Oh Nicki, You’re so Fine! (with Emmanuelle Vaugier) • EP120

a zoom together. It was two of us, were two of us. And so here we are. The gals are going to take you through this fabulous episode, and I must say it kills me to not be there with my other bad girl, Emmanuel j But hey, here we are. I know that she is in good hands with the gals, And this is basically just me popping in to say I wish I could have been here with all of you at home and my loves, my sisters. Joanne Hill Ah, I can't believe you get to interview on Manuel without me.

But I love this. I can't wait to listen to this episode and obviously be reunited on the next one. I can't believe we're almost at the end of season one. What this has been perfect? I love you guys. First of all, you don't know we're all about that high school drama Girl Drama Girl, all about them high school queens. We'll take you for a ride in our comic girl drama Queens My Girl Up Girl Fashion. But you're tough girls.

You could sit with us. Girl Drama, Queens Drama, Queen's Drama, Queen's Drama Drama, Queen's Drama Queens, Episode twenty What Is and What Should Never Be? Your Date? April two thousand and four. Wow, welcome guys, Welcome to Drama Queen's Um. Hey, it's kind of a special um. It's a special episode today because Sophia is off on her fabulous new show, Good Sam and we are so proud of her. But she is. Her schedule prohibits her from being with us today. But we have an amazing girl in place of her,

an amazing another bad girl. Hey are you taking away? Oh my gosh, you guys. I think we've made it pretty clear that we've got a big crush on Nikki, our very own Emmanuel vog So let's just bring her in here. Let's bring her in to hit Up episode twenty. Hello, look, how beautiful you are. Oh my gosh, it's great to see you. Thank you, so great to see you. Guys. To my god, have your ears been burning? Because we have just been talking about you for weeks now and

about what a good badass you are. You know, well, thank you. I was. I listened to the podcast episode because I was like, Okay, I gotta listen to an episode, what's going on? And I listened to the one the Sparkle Pitts. Oh my god, that yeah, I know. Wouldn't that have been great? Right? Were you a cheerleader in high school? No, well, growing up in Canada, it's not

as big a thing. There are cheerleaders. But I mean, had it been the way it is in the States, I would have been like all over it because I love that stuff. But yeah, it's not it's not at all the same thing. So no, I was. I would have made a terrible cheerleader. It's not cheer late. We can start like a midlife squad, like I feel like people do weird great exercise. I'm so into that. Where are you right now. I'm in Vancouver, Canada. Fantastic. I

geek out over you, Emmanuel. Everyone knows that Peyton had a huge crush on Nikki, even though it was suppressed. Um. I think that's where all the tension comes from. Yes, we saw that. So there's so much to talk about with this episode for me, because this was kind of like a sleeper hit episode for me because when it started, Hillary and I were when we were watching it, we were like, this kind of it's just a catchup. It feels like we're just catching the audience up on a

just nothing's happening. I don't understand what this episode is. And then it's fun into So but all this tension between Nicki and Peyton, between Brooke and Peyton, between Dan and deb Um, the sort of release of Keith and Karen finally letting each other go um, and Hayley throwing her first party, which we have to talk about at some point because thank you. Um. Yeah, so let's get into it. So. I I loved seeing Nathan in a new job, and I loved also the Peyton Lucas armpit

action on my God basketball court. Can we talk about that effort? Second, what was going on awkward episode overall. Um, yeah, they decided to kick things off with a little sexy energy of like Peyton stretching out Lucas's shoulder. What was that? Is that a real stretch? But they didn't even show you stretching his arm. It just the shot was like slightly below his shoulders, so it really just looked like you were in his armpit, like just digging around for

a minute. But it only lasted like a few seconds. And then so like what is like it's awkward? You know, yeah, armpit love. That's not what we're going That's not sexy, guys, that's not fun. I mean, so like we we have immersed ourselves in like the high school drama of it all, which we see on full display in this episode. When you first signed on for One Tree Hill, what did you know about what you were stepping into, because you really did come into a tornado. I had no idea.

I mean, like they you know, they brought me in to read. There was just limited sort of information about it. All I knew was I was the new sort of batty you can batty sort of yeah, I mean, and all that it was is just what was revealed in the sides really, And it was the two scenes like the Carousel episode, which I hear was very controversial. Like I was like, I'm listening to the next podcast, I'm like, oh, what did I what what happened? I don't remember what

am I stepping into? Um? But but it was that in the you know the bar scene where I'm sitting at the bar with with Lucas and and we're talking like the bus of the crashing of the I remember that being like the audition scene. Yeah, that's all I knew. The magic trick scene like light and stuff on fire. Was Nikkia Pyro? You know she might have been from the way things look at this point, a little bit of a pyro, a little bit of a witch. Oh yeah, okay,

let's go down that road. Can we go down that road? Let's is Nikki a witch? I'm asking as a witch? I think she is. I think I think she's a dark witch. I don't think she's a She doesn't work for the light. It's not like a farm which or a kitchen which she's like, no, I strictly work in hex's.

She's an angry girl, a girl. She's the picture of like what you see when you look up witchcraft in the dictionary and like, you know, there's some evil looking, you know, sorceress type thing over a crystal ball and

like flames behind. But you know what, there's a difference because that is a sort of an easy trope to play, but you added more layers and you that's I think one of the things we always left and respected about your performances that you it wasn't just ha ha, I'm the bad girl twisting my mustache and you know, perking my eyebrows, like there was some substance behind where Nikki was coming from and you could see the pain in

spite of all of her bizarre antics. Um. And I'm mean, was there a lot of character work for you when you because there was there were so many scenes when you were like trying to get Jake back together with you, and you seemed really sincere. And I believe that this is something Nicki actually really did want. She was just in her own way so much she didn't know how to really go after it and you know, clean up

her life. But I'd love to know about if you remember any specific character work you felt like you had to do um to prepare for this or to get into it. I remember my my main thoughts on it were, you know, it's like you said, it's easy to fall into the trope of like I'm just going to be the big bad you know, and come in and the mustache twirling like in the big like screw you everybody, and like, ill watch me do this. Um so I try.

I I remember thinking going and saying myself, you know, there's gotta be a reason people can relate to her like her even though she's vile and and and her actions contradict some of the things that she says or some of the actions that she's had in the past. So there needs to be vulnerability and some sort of redeeming qualities about her that that are genuine, but said because there's so much her life is so much of a mess that that stuff overshadows uh, you know, it

pulls her out. She has moments of clarity and kind of wanting to be that person, but then inevitably she's so stuck in that world of like survival and everyone screwed her over or in her head that's you know, that's the story. Um. But yes, but not falling into like that was the main thing. I was like making a big effort not to fall into the trap of just being uh the villain, so to speak. Well, she's

like the teenage female Dan Scott. You know, both of them have kids that they're not necessarily ready for at a young age. Dan disappeared on Lucas, and so Nikki is trying to do the opposite. She's trying to, you know, come back and make up for things, and it's not going the way that she thinks it should be going, and that's frustrating. And then every time she thinks she's helping someone like Lucas or she meets Brooke tonight in

this bar, she's like, I'm going to help you. I'm going to do you a solid, and then it turns on her. I can see why. Nikki is just like I hate all of you. You guys are so messy. I tried to help you ruined it. I tried. I tried to help you, and this is what I get. Even though she Nikki takes it always like one step too far. Yeah, what cracks me up. Those in the party's scene I'm watching, I was like, okay, mental note, you can't drink that much straight Vodget. Like, I'm constantly

on the floor. Yeah, I would too, pouring it into like the brook is mixing like beer and liquor. And I'm just like, have you ever worked in Wilmington's before? Oh? That was the first time. And I loved Wilmington's. It was like such a I mean, just such a quaint, sweet town that I wish I'd gotten to see more of. I think I ate it. Every restaurant on that road. Yeah, and um, and I I remember like always like either

like Paul ended up having similar seed. We had time off, so we would Paul and I would hang out a lot, and I distinctly remember where he lived in downstairs there was a restaurant he would keep like a case of Deluxe in the back. Yeah. I don't know what was it called. It was Deluxe, but okay, and it was Deluxki Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They had that like fabulous steak that was like blue cheese on that was something like you know, back then we were all mystified by the

fancy food below Paul's apartment. But Paul's a good date. Paul's a good person to explore any town with. Were you at the Riverview Sweets? I was it was like our dorm really because Antoine was there. Who else was there while you were there? Um, Jake, Brian, Jake, Bryan Greenberg. Yeah, yeah, I think we were neighbors at one point. Like it was Yeah, it was like it was like a dorm. It was. It was pretty because yeah, everyone was there.

That was the was that hotel, and then there was the other hotel at the end of the row there. It was, oh, the Wilmantonian No, no, you mean the one on the water. Yes, yeah, it was like a Hilton. I think I remember thinking I was like, oh, that's the fancy hotel. We've also been raving. We've been raving about Greenberg on this show too. I think we get in trouble because we put him on a pedestal and we're just like Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake. But he's so

easy to love Jake Jake. Um for you, had you and Brian ever met each other before or you were just immediately, you know, thrust into this young parent lifestyle. Yeah, so we were thrust into it. You did good work together, Thank you. He was easy, I mean, like he was really easy to to put I mean, everybody was so

wonderful and great to work with. It wasn't like you know what I mean, like everybody was solid and just brought, you know, brought their a game to the table, and it was like such a pleasure to be on set with that. Well I'm just gonna say it too, Emmanuel. We were all intimidated by you because you were so good and you were so pretty and you were just like a force. And so I think we all brought our a game because we're like, I mean, I can speak for myself and be like, please like me, please

like me. Oh my god, baby. I remember just being like, Okay, all these guys know each other and they're you know, it's like being the first new kid at school, because I was like, oh, they're all and I was like, I hope they liked me. I hope I'd be like, okay, I'll just stay quiet, stay to myself. By I know, Calum. Like, also, was that like a Canadian connection? Is that how you

two connected? You know? Yes? And no, I had run into I can't remember if that was the first time Paul and I actually hung out, but it became friends. But I remember coming up to him and maybe it was there and I said, you know, the first time I met you. It was when I first moved to l A. I was like nineteen years old and I was walking down the street in Beverly Hills with my little teeny tiny white teacup poodle, remember the poodles. I

was going. I was going to the coffee bean to get a nice blended vanilla ice blended because that was my treat for the day. And I'm walking up, but all of a sudden, this great dane rears up on its hind legs and like it's like and I look over and Paul is tall, handsome, you know, dude, He's like, oh hello, it starts talking to me, and and that's how I met Paul. You're like, is your animal gonna eat my dog? I almost ate my dog. It was that dog was bigger than I was. It was was

Damascus was Damascus. Yeah, of course Paul had a great dan attract. Okay, so let's you want to get into the episode Joy, Let's say, yeah, I mean, well, let's talk about I would love to talk about Brooke and Peyton. Let's start with there and getting into this great fight, which well, let's start with start with Brooke legendary. I hope you know that people bring it up all the time, and I'm always like, we had fun that day. It

was so um it looked so real. It was you know, it started out a little dynasty and then it went into another level of it looked very real, like a good scrappy street fight. I was like, Okay, we've got the dynamic of like the failed romantic relationships in this episode, whether it's like Nicki and Jake, or Brooke and Peyton and Lucas you know, or deb and dan Um, but those friendship relationships. You know, this breakup between Peyton and

Brook holds a lot of weight, and it's devastating. And I think that they're more broken up about that than necessarily, Like the book and Peyton need each other. They're they're kind of alone in the world. I mean, I haven't seen Peyton's dad in a while. Again, who knows what's going on with with Victoria and Brook's dad, and and she know she's always just alone. So to see these two girls who have clung to each other in the storms of life be you know, thrust away from one

another by some dramatic circumstances is hard to watch. And I felt really bad foot two of them and especially at the end when they were laying in bed just talking, and I felt I could see the two little girls like, how do we get back to each other? We need each other, you know. Well, it felt like cheating, like watching Brooke and Nikki have fun together in the bar and then roll into that party. I was like, what the what like friend cheating? Have you guys ever had

a friend cheat on you before? Sure? Yeah, high school it's that much more like that's just a big deal because it's everything to you and you haven't sort of figured out like, Okay, I can take a step back, it's not the end of the way. I can go talk to someone else for a week. What is loyalty? Because you know, you're still trying to figure think those concepts and themes out when you're in high school. The

concept of loyalty. If if I don't like someone, is my friend therefore obligated to not like that person because I don't Because if you're my friend and that person was mean to me, then you stick up for me by not liking them too, and then we're both a force against that person, you know. I mean, that's definitely how a lot of high school. That's how I thought in high school in a lot of ways too. So I think that plays out for sure, and I don't

think it. I don't think it helps that the person that Brooke is cheating with is also someone connected to Jake, who Peyton has shown like a little bit of interesting. Yes, another, and then the Lucas revelation is just all the cards are put out on the table, and every relationship in this episode, like he said, joy it yeah, everything comes to a head and it just it's sort of like bam,

here it is now what you know? Yeah, well yeah, And it's when you meet people that are similar to you, who have all the same interests as you, it's hard not to be competitive. So it tracks that they like all the same boys, they like the same girls, they hang out in the same places, And so that bars that serve high school is alcohol. What is this bar?

What is this bar? Every time anybody from our show goes there, they get served, even though they're under Did you party at the Blue Post when you were in town, Emmanuel, I don't remember it, which would be probably a yes. Time had a great time. The bartender, the bartender who's had all the scenes with you is a guy named Dean who we made friends with because he was a part of the improv comedy scene in Wilmington's um and he hosted the karaoke nights at Level five for a

long time. So it was like they got our bartender to be the bartender in the show. I love that he did give one look when you ordered the vodka for Brooke. He just like kind of threw a look over shoulder, like she's in high school. I know I'm not supposed to serve her, but it's in the script. So whatever did you party in high school? Um, towards the end of high school? Yeah, park parties were a big thing in I don't know if that was a thing.

What's a park party? Park parties? Like? Because you were underage, right, so you like everyone would like be like, okay, let's meet it. Um, you know such and such a playground, it's such and such a school beers and like, you know, and you're sitting until the cops came, and then you don't make a mad dash for it, hide your booze in the bushes, and then like you run off. It was the most ridiculous thing. But it's like if we

couldn't find somebody's house, then that's what we would go do. Um, so that we were parties parties, We're gonna this is the like urban legend stuff I would hear about as a child, Like you go in would be graffiti all over the playground. You're like, who does this? As those park party kids? Up? Did you guys party in high school? Well? So I was a real clean team. Like I had a group of friends and we didn't drink, and we

didn't smoke, and we didn't hook up with dudes. But we would go to the parties and just kind of you know, when you know you're gonna get made fun of, Judge, when you know you're gonna get made fun of, so you just like own it real hard and you're like, oh yeah, I'm gonna, you know, make it a thing. Um we ended up making fun of it in the show. I didn't party much either. I was a pretty I

was a pretty tame kid. I mean I definitely relate to Hayley feeling like nobody's going to show up if I throw this party, because I'd have for sure thrown a couple of fet FETs. I don't know, um that nobody that like very slim Pickings shows up at and then I'm just sitting there alone, like, no, wait, okay, so let's talk about the Hailey party thrown at all because I loved how John Hughes this storyline was for you. You looked the part you had, like the sixteen candles

top on so much so cute. My hair got increasingly more curly as the episode went on, and I don't know if that was the weather or if it was me being like, I don't care if it doesn't match, I want it curly, which is totally possible. And I did that when I was every single girl in every single scene, meaning that our hairdressers on the show had to pass us off to other people. That's what it is. Oh,

that's what it was. Yeah, that's right. We were all just kind of crammed into the room together and it was like, just make it work, make it work. Um. I love Tayley throwing the party. I loved the idea that this is her sort of popularity coming out, and she felt so nervous and insecure about it. I love that everybody did show up so she didn't end up feeling alone. But then of course the cops came and the whole thing got and you had to hide your drinks in the bushes, and then we had to show

drinks in the bushes, and that was it. The next thing, I was at the policest stage. Damn, yeah, I don't. I'm trying to think if I was ever. You know, we had the police called on our parties when I lived in that haunted house in Wilmington's Man, you will you drive her come over to my house? No? Girl in Yeah? Yeah, I think it was like right after

you left. I moved into it um and we would have Halloween parties where the cops would show up and and thankfully, like James didn't answer the door because the rest of us had just turned twenty one, like we were barely skating by. Otherwise the bushes in downtown Wilmingtons would have been un this James gets his first job, Nathan gets his first job in this. What was your first job? Oh, I believe? Oh I worked at Ovens marvelous. Yes,

that's so good, Flory, what was your first job? My god, I worked so many jobs trying to save up money to move to New York City. So I started at Sports Authority, which was like a nightmare. There was a

man who was not a match for you, babe. This dude was a felon who the rumor was he murdered someone and he worked in the back area where you would have to go do returns, and he was always like, you look like nicky kidman, and I was just like, oh, you don't know her well enough to call her nikki him. And then I finally quit there and got a job at the supermarket, the same supermarket chain where my mother my father met when she was a teenager and where

my brothers all worked in the pharmacy. And it was just too much. And then I started um working at a Buffalo wing factory and I started I was like bar attending. It wasn't totally legal, but it was the year Coyote Ugly came out, and I was like for that girl, No, I was working on a real bar. Child. The deal was I was allowed to pour the beer.

I wasn't allowed to walk it to the table, which I think it doesn't make any sense, right if you're underage around would make more sense, like, yeah, pick it up and walk into the table and that was it. But you had no business pouring it or being in contact with the open bottle tips or tips friends. I was a team sad. What about you? You were making movies? Joy? Yeah, I mean my first my first jobs were TV jobs like UM commercials and pilots and stuff like that. But

my first reg non circus job was circus. I worked at a UM. I think I worked at the French Connection, you know, the clothing store. I think I was in there just like dressing the mannequins, and all I wanted to do is do window dressing. And then when I moved to New York City, UM, when I was done with my soap opera that I was on, I got a regular, normal job at a perfumery and so I got to make perfume for people all day, which is

super fun. You had told me when we first met that you were going to go work in a florish shop because you sent me flowers. You sent me flowers for something, and you came to my house and there was baby's breath in there, and you were like, I told them not to put some baby's breath in thereby so taggy I did. Don't get your girl's flowers with baby's breath and them just take it out and then wrap that in a brown paper bag or something. Don't

leave the plastic gun, don't you know. I did work at a florist in l A. That was my first job. I got to l A and I was like, I need a job, So I went into a florist shop and they hired me. It's a skill set that's last to do forever. Was it a walk down memory lane

to see anything at this job? Emmanuel kicking it in the mall already watching it last night, I was like, wow, I remember, I remember that, and like the cleaning at the end of the night, Like you're there in the empty mall and it's kind of you know, just like huh. And then you're like, I gotta get home on the bus and you're like, yeah, it did bring back memories of that. And what about that carousel, the infamous carousel in the mall? How did you feel about that? I mean,

it was the first episode. I was I didn't rewatch that episode yet, but uh, do you remember when we were filming it, Like how you felt about it when you saw the script come in And I don't know what did you think? Uh? You know, I was like, well, I'm the you know, I'm the seductress and the villain and this, and you know, I guess this is this is what what I'm doing. I just remember extensive wardrobe talks about what it was I was going to wear to straddle him on the carousel, you know, like all

this stuff. I was like, I don't think when you were a kid and you're like I want to be an actor that it would boil down to like straddling wardrobe conferensation. When she straddles him and takes her top off, what brau should we wear? And also like, you know, like how stretchy should the skirt be so she can like really straddle them? Yeah, not just like a polite

side saddle western saddle. We just I just could not get over the fact that they were in a mall after hours and the carousel lights were still on and there were no security cameras. No one stopped them. It was like there were too many. By the way, the security guards at that mall were just like, cool, this is great, let let them go out for a whiles. It was I mean, those scenes are always awkward and kind of you know, whatever to shoot, and uh, yeah,

it was what it was. I think. I mean, I did put a whole lot of thought into it at the time. You know, I'm sure looking it was normal back then, you know what I mean In these days and times, that would have been a completely different conversation and and a like, okay, we're rewriting this. Yeah. Well, and also, Nikki's a little bit older than us. We've talked about that as well. Was it clear that Nikki was in college because she says sometimes like tuition, but

then she also talks about being a teenager. Did you know she was supposed to be a few years older? It was never really addressed like specifically in this, you know, in the scenes or in this it was sort of the yeah, like referenced, but not really talked about. So yeah, yeah, I like that she's still going to high school parties, Like, yeah, she's got to high school parties and seducing like high school boys. Oh my god, you're the Matthew McConaughey. It's

like des and confused. So good. Well. Barbara had some lingerie action in this episode as well, which um, I think she we remembered her not wanting to do that. I have to we have to ask her about it. I'm not sure, but she was pissed that she had to pull the shirt up over her head because it just is an awkward thing to do on camera. Yes, yeah, this would have been like a button thing. Yeah, but would have been great. Yeah. I like when we were

last night, it did kind of catch me off. I mean, I was like, Okay, I get what they were going for, but in my head, I was like, yeah, but it felt like it just felt a little out of It

felt like a forced moment. Not because of the acting, but the writing felt like a forced moment to me because she was actually really upset and he was totally gaslighting her in that moment, and you know, just do pulling all of his manipulative that suddenly now she's turned on by I just wish there had been some sort of if he had I don't know, if the if the fight had had felt a little bit more like he was fighting for her in in some new way,

rather than him attacking her and suddenly shirt off, you know what I mean. There is a pheromone thing that I didn't understand as a young person, and now as an adult, I'm like, oh, man, chemicals are a real thing. Like you can't be technically attracted to a person who makes you an insane Um, maybe that's what it is. Maybe Dan has strung long pheromone action. Yeah, it could be. It could be. I mean, and she was drinking, so I guess that sort of you know, listened to her

up a little bit with this whole conversation. Moral of the story, friends, don't drink with your ex husband. Yeah. God. But you know what was what really got me about it? I mean when when they started making out, it was like, oh wow, that, you know, the first time we get to see um Dan and and deb really being romantic with each other. That's not a tender thing, but like a passionate romance, which we've never seen with them before.

But what really got me is that the end, when he comes back and pulls that classic narcissist of I'm the one leaving you now I'm going to bring it back in. He just keeps proving over and over. Yes. Well it's like, yeah, I got, I got what I wanted. I wanted that one last sort of like to see how great we used to be and you yea, And now I wanted you to want me again and for me to be able to show you what it's like

for me to leave when you want me. Oh, it's just he just keeps proving over and over how broken he is. This is why I've got a theory. Guys, your favorite body of water is it resembles your personality, right, Like there are people that are like the ocean, and they come and they come back to it, and they go out and they come back to and they go out and they come back to it. I have always been a river person. The water is never the same. Ever, it just keeps on running downhill man. And so once

I'm gone, I'm gone forever. It's never coming back. And I'm saying all the debs out there, don't kiss him again, don't do it, don't do it, Just get it out of your I'm a lake person. I don't know what that means. What does that mean? Hillary? Um? Deep waters so deep sometimes you'll never touch the bottom, like they're like, yeah, sometimes I'll just stay and places I shouldn't stay. The water doesn't bring you a canoe. I'll come get you down your river and bring me up over here. Manuela,

Are you a body of water? Are you? Um? I'd say I'm a mix between the like a river and the ocean, like I have been guilty of being the ocean before. But when I'm done that, what like, there's no like, when I'm truly done, the wall comes up. It's over. There's no going back, Like I can't um make like when somebody's crossed that line, I'm just like okay. Now now it's really like there's no going back for me because that trust is broken. Everything it's just too broken.

It's when you're like the inter Coastal Waterway and you turn into salt water at a certain point, you went from being fresh water salt water salty salty about this in there, but then yeah, uh um talking about salty, said here's uh Lucas telling Keith, I wanted you to

be my dad. Um. This breakup between Karen and Keith, we said when we were watching, were like, it's like watching your parents get divorced, except they were never married, so you don't get the same grief process, you know, like Nathan gets to have that grief process of my parents are a mess. But Lucas had fantasized about Karen and Keith being his parents, and now it's that dream

is dying. It's hard to watch a dream like that die, especially as a kid when you I mean he had been holding onto that hope, I think as much as Keith had. It was hard to it's hard to see that die. Did you get to a wee moment too? Between the two of them? I was like, Wow, that was really touching and like and for him as a as a young man to go and actually how that conversation,

Like how hard that must be? Too? Well, And you're getting to see multiple sides of Lucas because you were dealing with sexy Lucas in the beginning and now you're seeing you know, like the conversation you guys had on the porch a couple episodes ago, and like watching him today be like, hey, listen, I kept your secret. I'm trying to be a good person. You know. Chad does a really really good job at plane those little boy feelings of like like I just want my parents to

get along. I don't want my dad to leave. I don't you know this girl is going to make trouble and I just really want Haley to have a nice party. And you know when he goes into little boy mode, he doesn't really I love that when he does that me too. Not every dude's up for it. Yeah, yeah, he does it very well. He really embraces that. And I think that's what we loved about Lucas in the beginning, you know, the sort of college bad boy Lucas we

all were really thrown off track with. And it didn't it felt really insincere, probably for a reason because this is Chad's sweet spot as an actor. I think being in this zone with Um the sincere, you know, a little a little there's a little boy that wants to come out that you know is vulnerable, and I think

that he really did a nice job with that. Well, we didn't get to see you hold your baby in this episode, Emmanuel Um, but we saw Karen holding your baby, which is random but a useful tool because it allowed us to visualize what Karen Keith and Lucas were when he was a baby, and it allowed us to visualize what they potentially could be except she's just not in

love with him. Did you feel at the end, like when she's fixing his tie and he finally like he or no not once started after that when he comes back and says he got he's got the job and it's finally real and he's leaving, I saw like a moment of sort of hesitation, kind of like going, oh crap, this is I screwed up, like maybe like threight a minute, this is like I don't know how I feel about this,

And there was I don't like. I saw that moment in her eyes and it was such it was so beautifully played, so subtle, but it was like just her whole demeanor changed. Moira was really good at that. She's so good at subtext. She's so good at using her eyes to express what's not on paper. And that question mark is what makes the performance like fun. You know, if we knew that Karen really didn't love him, would be like, okay, move on next. You know who's she

going to kiss now? Um? But that question mark is real. Um. I don't know if you have gotten to interact with the little girl who played baby Jenny. Have you guys ever met after like like later, yeah, grace hold them? Well? There was there was of her babies when I was there, there was you had a couple of everyone. Yeah, there was a few different ones because and then as she got older than there were twins and so I don't know, I haven't you would be so proud of her. She

is in her freshman year of college. She is like a nationally ranked golfer, like on like p g A, you know, like she's gonna be I love that she stayed in touch and tracked tracked with her because her mother was a stand in on Dawson's Creek and on our show. And so that's how we got baby Jenny because her mom has been a part of our film community in Wilmington for years. But she is the most remarkable young woman, Like during the pandemic she started a

candle company to raise money for charity. And she's just so cool. She's so you would be so proud, NICKI, of your little baby because she's so my little girl. Yeah, I mean I don't remember what happens, But does NICKI maintain custody of Jenny? Like what happens? I feel like I disappear, Like I just up and go one day.

I think so too. I think you do too. I think I think it's like I think it actually seems like you're getting your together and it's actually going to start to something's gonna work, and then you just disappear again. Because women are the devil. Of course, we can tell so many I'll tell you what, though, Nikki and Brooke in that bar was so delicious. I really did enjoy watching all that wickedness just you know, it was so fun. It was so fun watching you guys in this the

one liners between you two. I could watch that whole show. It's like the Dark Laverne and Shirley. Yes, well, the the moment that she makes, like the brush off she gives to the guy before rush, Like who that is? That is? Damn? It was delicious. Yeah, well we can

talk about Sophia because she's not here. They gave Sophia so much heavy lifting because she would have to go from being so emotional in certain scenes to also like scathing and evil and brutal, you know, with the one liners and the scripting for Brooke is so fun in this episode because it really does there's a wide range of stuff that she has to cover. Um, and that defense mechanism that young women put up is a strong

play for Brook. It's like, well, if you're gonna hurt my feelings, I'm going to make sure I cut your head off. Um. It's a prayin mantis move and I'm drawn to it. Yeah, right, Like Nikki is being self destructive and anyone who can see through the veneer of like, oh I'm tough, I'm tough, I'm bad, I'm lippy. Um, you can see that this is a girl that is hurting deeply. And did you have any conversations with anybody about what that hurt was or or you just had

to make it up on your own. I just made it up on my own, I mean I think, Um, yeah, I don't. I don't think it was like a specific conversation with anyone, like any of the writers or people involved. I think it was just something that I, you know, I recognized that that there was a lot of scars and the history there, and to bringing that to the table was important instead of the you know, the evolution of the character and and just her you know, presence

on screen. What was people's reaction to you? Like when these things, do you remember people would like there would be people be like, oh my god, you're Nikki. I love to hate you, like, you know, like they would come up to me and be like, oh my god, I hate your character so much, but it's so much fun to watch. And I was like that's great, so great. Wait, so okay, what is what was crazier working on a teen drama or working on two and a half Men, because you have been able to handle a lot of

different personalities. I mean, well behind the same stuff counts too. Yeah, I mean I don't like see I generally have stayed like with the two and a half Man stuff, I stayed out of that whole, you know, like I was there, that wasn't something I was directly involved with, Like it was. Yes, I was involved with it, but not that way, you know, So it didn't it didn't change my relationships with anyone on the show, or with Charlie or with you know.

And then um so yeah, I don't know. I I tend to try to stay out of the pick of the drama. And yeah, You've always been very professional. I mean as I definitely remember when you came down to

Wilmington that you were so you're just so professional. And that's one of the reasons why we were so intimidated by you two, because you just you knew exactly what you were there to do, and you showed up and you were kind to everyone, and you know, knew nobody had to tell you how to find your mark or I mean, you were just a consummate professional, and you weren't involved in any of the behind the scenes drama or anything. You know, it's really it's nice too. It's

nice to be around that. Oh thank you. Yeah, I thought. I think also too, like I wasn't for for One Tree Hill, I wasn't there, you know, for every episode. I'm sure when it's different. When you're there day in and day out for months and months and years at a time, inevitably there's there's stuff that comes up, and situations and issues come up that you deal with appropriately at the time. But yeah, and also being young on a show like that, it completely it's like high school

but with money. Totally terrible combination. Totally, it's not a good combot can we um? Well, we could always come

back to that too. Sorry. I just wanted to because we haven't talked about Peyton yet in this episode, and I just wanted to say that, like, it was really nice to see Peyton happy and like having a great time, like she she and you and Lucas had such a good report and you know, there was like great music going on, and you just seemed so light and happy until the very end, when you know, Nikki was like you know, the happy Stuff is harder for me to play.

I always am really judgmental of my own performances with happy stuff because I know I'm really yeah yeah yeah. But the one thing that I like about it is that it makes Peyton more juvenile. You know. Um, it's really hard to it's really hard to sexualize or just kind of um misinterpret like a goofy kid, you know. And when people's like being happy and just like this, mand's neat mr. Um. I appreciate those moments of childishness,

if that makes sense. Um. I like that she's committing to this like platonic thing, and I I believe her, like I believe that she's legitimately trying to be platonic with Lucas, because if she can just make that work, if she can just like prove like, hey, we're just friends, regardless of how I've felt in the past, regardless of how I may secretly still feel, maybe Brooke will take me back. You know. It's it's like she's doing the work.

I loved it. But have you guys ever done those scenes though, where you have to pretend like you're having the best time ever or that you love something so much like metal um in eighties metal guys, it's the coolest and you just I don't know, I always feel

so funny doing it. It's way easier for me to cry. Actually, Like watching the episode, I was like, Wow, she's just so like cool and fun and free, like it be so free and not like in very comfortable and in your just in your body and just kind of like it. I was watching those scenes, I was like, Wow, it's really They're really nice to watch. Um, So it doesn't it doesn't come across as disingenuine or um that you're not actually happy about it and that you don't actually

love metal, metal head love metal. Can you imagine me going to pick my son up from school? Like just like metaled Out, slip Knot, can the car gus? Well, do we have any fan questions? Where are we at? My last fan questions? These are interesting? Well, we're talking about music. Go for it Hill, Okay, So Ashton asks. So many of the bands, artists and songs I loved in high school were featured on the show Jimmy Eat World, Fallout, Boy,

Jack's Mannequin, The list goes on. So my question to you guys is, what was a soundtrack to your high school experience and who were the heavy hitters on your mixtapes and mixed CDs. That's a great question. Yes, Dave Matthew, I mean Under the Table and Dreaming. Dave Matthews album was everything. I remember we took a senior trip to Greece. That was our class trip. I know, crazy. I went to Myrtle Beach, Joy you went to greet and I had that soundtrack on my walkman, and I just remember

walking the streets of Greece like this. I was totally broken hearted about a boy, of course, and he was on the trip but not paying any attention to me, And it was just it was like the most heartbreaking romantic thing ever to be wandering through these you know, Grecian streets listening to Dave Matthews band. But that and then that Jewel album and Fiona Apple. When Fiona Apple came out with was It Criminal? I can't remember the name of this slow like honey off that album? Is

that whole record? Yeah? And the Jewel Pieces of You album, Those those three were Cheryl Crow too. Um but yeah, that was the major soundtrack of my life. What about you, guys, say? Um, I mean Atlanta's Morrisset when she first come. Yes, that was.

I remember listening to a lot of lass More Set and then Madonna, Like I was a big eighties music like anything eighties, but Madonna I distinctly remember, and I was like, really, I was maybe like in second grade or something, and I had my little tape for quarter thing with the Madonna or No, it wasn't second grade.

It was like maybe fifth grade because I'd gone to the mall and like saved up enough money to like by you know, the Madonna like a Virgin album was at people, like a Virgin in my bed, like dancing around. My dad walks and he's like and he's like, what are you listening to Madonna like Virgin. He's like, Nope, you shouldn't be dancing two things you don't know about. And then he just like shut the door and walked out so confused. And now I look at Yeah, that

was That was a rough one. I was a little bit lost the first couple of years of high school, and then I really got obsessed with androgyny and discovered boy George, David Bowie Andie Lennox like all in one fell swoop and I just felt like I found my safe space. And I had pictures of boy George from Culture Club all over my bedroom, all over my locker.

I had a whole like block of class that was just student government, and I used that time not to run our school effectively, but to use the printer to print out pictures of boy George and so my so totally tracks that. Like the second I got to Manhattan at eighteen years old, I was like, where the drag upsy? It's so good? Yeah, that was that was my scene, just driving in my cutlast listening to Culture Club was the jam um. But let's talk about then, like what

would our characters be doing? You know, we talked a number of times about how unsettling it was that people just kept walking into peyton House house. This episode was gross, just everybody just at all hours walking into house, Like turning around and finding Brooks standing there over her bed with the light shining through the slats in the windows shades. I was like, I get that she's about to lay down. It's going to be a sweet moment, but she's it's

a bad way to kick it off. So I think that Peyton in her adulthood is going to be very Um, there's gonna be a lot of triggers for her, you know, like, yeah, no one's coming into her daughter's room, you know, door open, feet on the floor. We have monitors, ring doorbells everywhere, everywhere where, it's just ring cameras everywhere. I think Hayley is Haley has been such a goody two shoes her whole life that she probably is like living out some

wild years right now. That's my instinct throwing parties all the time. This was just the first case, all kinds of parties. What's NICKI up too? Did she ever get herself together? Um? I feel like she she's uh like twenty gosh, twenty years later. Um, I mean I feel like she's living in a small town working at a diner, trying to make meat and just you know, like she's just living a very sort of quiet life and maybe maybe still is still facing her demons and hasn't interesting.

She's not still at the pool hall now, She's like the salty brown in the corner. Hey, kids, you need it, you need a fake I d kid, I know where I get on my God. So that okay, So mano, tell us what you're doing now, because that's what I

want to know. What are you working on now? I'm well, right now, I was working on Supergirl earlier this year, and then Thank You, and then I did like an independent movie, and then I spent the summer showing my horse and was playing with So that's basically you know. Now it's like pouring rein here, um, and I'm kind of like the horse loves it here. So I'm like, Okay, we're gonna stay here for a while and hang out because there's more space and just you know, where is

your horse normally? Um? While I was in l a um, so you shipped shipped him up or her up? Thou um last year at the end of last year, I shipped her up when I should have just ridden her. I would have watched the documentary Emmanuel just riding this beautiful stallion across the border? Or is it a what's what's the right word? Yeah, I'm learning, guys, it's a lady. What's her name? Bunny? Oh, my horse's name is Buddy. Buddy. Yeah, So what kind of horse do you have? He's a

quarter horse. He's just a dark, dark, dark brown, almost black quarter horse and he's a nineteen years old so he's he's you know, he's had a good long life, but um, he's just kind of happy to be grazing right now. He's not he's kind of an asshole. He because he's just like, I'm just not into it. I put in my time woman name. His name was Bunny when I got him, and I just didn't like it for a male horse. I wasn't into it, and he didn't seem to fit his personality at all, to be honest,

because then an asshole. Yeah, So I called him Buddy because I didn't want him to, like, at nineteen years old, get a new name. But I feel like Buddy was a little closer to this is the Christmas movie I Want this Year where Emmanuel's horse teaches Joy's horse the true meaning of Christmas and to stop being so grumpy. Nikki could disappear and be a cowgirl. That's an alternate lifestyle likest to the barrel day. She became a barrel. Yes, there we go that. I like a brighter future for her.

And she found herself because she started working with horses and like therapeutically and she and she found healing in that and then decided that that was her true passion and it was healthy for her to be in that world. She could totally show up on yellow Stone like her and Beth would be best friends. Great, should we spend the wheel? Guy? Yeah, let's do it all right. You know how this works many Well, we have our most likely to every week, and this week it is most

likely to be listed on the Fortune five hundred. So we pick a cast member, a real life person, and a character who would be the ps likely to make it on the place. James Lafferty is he monlent with money? He makes very good choices with money? And why does mouth work for every answer? Yeah, I mean mouth has going to pretty much everything. Um, who made money? I mean Brooke made money with clothes over bros Right? Or what happened? Yeah yeah that was a big company. Yeah yeah,

that does track and Sophia. By the way, so Fia has three hundred jobs at any given point, hence her not being here. Today's person I've ever met in my life, and I'm just like, I'll have what she's hall He in Canada too, like I heard on the because I was, you know, stocking you guys on the episodes what happens on JOHNA Queen's. But I heard she was in Canada.

I'm like, she's in Toronto. Yeah, she's there. A couple of our friends are up there right now, and yeah, all the fun stuff is happening in Canada when you all come into New York. I'm just sitting here. Wait. Originally I came up here was just because this was the only place that was kind of open, you know, and I was like, you know what, I need to get out of Dodge for a little while. And then I just was like, I really like it up here

and everything's virtual, so like, what doesn't really matter? Yeah, exactly. Oh man, I'm so glad that you were able to join us today. It's just so great to see you and talk with you again. And it always makes me happy to have our family back on this show. So thank you so much. Well, thank you for having me. And I like, I was so excited. I was like, yes, I'll come do you know so much fun? And then when I listened to the episodes and I was like, this is really going to be fun because I loved

fighting with you. I loved remember they made us like crash through that coffee table and it was the first time i'd ever had to do like a really big stunt before, and it was scary. Didn't you get cut by the fake balsa wood? One of us got cut, But we wanted to be tough girls, I think so, I don't. I remember being really sore after like the next couple of days, like I had worked out like twelve hours straight because we shot that for like all day long, and you know, and then the yeah, three

hundred takes all angles everywhere. I mean it was fun though, Like it was a fun like the energy was so high that day. It was really good. No, we had a great time, and you just kind of go, well, you have to come to a convention because then we can do pictures. Yeah, I feel like fansy they need that photo. We'll just put a coffee table in front of us and pre broken, so all you have to do is just lay down on it. You got a problem with me? Yeah? Um, I love it so much. Manuel,

You're the best. Everybody give it up. Thank you guys so much. Everybody tune in next episode number twenty one, the Leaving Song. I still I still don't know what's going to happen. I love this rewatch because I'm surprised every week Danger Danger, have a great week. Everybody you guys like, Hey, thanks for listening. Don't forget to leave us a review. You can also follow us on Instagram at Drama Queens O t H. Or email us at Drama Queens at I heart radio dot com. See you

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