local rock stars. And they weren't Semi Sonic then. They had a different group. And then the guy from Semi Sonic like, he wrote the Dixie Chicks huge album. He's uh, he wrote Adele's album 21 or something? I don't know. Yeah, these guys went off onto crazy careers. 


Alicyn  

Wow. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. So... 


Alicyn  

Yeah.


Maile Flanagan  

A long time ago, man.


Alicyn  

The Soul Asylum album from 92 was definitely like the soundtrack to my life. I was listening to that before interviewing and it was just bringing me back. 


Maile Flanagan  

Was that runaway train or? 


Alicyn  

Yeah. Runaway trian black go in a white...


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, you don't hear it that much anymore.


Alicyn  

I guess it would be classic rock at this point. 


Maile Flanagan  

Well, yeah. I guess I'm classic. 


Alicyn  

Hey, there's nothing wrong with being classic. 


Maile Flanagan  

Cheers. 


Alicyn  

Cheers! We're drinking some lovely tea and sparkling water.


Unknown Speaker  

Sliced open my finger. You're wondering what this is all about? 


Alicyn  

Oh, yeah? 


Maile Flanagan  

It's better now. 


Alicyn  

What's the story with the...?


Maile Flanagan  

Oh, uh, washing a knife? So interesting. 


Alicyn  

I'll say Miley blink twice if you need some rescuing.


Unknown Speaker  

I was in Joshua Tree, though, I was in a fabulous place in Joshua Tree when I did it. 


Alicyn  

Oh yeah? 


Maile Flanagan  

Which also means that the hospital is like, miles away.


Alicyn  

I have had to take a friend. 


Maile Flanagan  

Oh, yes.


Alicyn  

Before, yes. 


Maile Flanagan  

And it's a trip the people in the waiting room like, I'm totally gonna write a sitcom about it my two... I was only two hours though. Which is great. 


Alicyn  

Yeah, yeah. See some crazy stuff is like the head nurse at the.. 


Maile Flanagan  

Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Oh, that's so fun. Now, a lot of nurses.


Alicyn  

Now accepting pitches. Yeah, you're one of the more rare voice actors that also has a thriving on camera career. Shameless... You were in the Office... I mean, you have so many...


Maile Flanagan  

Lab Rats. I was on for five Lab Rats.


Alicyn  

Mindy Kaling's...


Maile Flanagan  

Oh, that was fun. Yeah, it was one of her last shows. And it was wild. I auditioned for it. And I thought, Oh, I'm way too young. Because the roll called for someone older and people I was auditioning against her much older. And are you driving? I said, Yeah, pull over. I did. She said you got the part. And can you go to Universal right now and get fitted? And I said, Yeah. And... 


Alicyn  

Wow. Boom.


Maile Flanagan  

And man their wardrobe. she approves every single thing on that show. She has her hand on it. 


Alicyn  

Wow!


Maile Flanagan  

And yeah, it was crazy. And anyway, at 4:45am the next day, I started shooting up in like the hills of Malibu kind of basically, yeah, it was nuts. And it was 118 degrees. She was she was pregnant, but nobody knew it. We were hiking. So we had hiking things on vests, things. Extras kept flopping over and ambulances kept coming. They had cooling Ted's I mean, we have ice cream every three hours. Yeah, she never lost it. She was awesome. 


Alicyn  

Wow.


Maile Flanagan  

I have a lot of respect for her.


Alicyn  

That's amazing. Yeah, that show was just fantastic.


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. I love love, love that show. 


Alicyn

How do you balance your career? I mean, because with voiceover it's like you're getting auditions every single day and then with on camera, they expect you to be ready at the drop of the hat.


Maile Flanagan

Well, by the time I really got really kicking in on-camera, where it wasn't just some guest stars and some movies and stuff like that. We were already recording from home pretty much I think, so that was easy. But I mean, there was a day I remember a day, actually a week but I was on Lab Rats, which was on Disney XD and I got cast in Shameless. And I had a recurring role. I did six episodes of that. I was supposed to go to Chicago, but that kind of never happened, which was fine. So I shot it all here. 


And I went from the my agents and managers worked it out. I went from shameless at 5am to Lab Rats over lunch, drove over the hill. Then I did lab rats until I can't remember what time. Then I had to go home and record a couple pickups for Naruto. Yeah. And then that same week, I also got a commercial. So I went -


Alicyn  

On camera? 


Maile Flanagan  

On camera. 


Alicyn  

Wow.


Maile Flanagan  

So I did a commercial for some bank in Canada. And I went from Lab Rats, shot the commercial and then went back to Lab Rats and finished shooting. Yeah, so I mean, it was nice. You know, you pay for it. I mean, that's what agents and managers are for. They take a bunch of money. You know, so you're, but it's worth every penny when you're that busy. 


Alicyn  

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan  

And I haven't I mean, on camera's pretty slow right now. So and we self tape now, so...


Alicyn  

But you... I mean, you've had some, you know, projects, huge projects, that sort of


Maile Flanagan  

Evan Almighty stuff like that. And yeah, oh, huge projects that didn't go.


Alicyn

Oh, and also that. Yeah.


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, I had a huge pilot on camera for ABC. I think it would have kind of been the next Modern Family kind of thing. 


Alicyn

Uh huh. 


Maile Flanagan

And we started shooting and then march 13 was the day all of La shut down. We had our hair and makeup tests were specific cast dinner we did our network network reads the next day we did hair and makeup. They were giving us Friday off, Monday, we're gonna start rehearsal for two days and then shoot, and they called us during the hair makeup test. The - Todd was getting the director, he was getting all these tests, you know, like, okay, alright, alright. Alright. And they said, Okay, we're calling off the dinner. And then we had Friday off anyway, they called Friday. So we're gonna shut down for two weeks. And then luckily, we did do it in December 10. So from March till December, but I think it kind of lost some steam. 


Alicyn  

I mean, of course, yeah. The world was different. 


Maile Flanagan  

I think if it just kept going, it would be a huge hit right now. But you know what, I've had a lot of opportunities that haven't got but I've gotten a lot of opportunities. Like I can't tell you how many Nickelodeon pilots I've done for voiceover. 


Alicyn

Voiceover, yeah. You've been... 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, you know, it's just the thing. You just the older you get, the more you're like, "Yeah, that would have been fun. That would have been great. You know, but..." 


Alicyn

Yeah.


Maile Flanagan

You gotta roll with the punches.


Alicyn  

Yeah. And that's so important. I mean, I think one of the things that I find so lovely about you is just this real quality that is very down to earth, accessible, but also, you know, doesn't sugarcoat it. Tells it like it is, you know?


Maile Flanagan  

I've been accused of worse, but yeah, yeah, I guess I'm pretty blunt. Because it's like, so what? You know, 


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

Don't lie to me about that. 


Alicyn  

Well, and then, you know, I mean, that's builds instant trust because you know, that someone is going to tell you what they really feel and not try to be nice. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. I mean, there are a few projects I've taken part in where I'm like, "Yeah, they were great to work with..."


Alicyn  

You were actually very nice. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah.


Alicyn

So say that you're you know, not nice!


Maile Flanagan  

But you know, people will always ask you what was it like working with Jim Carrey? I've worked with him twice. He gave me a men's size extra large black bathrobe both times for a wrap gift. You know, like just weird stuff like that! He was very nice. And that... that's a weird thing. 


Alicyn  

Yeah, you know, well, one size that's definitely gonna fit everybody. Although it's petite people are just...


Maile Flanagan  

You know what my friends uncle and my brother loved him. 


Alicyn  

Yeah, and then you're like, running out of people to give bathrobes to.


Maile Flanagan  

Black. Extra large.


Alicyn  

You could do it as like a giveaway when you're doing you know, do a lot of signings...


Maile Flanagan

Charity.


Alicyn

A lot of you know live convention. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. 


Alicyn

And stuff like that. Maybe Yeah, your next Jim Carrey bath robe, you could - 


Maile Flanagan  

First have to get a Jim Carrey movie again. 


Alicyn  

Hey, well, this is the place where magic happens. 


Maile Flanagan

That's the word I think.

 

Alicyn

Oh, yeah. I'm knocking on plastic here. Let's knock on this beautiful, beautiful wood display. So I'm curious: Naruto, like, how did it come about that you ended up booking that job?


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, it was just like every other job. I got the audition. At that point. We were still going into our agencies to audition. 


Alicyn

And you were with CCSD and [unintelligible] at the time.


Maile Flanagan

Uh huh. That's where we met, at her retirement. I'm still sad. And I auditioned. And then I got called back to - it's called a callback. And there are a lot of people there. People from this. 


Alicyn

In person?


Maile Flanagan

Oh, yeah. 


Alicyn

Wow. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. People from San Francisco from this obviously the people from the studio and the director, you know, Jamie who runs StudioPolis, and yeah, they just kind of had me work through it like for like, I was in there for 40 minutes. And I was sweating, you know, because kind of nervous and it was a lot of work. I was like fighting and running in different ages, different emotions, crying everything. And then I walked out and I was like, thanks. You know, I really appreciate it. I hope you know, I'll get the job. And Jamie was like, You got the job. I was like, why don't you tell me that like 40 minutes ago?!


Alicyn  

You would've sweat a little less. 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, exactly. And so then I went home and I booked myself trip for my birthday to New Orleans. So Never met and my birthday was coming up. So that's how I kind of remember what time.


Alicyn

When is your birthday, by the way? 


Maile Flanagan

May 19. 


Alicyn

May 19. It's coming up. 


Maile Flanagan

I know. I'll be in... uh, but I might be in Orlando for another convention. 


Alicyn

Oh, rad! 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. I put it off for three years.


Alicyn  

It's time to go back. You're like, I'm ready for Florida. Now. I'm triple back.


Maile Flanagan  

I'm not that ready for Florida. I'm definitely not ready for Texas. I'm not that ready for Florida, but I'm hoping by July and it might be okay. 


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

I mean, it's one that I'd signed up for years ago. Like I'm still doing all these conventions that I like this Minneapolis, one. It's been rescheduled three times because the pandemic and I'm going there in two weeks.


Alicyn  

In two weeks. I wonder I will. It'll be in the past. I guess when this episode comes out,


Maile Flanagan  

maybe. But then I'm going to Hawaii. I'm going to Denver, Orlando. Rhode Island, San Francisco, South Dakota. 


Alicyn

What? Yeah. For a cancer benefit.


Alicyn  

What is the biggest draw? Which of your projects do you get the most?


Maile Flanagan

Naruto.


Alicyn

Naruto. So you get the audition? You find it? you book the job? Now at this time, what had you known about the project?


Maile Flanagan  

Nothing. It was all I saw was a rendering. 


Alicyn 

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

I wasn't even dubbing I don't do a lot of dubbing. It's weird. I gotten this weird thing about dubbing the other day on social media. And I'm like, I've done a lot of dubbing because of Naruto. Yeah, but I'm not in the anime world really at all except for Naruto, and then Bordeaux. And I did a little part the other day. And that's the only anime and so people always think that I'm an anime person. Like even in Minneapolis. They're like, can you serve on this panel about anime? I'm like, I don't know anything about.


Alicyn  

But yes.


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. Yeah. But you know, I asked to be on a different panel, because I was like, people are gonna ask me questions about it. It was like sort of old school versus new school. I'm like, I don't know that. I don't know old school.


Alicyn  

It's very interesting. Olivia Hack was on a couple weeks ago. And she was saying that she felt anime was like the soap opera of voiceover. Do you think that, that's, that there's some kind of truth behind that?


Maile Flanagan  

I kind of do. Yeah. And also, for a long time. It was very inside. It was very niche. It was very early. Few people doing it. It's kind of what...


Alicyn

Based in Texas. 


Maile Flanagan

So yeah, a lot of that still happens. Yeah. And not a lot of non union stuff. Which is why I never did it. My agents don't want to submit me for that because it doesn't pay very well. 


Alicyn

Yeah. I mean, the conventions pay well, and if you do video games, etc. It adds up. But the whole anime world. It's not like doing... I do a lot of original animation. But I happen to be one of the biggest anime characters are one of the biggest cartoon characters in the world. 


Alicyn

Yeah! 


Maile Flanagan

You know, and it's worldwide. Like I meet people. I've been to Sweden, all over Canada, Puerto Rico, people invited me down to Brazil. They watch it in English. India, Pakistan. I've not been to those places, but it's huge in South Africa.


Alicyn  

It's the English. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. 


Alicyn

Wow. 


Maile Flanagan  

So I mean, you know, I don't know what to think there's a Spanish version. But I think I know I was in it was for a long time about 49 countries, I think, where I'm the voice of Naruto.


Alicyn

Wow.


Maile Flanagan

Yeah.


Alicyn

That's crazy. 


Maile Flanagan

So have you ever seen yourself on camera with a different voice coming out of your pie hole?


Alicyn  

My face? No, I don't think so.


Maile Flanagan  

 I once saw myself in... God... 


Alicyn  

Nobody's dubbing me.


Maile Flanagan  

It was it was just for Lab Rats. 


Alicyn

Oh. Uh huh, uh huh.


Maile Flanagan

And the, uh, Spanish... Spanish, the Spain - Spanish version of me is fantastic. She sounds a lot like me!


Alicyn

Oh my god! 


Maile Flanagan

There's one that was somebody sent me some other one. And I was like, yeah, that doesn't sound great. 


Alicyn  

You've gotta find her! 


Maile Flanagan

I know. 


Alicyn

I'm friends with the Greek Jiban Yan. The guy who plays Jiban Yan.


Maile Flanagan

Oh, really?


Alicyn

In Greek, and we found each other on Instagram. He found me and he's like, "Oh yeah! I dub you!"


Maile Flanagan

That's - 


Alicyn

Hey, guys. This is Alicyn Packard. Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know that if you like the show, please, please, please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much. 


Alicyn

So 2006 You won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in the animated series for Piggley Winks...


Maile Flanagan  

I did. Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks,  the longest title in the world. No, besides Boruto, Naruto Next Generation. Yeah, it was a thrill that show went for five years I was bullied and Tara Strong and Ricky Taylor, Charlie Adler, Pam Adlon, and Cox Fernandez. They were all in it. We had some - Mel Brooks was on it. We never recorded with us. But that was a thrill. I mean, he did some stuff with us. But not... he recorded on its own mostly.


Alicyn  

Were you guys ensemble? Was it? 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, have a record. I was on PBS and...


Alicyn

Kelly Ward was directing?


Maile Flanagan  

Sue Blue started and Kelly Ward finished it. Yeah. And it was just really a special show. The artwork was made from original, like handmade. I mean -


Alicyn

Hand drawn?


Maile Flanagan

Hand drawn. Yeah, hand drawn backgrounds and stuff taking place in a village in Ireland and it was kind of retro and yeah, it was so special. And we did it for five years. 


Alicyn

Can you do the voice? 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, my name is Piggy Winks. I'm from the village of Tara. These my friends fire me and done. We have a really good time. Something like that. It's a little rusty. But yeah, it was really great. And I got nominated which was a shocker. I was bowling at the time, I was like, what? And then when I went I was more shocked. And I think everyone was shocked because we were the last table. And, you know -


Alicyn

[unintelligible] For five minutes...


Maile Flanagan

I think Bob Bergen was like, just let me make sure how to pronounce her name. And I was like, Huh. And I thought just because he needed the names to say, you know, yeah. And so I won. Here's a funny story. So I two funny stories about it. 


So I didn't expect to win. And of course, Tara and Lucy were both nominated as well, as well as Jess Harnell was nominated for something. And anyway, I didn't expect to win at all. And then I'm at the last table. We're at the last table. 


Alicyn

Yeah.


Maile Flanagan

You know, the first table was The Ellen DeGeneres Show and I happen to know a bunch the writers on there. So when I won, they erupted. So everyone must have been like, Who is that? You know? And yeah, I was asking for some water from the I was just getting more nervous no matter what, you get nervous...


Alicyn

Did you have a speech prepared?  


Maile Flanagan

No, not really. But I had thought about it just in case. So I asked for water and nobody, they wouldn't give us water. It was really weird. And like, they're like, can we just get a cup of water?


Alicyn  

And so he to go to the bathroom right before you were...


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. Well, no, it wasn't that they literally once the things started. Yeah, they're like, now we can't give you any water or anything. Everyone's like, what's going on? Yeah, it was really weird. And so my wife goes, she asked us like, you know, can I get a cup of water? She really needs a glass of water. And so finally Pat Brady and Kathy Lucio pass, like, "Here honey, take my water." Because she heard me and she heard Lisa and Lisa went to the back and asked somebody like, "Can I get some water? And I was like, I'm not allowed to give it to you." Like it really weird. And so I was like, and then that's when Pat gave me the water. And so I went up there. I was so shocked. And I said, I said whatever. I said, I do have a CD of it somewhere. I should look, look at it. See what I said. But anyway, and then i i said and 10 years ago today, not today, but 10 years ago, I worked on the Daytime Emmys, like as a PA and I said, Uh, now I want one. So you guys, you know, and I went, they take you through the back, like and through the kitchen. And I went through the kitchen and all the caterers were lined up and gave me like a standing ovation. Yeah, cuz they had heard me say that. They were all actors.


Alicyn  

And they're all, they're like...


Maile Flanagan

Yeah.


Alicyn

"Can I hold it?"


Maile Flanagan

Yeah.


Alicyn

Can I touch it for good luck?


Maile Flanagan  

Well, they give you a fake one. Then they give you an Emmy, and they give you a - with a screwdriver. And then two weeks later, you get a plate with your name on it. You have to screw it on yourself.


Alicyn  

You screw it on yourself? Oh, so you do get to take the Emmy home then? 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah.


Alicyn

Okay.


Maile Flanagan

Your Emmy, but it doesn't have anything on it. 


Alicyn

Yeah.


Maile Flanagan

It's not like the Oscars where they engrave it. Yeah. 


Alicyn  

Wow.


Maile Flanagan

So...


Alicyn

So how is your Emmy doing?


Maile Flanagan  

It's broken! I didn't break it.


Alicyn

I heard it was broken but... 


Maile Flanagan

I mean, all my friends come over...


Alicyn

You let somebody break your Emmy?


Maile Flanagan

I didn't mean to. It's kind of tender. And then I called and I said you guys were, you know, repair them. And well, you have to ship it to New York. And I'm like, "Well, that's okay."


Alicyn

Yeah. Super Glue. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. So I haven't actually  -


Alicyn

Super glue really -


Maile Flanagan 

It's the ball thing on the top. 


Alicyn

Oh that fell off?


Mailie Flanagsan

So it's in her arms. Yeah. And then a little ball on top of that ball also broke off, which is an unpooled person mind somewhere. And the second year I went, Eartha Kitt was nominated. 


Alicyn

Oh. 


Maile Flanagan

And I lost her. So I was like, "That's okay."


Alicyn  

That's fair. That's fair. You already had yours. 


Maile Flanagan

It's not, it's fun though. But I knew she wasn't gonna win. So I let myself have some. 


Alicyn

You knew she was going to win - 


Maile Flanagan

I mean was going to win so, yeah, yeah.


Alicyn

Yeah, okay. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, the first one. I was like, I can't drink. Yeah, like, you know -


Alicyn

Until after? 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, yeah. Then Yeah. Then we met all my friends. And they all post with it. Everybody comes to my house and poses with it.


Alicyn  

Aww. That's so amazing. I know. So it's like, hey, maybe you should bring it because this story gets it's all broken.


Maile Flanagan  

I brought it to my classes when I guess teach at a college and I bring it when I guess taught and then I envy eventually ended up teaching there. But the kids loved it. It's great inspiration for your, you know, first class to hold an Emmy for voiceover.


Alicyn

Yeah! 


Maile Flanagan

When you're teaching voiceover.


Alicyn  

That's amazing. I know. That's like, one of your many talents. Yes. Have you ever done any real voices? They do? Workshops. I mean, the one off workshops are- 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah.

 

Alicyn

A little less of a commitment. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. I, uh...


Alicyn

You have so much to say and such a - 


Maile Flanagan  

Not done any here...


Alicyn

Knowledge. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, well, I taught for a long time there. I've done a bunch of stuff  that - 


Alicyn

What school did you teach in, in LA? 


Maile Flanagan

It's called Studio School LA, it's had two name changes. So that's why it's a little confusing. It's like a I want to say it's more like a almost like a conservatory, you know?


Alicyn

Uh-huh.


Maile Flanagan

Like it's the focus is on the arts.


Alicyn

Performing. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, so I developed develop the curriculum and all that stuff, but -


Alicyn  

Wow. Yeah, to go there as a student and to be like, "My teacher..."


Maile Flanagan  

Well, they already knew Naruto, so but a lot of them would kind of play it cool till the very end, and then they freak out and be like, oh, yeah, okay. Yeah. Like, I didn't know they were fans, but they were.


Alicyn  

Oh, and then they're like, they're like, Can I get your autograph? 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah,well, I would give them like stuff. Swag for when they graduate and stuff. 


Alicyn  

Aww.That's so sweet.


Maile Flanagan  

Now I have swag because I steal it. For a long time I didn't get!


Alicyn  

I'm gonna need that teacup back!


Maile Flanagan  

I didn't steal from PVS.


Alicyn  

Yes. So you've you've done a fair amount of boy...


Maile Flanagan

Oh, yeah.


Alicyn

Characters.


Maile Flanagan  

I've done like a ton, like I'm on the loud house once in a while. I did Pig Boat Banana Cricket, which was so funny and fun. I think it was in the wrong time slot a little bit on Nickelodeon because it was so funny what a great cast candy Milo and Tom Wilson and Jeff Cummings and no, not Jeff Cummings. Sorry, Jeff Bennet, that and -


Alicyn

It was a long time ago. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, that show was so funny. I played two boys on that. They were partners: Junior Ranger and Junior elephant and then I just done a ton of boys. 


Alicyn  

Yeah, yeah. And then you're also in the new Harriet the Spy cartoon for AppleTV!


Maile Flanagan  

I can finally talk about it. I, I'm the boy with the purple shoes. And I'm also Pinky. And then I'm a bunch of other voices too. It's on Apple Plus, it's so good.


Alicyn  

Did you read the books? 


Maile Flanagan  

Oh, I love the book. I went okay, they sent me season wrap gift. Yeah, around Christmas. And it was a sweatshirt that says Harriet the Spy on like our buddy, and I started crying. I've never done that before. Like I started crying because I love the book when I was a kid. And Beanie Feldstein is in it. And Jane Lynch. And I've only seen I think there are more episodes out now. But I have I've only seen the first five.


Alicyn  

Yeah, I'm gonna have to watch it with my son. 


Maile Flanagan

How old is he? 


Alicyn

He's six. 


Maile Flanagan

Oh, perfect. 


Alicyn

He would love it. 


Maile Flanagan

Oh, yeah. The music is phenomenal. 


Alicyn

Oh, really? What's the music like?


Maile Flanagan

I don't know. It's just cool. I don't know.


Alicyn  

Like the new Keepo in the Age of Wonder Bees. The music as I was jogging to it the soul really? Except Oh, I really want to get on the show. 


Maile Flanagan

Oh really? Are you a singer?


Alicyn

I do sing. 


Maile Flanagan

Oh, you do? Right. 


Alicyn

I like to sing my own songs. You know? 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. Well, that's cool. I'm not a singer. But lately, I've had to sing in all these cartoons. 


Alicyn

Fun!


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, it's character singing, but, you know, I get the thing. And they're like, sing, you know, six measures of a pop song. And I'm like, What's the easiest Jonas Brothers song? Like, literally, I've signed on to theme songs for being a non singer. I mean, it's a temptation when you're with people who actually are singers and singer songwriters. 


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

Because they'll be like, Okay, go up key, you know, or I'm like, "Eh?"


Alicyn  

Eric Lopez was on the show. And he and he's on the new Trolls. And he was saying, Yeah, I'm not a singer, yet. They make me sound amazing.


Maile Flanagan  

And like, they figure it out. And you know, like, you'll just come in with a line. That's my thing. Like, have the real singer say that I just kind like Jakers Piggley Winks! That's it!


Alicyn  

Thank you Residual!


Maile Flanagan 

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 


Alicyn

What's funny too, because Harriet the Spy, and then this is kind of coming full circle to back of why you moved around so much is your dad was...


Maile Flanagan

Yes!


Alicyn

More or less... 


Maile Flanagan  

He was a spy. 


Alicyn

Literally?


Maile Flanagan 

He's passed along now. But he worked in military intelligence. He was a civilian, but he worked for the military. And so we moved around, and he was on secret assignments, he would disappear in the middle of the night. Sometimes I would hear... he kept I remember, because he would keep like, some pants by the bed or something. You know, I, I don't know if you always did, but I remember the sound distinctly. And I think his belt would be in it and maybe his wallet or something inside here. There'll be a phone call and then ching-ching-ching, "Where's Dad?" He's like, oh, he's gone. Back in a couple of weeks. 


Alicyn  

As a kid, did you know he was a spy?


Maile Flanagan  

Yes and no, not when we were real little. We didn't know much, many specifics. But our address was like 66 Military Intelligence Group. So we kind of knew? We'd tease him about it, but he can talk about it. You can tell us a little bit more when he's older. When we got older, and like we kind of didn't believe we're like, we got a kit the Hofbrauhaus he literally told my brother and I like we were home from college. Well, I can tell you, chief of intelligence, counterintelligence, you know, for Western Europe. We're like, No, you're not because when I tell them, like, when I tell? She's like, Yes, he is he is. We're like, okay.


Alicyn  

So gosh, I mean, they I mean, he would have like kidnapped your children. I mean, it was that just in the movies like...


Maile Flanagan  

There was a time where we were taking a, I forget what they're called, but like DYA, a dependent youth activities. I think they would do tours, like we take buses to Spain, and Greece. Ferries and stuff. Yeah, was crazy. And there was a time where they were like the generals' kids, and some of us kids. They're like, Yeah, we have to get special permission to make sure you guys can go to this because we had to drive through somewhere that was this during the red brigade. You  probably would know about it, but it was a big deal. back then. They were terrorists. At one point. We had two phones on our house and one phone if you knocked it off the receiver, the SWAT team would come and surround our house. So everyone grew up that way, right?


Alicyn  

No, and my dad, in his mind, was a spy. 


Maile Flanagan

What did he do? 


Alicyn

He was a pipe fitter. 


Maile Flanagan

Oh, really? 


Alicyn

Same thing. Right. I mean... You're both kind of adjusting pipes.


Maile Flanagan

That's right. 


Alicyn

Putting in new types of pipes of communication. Physical pipe. 


Maile Flanagan

That's right. 


Alicyn

Both had Boston accents. 


Maile Flanagan

Oh, yeah? What area did he grew up in? 


Alicyn

My dad grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts,


Maile Flanagan  

Oh, Brockton. Yeah. I heard of Brockton the first week at Boston College because a girl down the hall was from there. 


Alicyn

Oh, yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

Brockton! She's kind of a bruiser. 


Alicyn

Yeah, yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

Scared me. 


Alicyn  

Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's a it's a good place to be from. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah, it's a tough place, right? 


Alicyn

Tough, tough. Yeah.


Maile Flanagan  

I mean, Rocky Marciano. There are a couple other kind of tough guys.


Alicyn  

They were known for, like their shoe factories. They like multiple thriving shoe factories in the '40s that then went out of business in the 60s. And so it was...


Maile Flanagan  

Like, yeah, when my dad, I didn't even ask my dad where he was from exactly because we never lived in the United States. We'd come visit. But I was like, Where are you from? He's like, Nashua, New Hampshire, and I never want to go back. Well, good job. You like my mom flew to Hawaii and got married in Hawaii, no friends, like, and then... 


Alicyn  

She flew to Hawaii to live and then later got married there or they...


Maile Flanagan  

They were engaged.


Alicyn

Uh-huh. In Nashua?


Maile Flanagan

They got engaged. And she, you know, in Massachusetts, I guess he must have been home from serving somewhere. And they got engaged. And she flew to Hawaii, all by her lonesome. And her maid of honor was his best buddies' wife. And they're still friends of ours. To this day. The family. Yeah. And so she was, like, all alone in her wedding. 


Alicyn

And she kind of just stayed there...


Maile Flanagan

They kinda, they stayed. They bought a house, but they rented the house for 20 years. Now rented that out. Yeah.


Alicyn  

Oh, that's smart. Yeah. Do you still have it is? 


Maile Flanagan

No, no, no. I know. Tell me a bit. 


Alicyn

Yeah, that would have been a nice place to spend the pandemic. I know. 


Maile Flanagan  

Right. Yeah. Like our friends, Mary, Elizabeth and Steve. They moved to Hawaii. I heard that and they're working from there. So Wow. When I'm in Hawaii, if I need work, I'll just go into their house.


Alicyn  

Right?


Maile Flanagan

To record, yeah.


Alicyn

Is it on the Big Island? 


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, it is on the Big Island. I mean. 


Alicyn

Amazign.


Maile Flanagan

That's the thing. We can almost put my on-camera career. I don't want to leave LA, you know? 


Alicyn

Yeah. Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

I mean, it would be good to have another place to...


Alicyn  

Not now, I mean, yeah. Such a good, such a good... 


Maile Flanagan  

We'll see. The whole thing is getting a little old. Some of it auditioning for some of the yeah, I've done a lot of commercials on camera. And that gets harder and harder as you get older. I mean, the money is great. But it's like, it's like, you know, it's like a little parade. You know? It's like, Oh, okay. Bring the horses out. Trot them by. Pick one of 'em. And if you're lucky, it's you. That to me is getting harder. Oh, yeah. But I've done some amazing commercials, like some really cool ones with Tom Brady and Chris Paul. These are athletes. And you know, Brady? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Brady, you got to be... you a Pats fan?


Alicyn  

I'm not really into sport. But if I was it'd be the Pats and the Red Sox. 


Maile  Flanagan

Good choice. 


Alicyn

Yeah. So moving around from all living in all those different places. Do you think that that actually helps your voice?


Maile Flanagan  

I do. Like my best friend when she when I was in Thailand for a long time. My best friend was Vietnamese pedis. And you know, she was Filipino. Her dad was a Filipino Ambassador. Yeah. So we always make fun of like, we had a maid in our house, you know, and we'd make fun of the way she talked, because we're kids. She was Thai, of course. And, you know, we grew up with Indian people. And one of my best friends was Australian, you know, like all of that. And then, you know, you move to Germany, and then you meet Germans. So, you know, we're talking like Germans. And then you had this French teacher. Sure. He's passed now, but not French. He's a chemistry teacher. And he was French. So he had a very thick French accent, but he had a tracheotomy. 


Alicyn

Ooh. 


Maile Flanagan 

Yeah, I didn't do very well in chemistry. It was.... 


Alicyn  

You could maybe be inspo for Yeah. In original character. 


Maile Flanagan  

They could be Yeah. But yeah. So there were all sorts of crazy people, especially in the military, you know, and you meet people from Texas, and all of a sudden you're hanging around hanging out with the whole Texan family. 


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

And then you're like, Y'all come over, you know?


Alicyn  

Yeah. So yeah. So do you do all the different accents?


Maile Flanagan 

Mm-hmm.


Alicyn

Yeah?


Maile Flanagan  

I do a lot of accents. Yeah. Like, that's funny. I never thought that I did a lot. But I was teaching college kids are like, how many accidents do you do? Excuse me? And I said, yeah, the kid said, how many accents do you do? And I said, I don't know. Like, I've never thought about it before, but I have a good ear. So if I can study it, I would say my worst accents are probably like Indian, Pakistani, that, in that, part of the world.


Alicyn  

Well now it seems like there's such a push to be authentic with accents for most things. And they have so much talent here from other parts of the world. It's easy to... 


Maile Flanagan  

You can live in other parts of the world. Yeah, I mean, I've been directed from Spain and stuff, haven't you? Like I did Ice Age Three. The director was in Spain. 


Alicyn

Oh, wow. 


Maile Flanagan 

And he was Spanish. 


Aliycn

Oh, amazing. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. And I was just recording right down the street. 


Alicyn

Oh, that's so so like...


Maile Flanagan

I never met any of those people.


Alicyn  

Yeah, I mean, I think sometimes people are like, hesitant to tell you when they're like, globetrotting. Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan 

Yeah. 


Alicyn

Like...


Maile Flanagan  

Did you ever do a session where someone's eating on the other end of the line?


Alicyn

I don't think so!


Maile Flanagan

You hear every chew and like, okay, right? Ahh! Okay. I did a whole movie like that. A guy, I heard him working, get in his car, drive home, get some soup and start' eating it. So I finally waved at the producer in the room and I was like, "Can you tell him to stop eating?"


Alicyn  

Did he?


Maile Flanagan 

Oh, no.


Alicyn

Ha ha ha! Of course not. 


Maile Flanagan  

She just said I think we've got it from here. I think we're just potting up some stuff. We'll let you go.


Alicyn  

And how many so now I'm trying to think back to your... What was your very first VO job? 


Maile Flanagan

Men in Black or Jackie Chan The Series. 


Alicyn

Jackie Chan. It's so funny because I was watching a clip from that. You played the little playground bully. What was his name? 


Maile Flanagan 

Yeah, that was my first bully. I can't remember...


Alicyn

Cuz that's so my character on Rugrats is also like the playground bully. And I was like I knew I love this girl. It's like something in our in our aura!


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah exactly! Bullies!


Alicyn

Bullies. 


Maile Flanagan

Boy bullies.


Alicyn

Boy bullies. 


Maile Flanagan

Sometimes, girl bullies. Or DMV workers for me.


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

Gym teachers? 


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah.


Alicyn  

It's a good niche.


Maile Flanagan

Whatever pays. 


Alicyn

So then that was... how long was - 


Maile Flanagan  

Sue Blue did my demo and she was directing the shows.


Alicyn  

Yeah, I was curious about your relationship for that. So did you just meet her? Would you take her classes and stuff? 


Maile Flanagan  

I took other classes.


Alicyn

You studied with Cynthia.


Maile Flanagan  

Oh, yes, yes. Well, I did. I mean, I did my demo prep with her and, and so I...


Alicyn

Did you know her before then and you just had heard...?


Maile Flanagan

I did not.  Pat Brady told me to take this class. 


Alicyn

Yes. 


Maile Flanagan

Plus this lesson. This plus do my demo was Sue Blue. That's what I did. Also, Pat Brady was working on camera and she was at a different agency. She brought me with her to see CESD. And so I was doing commercials. And she knew the second year I was in LA I killed it. I made I think I did. 18 commercials? 


Alicyn

Shut up!


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. And that's when commercials were like, I mean, I did Pepsi. I did checks. I did. 


Alicyn

Wow. 


Maile Flanagan

OfficeMax teen... Yeah. 


Alicyn

18. 


Maile Flaangan

And so she's like, I have the money I was making because like, you have the money. You're gonna go take this class here and this class year, this last year, and I did. Uh huh. So I mean, I really owe a lot of that to Pat Brady.


Alicyn  

And you guys hit you and Sue hit it off right away.


Maile Flanagan  

Yes, we did. So then she just gave me these little parts on those two shows. I don't even know if I audition for them. You know, because they were small parts. And then it was a while and I think and then I kept just auditioning I don't remember what the next big... Oh, I did a Tom and Jerry movie that I got. 


Alicyn

That's so funny.


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. And I think I got it because somebody had the part and dropped out but I have a similar like I do a bunch of stuff like that. Whatever works like Pam Adlon. I've done a bunch of her behind the scenes kind of voices. 


Aliyn

Uh huh. 


Maile Flanagan

Because she's too busy now. 


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

On -camera career and I've done a bunch of voice matching too. You know, one in German, which is wild, but yeah.


Alicyn  

That's so funny, like, maybe when Miley is too busy. You can like step in. Yeah, her oh my god better. Better things is...


Maile Flanagan  

Pam. Pam. Adlon is so funny. I'm Jaykar she would say to me, Miley, how do you say this in Irish? To just sound like Pam Adlon. She didn't sound Irish. They didn't care. They didn't care. 


Alicyn

Nobody cared. 


Maile Flanagan

Nobody cared so good. She's so good. Yeah.


Alicyn  

Yeah. So then you did your demo was Sue and you started getting good parts here and there. And then


Maile Flanagan  

and then. 


Alicyn

That was Sue also? 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. And then I did, like I said, I think that that that was the look. Then I did the commentary thing. And then I just done a bunch of other guests stuff. And then I got Jakers I got the lead. They auditioned like 500 Irish kids in Ireland. from Ireland. Yeah. Pat Brady, when she told me to audition for that part. She's like, I don't want you slated. I'm gonna have some guy slated for you. So it'll be a generic voice. So they didn't know if I was a guy or girl for a long time. 


Alicyn

Uh huh. 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. So that was in my favor. And then I got that. That's brilliant. I think I still have my day job at the time. I think the whole time I did. It was only once a week. So I still was working as a researcher and segment producer for like, documentary reality kind of TV. 


Alicyn

Oh, really? 


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. It's really fun. I love a lot of court stuff. medical stuff. Nice. Yeah, some stuff. I did that for a long time. I loved it. Then I used to cast the recreations you know for crime.


Alicyn  

So the reenactments?


Maile Flanagan

Yeah! 


Alicyn

Oh, I've done some of that.


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah, I cast everybody I know. Everybody I know has been murdered. Yeah, and most of it in my house you just try and make it look like a different place like shady lighting and a plant, you know?


Alicyn

Different corner each week.


Maile Flanagan

And finally got an assistant I'd send her to the carpet store cuz she was really pretty. Okay, some more carpet samples that we bloody the personal a different piece of carpet. Magnet clubs.


Alicyn  

Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, cuz it was like cuz you were working your day job straight up till you won your E - or?


Maile Flanagan  

I don't think I quit. Yeah.


Alicyn

It was more because you loved it. 


Maile Flanagan

I won the Emmy make it work, quit. Then I kind of went back and did a couple of special projects because I like them. Because I love the work. Like I went and did something called sports wives. Not the trashy kind, but it was. So I went down and hung out with Roger Clemens and his wife for like, 10 days in Houston. That's pretty fun.


Alicyn  

That's amazing. You know, do you have any advice for people or people that might be getting started, but also people just as you've built your career over time, you know, yeah, how have you been able to work consistently for so long?


Maile Flanagan  

Well, when I first moved to LA, I did three things a day to further my career. And I moved here a long time ago, nine... January of '96. I did those whether I was sick or not, or whatever. I did three things and some of it would be watching show I wouldn't like to watch like I'm not big into sci-fi. So I might be like, alright, well, I should watch this because I might have to audition for it. 


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

I'd send a postcard or I you know, see a play do a play. I was I did a lot of theater. Do a lot of theater. To theater. Yeah. Yeah, you got to do theater and you got to work hard at it. Just be around it. You know, I think the one weird thing about the pandemic and these times is you can do a lot which is great with your own equipment that you also should get to know a network of people, you know. So if you do theater and projects with people, eventually probably some of those people are going to start working a lot more like, you know, my friend Tom McCarthy that was in the improv group won the Oscar for Spotlight. And yeah, we were in the improv group together. Nancy corral. Who's Steve? Yeah, you know, runway medicine works all the time. So find your tribe. You know, take an improv class. Take an improv class, you know.


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

Take a theater class, volunteer at a theater. Like literally just be an usher. You'll see bad acting and good acting, you'll know what's good and what not to do. I was a casting associate for a while. That's Minneapolis eye opening. It's so eye opening. You see what people do to tank themselves. And you know, you see people that are amazing. You see behind the scenes that it's not about you, the actor.Yes. You can't take it personally. Because somebody would just be like, Ah, he reminds me of my brother. I hate my brother. You're just like what?


Alicyn  

Literally. Yeah.


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. Weird stuff. 


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

That's my advice. 


Alicyn

Aww.


Maile Flanagan

Yeah. 


Alicyn

Well, it has been so lovely chatting with you today. I could chat with you for like a million years. I know you have a session later so... 


Maile Flanagan  

I have to scream for Naru... Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. I should know the title! 


Alicyn  

Oh my god. That's so funny. The gift that keeps giving. That's right.


Maile Flanagan  

Yeah. Smoke 'em if you got 'em. No, I'm kidding. Yeah, it is the gift that keeps giving. 


Alicyn

Yeah. 


Maile Flanagan

Well, lucky me.


Alicyn  

To many more miracles. 


Maile Flanagan

Yes.


Alicyn

And a continued career.


Maile Flanagan

Thank you for having me. 


Alicyn

Thank you Maile! Thanks so much guys for listening, for watching. Whether you're listening or watching, make sure to hit the subscribe button. And I'm just realizing now that it applies to podcasts too. So if you're listening orally, also subscribe. Thank you so much, guys. Leave a comment and let us know what you think. See you next time. Bye!


Maile Flanagan

Bye!


Outro

Thanks for tuning in to Alicyn's Wonderland, where we explore the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Please remember to subscribe and leave us a review. For more episodes of Alicyn's Wonderland. Please visit us at www.AlicynPackard.com. See you next week!

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