Ay, what is up? How you do a nerd vam? It's iffy? Why the way? And you're listening to a nerdificent and across from me as always eels Danny Fernandez. If I saw you eat like a massive hamburger today, it was a fourteen poundburg But yeah, you know, and I really it was the whole thing. You know, I don't do my how bodies work, you know, I'm learning that the hard way. I have had trouble breathing all day and you know, I I look, I get it.
You probably burned you know what, You probably burned calories trying to eat it. Oh my gosh. Well what was so crazy is because you know, you you always wonder what those cooking shows like, oh what do you do after it? And they're just like, okay, are you gonna take this? And I was like, well, if you guys are gonna throw away, yes, you know, like I come from that Nigerian heritage, like I was in Nigeria there, like you eat the whole cow, you do not any
of the cabinets for Mexican families too. Yeah, it was like a whole thing. Like we were getting yelled at, but like she was kind of hustling us. There was a lady who was on the property who's like, you're not going to eat the how you are going to do it away? She assumed because we were Americans. But my dad was like, no, we are going to eat the whole cow. And she was like, I will take these cows. And so I was like, oh, she just hustled us because she just took some of the meat.
But all right, I gotta respect the hustle. Shout out if she's listening all the way, I'm gonna Today we have a special guest, a little Oh my gosh, this is a voice that I've heard most of my life. And I got to be being in the room with them, you know, Yeah, I saved it all for the air. I didn't. I didn't want to geek out, But now you can't be weirded out because we we have you on the tape her. The door does have a locked it, so there's a puzzle you have to figure out before
you get out of here. I think I'm the only one in here who hasn't been an escape room because I just yeah, I'm bad at puzzles. So I just know him because you know, every time, every one of my friends who go in escape rooms. There there always is that one person. They're like, this guy was so dumb and he was slowing down the process. And I was like, oh, I don't want to be that. I don't want to be that person. If you're good at something,
you have value. So it's like, you want to bring someone that's good at word games, someone's good at math, someone's good at puzzle, because oh, I can figure out this math question, I can figure out this geography questioner.
Like people that are good at different things are helpful. Okay, cool, Yeah, And even if you're just having a good time, and there are a portion where it's like do a fortnight dance, like I haven't seen that, but we need someone that's buff as hell like or something'll do that like lift you have to deadlift this up and pounds bookshelf. Yeah, we are talking to a woman of in my opinion, thousands of voices. I don't know if that's correct, but
I'm gonna think that it is voice chasers. This week it was let's see see, but that's only like credited rules. You know a lot of times and they're like, hey, can you do this extra, little girl? And this little guy over here. Yeah, Roger Craig Smith, who you have worked with, who I hate you hate canonically hate. Um. He was saying that. Yeah. In one show alone, it was he was credited as doing a hundred voices in one show. Wow, that's because he's not good. So they'll
be like, oh, give the crappy little word. He can say one word or a snort or a gas, you know, give him the little bit parts that no one will care about. Are going to coolip this and send it to him directly. We are talking to Tara Straw and thank you so much for joining us, and today we are covering Harley Quinn. We are covering the history of Harley Quinn and kind of what she came to be and what she is now. Tara, you voiced back Girl
before you were Harley. What was that kind of like that transition of getting to play essentially a hero In my opinion, Harley is still a hero, I guess an anti hero. But what was it like switching from back Girl Barbara Gordon to Harlene. Well, first of all, it was so cool to be back Girl. I was like, I was pretty new in town and there were a million people in that casting room like a list celebrities,
huge voice talent. I was like, oh my god. And when I booked at my agents, like when you know you still had answering machines, He's like, oh my god, you're the girl. It's the back, You're back girl. I was like, oh my god. And then I was in the booth with Mark Hamill on one side and Kevin Conroy on the other, and I was like, holy crap. And there was Adrian Barbow and then there was Arlene Sorkin, who is one of the most beautiful creatures you've ever seen.
And her voice is so it's so distinctive and beautiful, and the character was created for her. They created Harley for her and it's modeled after her. She has a similar look and that voice is unmistakable. And watching her do her bits with Hammel, like I really was like pinching myself every day just to be alongside this greatness. And um I just always loved her and adored her. And then when they went into the Arkham Games, they
brought me in. There wasn't an audition process. They said they want to take Harley to a new level, and I was terrified because of those those are some pretty big boots to fill. And you know, people love their actors that create a voice, that make that voice famous, which is great. You know, the fans that love us were nothing without them, and they get piste off when
we get replaced, so do we. So you know, it's like, you know, I was really scared because she's such a beloved character that Oh my gosh, I hope people love my version because they didn't want me to do an impression. They wanted me to take what I knew of her and then make it my own and blow it out
for this video game. And I was really really nervous at that session and to sort of tap into her essence, I had her one of her famous lines on my phone, so like any time before I'd go into a session, I would just be like, you'd think, you have to live in with Mr Jail. This time might be used to a little pain like That's how I'd get into
it every time and then build from that. And by the way, Arlene was so gracious, Like in the press, she said that she had spoken to her husband after she saw me working like maybe one of the first times I bad girl, and she said, if there was anyone ever to take over for me. I wanted to be Tara. I have not been as gracious to people, but she was just a doll, and I feel so
honored to follow in her footsteps. And it's it's one of those roles that, like, when you're by yourself doing a video game, it can be completely, so vocally taxing, because even if you're not doing a thousand death sounds, it's just you for four hours, non stop, and so sometimes you're like, oh, I have to do this video game. I know it's going to be crazy. Anytime it's Harley, I get so happy because it's like therapy, Like I get in there and get to scream at the world
and it's so much fun. And now I feel like she's so much a part of me, Like I get really upset when someone else plays Harley, like I'm like that I'm Harley, you know, And I just love any any iteration of her I love. And I've done so many, you know, the video games is very specific. Then there was DC Girls and DC Superhero Girls, and then there's been some shorts that I've done and other entity like anywhere she lives. She's a little bit different here she's
more Harleyan here, she's a little bit older. Here she's a teenager, here she's whatever. And you make that adjustment in your mind to be her in these different places,
and it's always fun. And I do think she's a hero because you know, first of all, you love to hate the bad guy anytime, but there's such like a sincerity to her and like a pure love, like no matter what's going on, no matter how abusive the joker is, or no matter what she's facing, she still comes at her like prowess and her abilities and her agility from love,
even if she's bashing someone in the head. It's like she's just pure, powerful love and you have to love her because she does everything so completely, Like there's nothing half asked about Harley. Nothing she and she hates. She's extremely loyal, that's what. She's extremely loyal. And I feel that way too about about Poison Ivy. I I always see Poison Ivy as a hero. I'm like, she's trying
to save the planet. Nobody's listening, Like we're the ones that are destroying the planet, and she will kill us if she has to. But um, yeah, I agree. I think that there's such a fine line between hero and villain, and I really think it's depending on the perspective. Well, and it's like they say, the best villain is one
that you can understand. I think the best villain is a hero who goes too far, you know, like you know, have someone like Eric kill Monger who you're like, I see where you're coming from, Please chill out, even thanos, I see where you're coming from. Please chill out. You know, like that is the because you know that hyper evil is just so done and cliche and everyone does something for a reason, so to do something to rule the world or two in the world, just like, well why
are you doing that? Well, when you see a villain with vulnerability, that is like it's all moving because you always anytime there's a superhero, comic or character, you think what's their origin story? And when there's a villain and you and you see the origin stories where we see
what they're going through, it's like wow. And there's always pieces that you can relate to, even if it's someone like Fannels or Harley like some crazy like okay, I can relate to that character even though they can shoot Letney bolts out their eyeballs there's something that I can relate to in their psyche. Yeah. I feel that way because we did an episode on The Punisher and I forgot to mention that he said you're one bad day
away from being me, which is so true. That's how a lot of the that's kind of what happened with Harley, you know. And I think that there is some I think she has sympathy for the Joker and then the Batman kind of has sympathy for her. And watching this, like watching her chase after him. Oh yeah, there definitely seems to be a level of Batman being like you're
you got it? Like there were like a few episodes where you see him like the Joker doesn't care about you, and she's like, shut up, get you a big malage. Did you guys get the digital remaster that just came out? Oh yeah, you mean with the tiny funk open. Oh yeah, it's sitting there in my world. Good. Yeah. At Comic Con they played it on the big screen, side by side, and that show holds up anyway because it's like film noir. It's like beautiful, but to watch it recolored, it's like,
holy crap, it's so beautiful. Man. I got it. I mean I feel like, you know, we're talking about origin stories. I think this is a good place to jump in on Harley Quinn. So Harley Quinn. Her full name is Dr HARLEYN. Francis Quinzel, this PhD and this is you know she what's dope, And she came from the animated series, but she still had that like nineties level uh like naming where like superhero names, their real name sounds like their nickname. Like I always bring it up on the podcast,
Black Bolt's real name is black Agar Bolt. It's like shot for the movie Edward Enigma. Yeah right right, Yeah, that's that's the Riddler. It's like, come on, like that's what I'd be like, that's the guy. That's that has
to be the guy. Yeah, it sounds like. But Arley Quin's of fictional character appearing in d C Comics was created by Paul Dennie and Bruce tim and first appeared in Batman, the animated series, which makes her so unique, uh you know, which goes to show just the perform and just like you know, I feel like a lot of times people underestimate or under appreciate, except for the fans.
They over I was gonna say over appreciate, but you appreciate just enough voice actors and just how dynamic their performance can be, because Harley Quinn would not exist without the performance, you know, like if if that wasn't a amazing performance in the animated series, it could have just been a character that lived and died with the series.
But instead it was so good that because of Arlene, Like, had she not given that voice all those crazy little quirks and highs and lows and things that catch your ear? And what was that not just another chick's voice. It's really she breathed life into this character that you want to hear more from, even though it can be high or irritating or crazy, like gotta hear what I want
to hear more. Yeah, So, going off of what you were saying about Arlene, So, she was a former star of the soap opera Days of Our Lives and appeared in a dream sequence on that series in which she wore just or costume. So, like Tara was saying, it was literally based off literally that episode is why they created Harley. Yeah. Yeah, So she appeared in an episode
titled Joker's Favor in September of nine, two Tara. I wanted to know because she was just supposed to be kind of like a walk on role, Like she was just supposed to kind of be like the sidekick but not really have what she is. Now, why do you think that people latched onto her and have stayed latched onto her? Yeah, And I think that reason has changed
over time. And I think initially people were so drawn to her because first of all, the fact that Joker even has a girlfriend's interesting, like who would date the Joker? And the fact that she's so lovable and so loyal, and also her costumes are always kick ass no matter what they put her in. Harley's like, you know, it's like the biggest cosplay, like especially comic On, but any of them, you know, there's just Harley events. Like I went to like a Harley panel and the whole room
was Harley. Of course, I surprised everyone in cosplay and it was great. Those pictures are awesome. But I think people like I think they were drawn to her initially because of the total package. It was her drawing, it was her, it was the writing of her, it was the acting, it was how she looked, and the dynamic between her and Joker and how she would go for Batman, Like what cute little chick is going to go after
Batman Harley? You know, Like, I think there was so much that went into this perfect storm to create this kick ass chick. And then over the years white people love her and how she sustained is because she's grown with the times. You know, some characters stay very classic, but she's like grown, like people like wow, Like in some of the games that you see like her becoming her own woman and her own power and kicking as by herself, and like, I just think it's something people
aspired to. They go, oh, wow, she started out as this meek, little you know, wilting flower beside joker, and now she's you know, doing things by herself and kicking us all on her own. It's like wow, people are like blown away by her power. And she's so powerful, like you're just drawn to her, and everybody sees something
in themselves from her. I'm not saying people are all psychopaths, but they you know, definitely see, well, I've put up with some crab in my life that I should love, and I still love that guy or whatever it is that she's so devoted and but also she's so cute, and that's a part of it too. Her design is so cute. It is a reason people cause play her. People don't always cause play Timmy Turner if they're a chick, because that's not hot. Really costume sex. Let's let's see,
I'm going to look for that. I'm gonna look for that. I didn't want to say. This was an interview from Bruce tim in Vanity Fair In he said, we didn't want to give Joker a girlfriend because it humanizes him. We're really trying to stress how bizarre and creepy he could be. Um And this is from Paul Deni and camp X. I was writing the script for the Batman animated series. When I was coming up with an idea for the Jokers gang of Henchmen, I thought I'd like
to put a female character in there. I was going back and forth in my head about what kind of character she should be. What if she's funny, What if there's a bit of a throwback to the Henchman from Batman in the sixties. What if she gets laughs from the Henchman sometimes when the Joker doesn't like That's what I really love about her is that, like you said, she moves honestly from being a follower to a leader. Um she went from she appeared in a suicide squad
in the New fifty two. That was in the New fifty two was when d C came through and kind of just redid a lot of their lines. And then she ended up in Rebirth having her own comic, Harley Quinn comic, And she's also in a Gotham City Sirens, and and she's like one of the only sustainable comic heroes that didn't start as a comic. Yes, and you know, and now all her comics are huge in the comics the bigger book ones are awesome, and I mean I
bought them all. I've read them all yet, but as soon as I did kill Joke, I had to buy everything that was like that too. Let me get that. Yeah.
But so funny about it too, is Harley is kind of similar in Joker in the sense that Joker was supposed to just be a villain of the week and somehow he caught in and then you know, the same thing for Harley, she was going to be just this character who popped on and she just was so amazing that Yeah, there's there is something I think about her that is just so infectious, where you you just love seeing her, and I think it is just in a way where I find that, you know, Joker, like he's funny,
but he's funny in a creepy way, like it's very dark and you don't really trust his laughs, where Harley seems like she's having fun. You know, you're like, you know, she's definitely not creepy, but she's also a train wreck, which is always fun to watch, you know, like, what
is that girl going to do next? Right? Right? Yeah, Terry wanted to actually quote you because we have this in here from that Vanity Fair article where you said feminism is about showing women as fully fleshed out human beings, and that's what Harley is. She doesn't make choices that are smart or good for a woman, but she gets to make those choices. Men are allowed to be up in all kinds of characters and women aren't. We have to be idolized. She gets to not be That was
a good quote. Our producer Dad put that in there. He was like wow, because he pulled a lot of the research. He was like, he texted us yesterday and was like, wow, a lot of These quotes are from terra Um. I do want to say that that she kind of paved the way for characters that we see now, like Jessica Jones, who you know, deals with mental illness and she's alcoholic and she like she's allowed to be flawed.
But way before she appeared, we had characters like Harley that were kind of groundbreaking of like, no, women don't have to be pretty and perfect all the time. They can still be super strong but have but have flaws, which makes them more relatable. Yeah, I find that. I find that, you know, that that is like the pinnacle to representation because lots of times when people are like insert you know certain race or women here, they have to they there's this need to make them always perfect
because we're like, we don't want to offend them. But it's like, no, we you know, the fun stuff usually in media and storytelling is like seeing someone fail and bounce back and go through hard times, and you know, you don't want to see someone just be perfect. Boring. Yeah, it's very boring. You don't get to do the fun stuff.
So that that is very true, like, you know, especially like I think pre pre Harley, pre a lot of stuff you know, you usually have to leave it to beaver syndrome, where like, you know, the wife is the homemaker and she's perfect and she's not going through stuff even though she's taking care of five kids and a dog. You know, you mean she's not in the best. She's coming like, sister, let's go crack some skulls, and she's like, yes, please, spat.
I was gonna say, we are going to get into some of Harley's abilities as well as the video games. Right after these messages where Bad Bad, where that Terry, you were talking about how strong she is, and I think a lot of times people do forget a lot of Harley's abilities. I mean Harleyn's ability Harley Harley Um. I was thinking of her her abilities as a doctor. Then that she's incredibly smart. I think as goofy as she is, she's she has a PhD. Does anyone else
in this room have a PhD? That's what's funny about picking up like storied storytelling is there's so much, so many years of lore that that's I find the most fun part of like comics where there's one writer who's like, oh, we never talked about that, let's touch on that and I am waiting for the Harley comic where she's like cooking up all these different you know, because like if you think about it, Joker is always trying to make those like laugh asses. Harley probably is the one who
knows how to cook it up the best. Yeah, it's always fun too as an actor to play her both both ways, Like if there's flashbacks or things of her from when she was Harlen more Harlen, Like there's a difference in my voice when I'm doing Harlen as opposed to when I'm doing Harley, even within the same game. And it's always so interesting to like bring in the crazy, you know, like she starts out like, okay, what you know,
what's bothering you today? And then she's like, oh I crab, Like she's like, you know, and vocally I come at it from a different place. I mean, when I'm in the studio, I like imagine in my mind what's happening. I see all the actions, so that sort of happens organically where it's a little bit lower, a little more like a human, you know, and then when it becomes Harley,
it's like game over. I know, just you know, I just want to talk a quick sidebar about the talent of voice actors, like sometimes when you hear interviews of voice actors like, oh, I just do an impression of this person, uh, doing an impression if this person is like, oh, I get I stopped that the first one. I'm not good.
And it seems like Harley is one of those characters who seems like it is like almost like I don't know the it's an accent, but then taken to the max, I don't know what would you say, Well, I'd say for starters that it is not and can't be an impression. If you're just copying what someone did before, you'll never capture their essence. And especially someone like Harley, who is so deep and so complicated and conflicted, if you're just trying to sound like you're never going to get to
that core. And part of what makes her so incredible is you know there's a lot of deep stuff going on and you can't just say, hey, I'm gonna copy that. Any time I've been in an animated session where someone's coming in and doing an impression of let's say a mel Blank character that's not around anymore, I always like it drives me nuts where I can hear the difference between someone that just does a good impression and someone
that captures the essence of that character. And there's a huge, huge difference, and not everybody can do both and you can hear it right away. And that's one reason some people don't like a version of Bugs Bunny, a version of Harley, because you're like, and they're not the greatest actor. They're just copying a voice. And whenever someone wants to get into voice acting, they say how do you start, and said, have you ever taken an acting class? You
have to come at it from an acting standpoint. You have to take acting classes, scene study, improv singing lessons to know what your voice can do. Like, you've got to have a bag of tricks. You can't just go in there and read off a paper or copy something you've heard because it's not going to be authentic. So that's like a big big deal. And not every voice actor can do impressions, even if they have good ears. See, that's that's me. I'm the worst that impressions. That's okay,
you might be a good voice actor. Uh you know, I'm gonna go inside baseball after you know, letting letting our c v A listeners see. I always get those nuggets from you when I get these geniuses in here, So feel free to thank me. I always like to ask for thanks because you know that's what keeps me going. Thank you, Thank you for that. It's great that you say that, because I'm just we're getting back to hard Are you trying to transition? Not yet, because I'm still
in inside baseball mode. I get so mad when I get the vo auditions, like, oh, this was a role done by X, so sound like X. And you're like, oh, why am I getting this? I don't. I don't know how to sound like that person. Is you do? Is your advice the same? Just do you? Or is it well? If you if you're supposed to sound exactly, if they're trying to do exactly a voice match and you can't and you can't get there. If you have a couple of days to get there, work on it, like really
work on it. And if you can't get there, don't go in. If you can get there and still bring your own essence into it, go for it. But there's gonna be people in there that get it, that are perfect, and you don't want to walk in there and they're like, oh, that guy sounds exactly like bugs and I sound like
you know, Timmy Turner. No, it's not gonna work, right, So you better be pretty close if you're going to go in and try and voice match, but still make it your own, but not vocally necessarily with your acting, you know, Like initially for the new Rocky and Boallwinkle show that I'm doing, they didn't want a voice match. They said, we wanted to capture the essence of Rocky,
but not a voice match. So I was actually pretty terrified because it hasn't been animated since the sixties and the adult generation or people that have watched it on reruns know what they want to hear. And I'm like, are you guys sure you don't want to do an impression? And then there was um chemistry reads, which means you go in with the person that's playing bowl Winkle, which was Brad Norman, and he's doing exactly Moose and everyone else on the show is exactly Natasha and you know,
Fearless Leader. They are all those people. So I was like, wow, because they want me a little deeper and a little more sarcastic, and so I did that. I booked it, but it still didn't feel exactly right to me, and I swear to God when June died, it's like she jumped into my body and be like, girl, this is how it's supposed to sound right, And I beg the director to let me go back and do the first
few episodes more like Rocky, which we did. So you you have to know who you're playing and know everything about that character. If you have to do an impression, watch that stuff over and over and over and get it. Like years ago, I had to do a Rosy Perez impression. Then at first I didn't have it, and I watched White Man Can't Jump a thousand times, like over and over.
In the first I'm like, you know, sometimes when you win, you actually and I'm like over and over and over, and then finally like sometimes when you win, you actually lose, and sometimes when you lose, you actually win, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win't lose, and I'm like, oh, that she is, that's whats like. It took me a while, like get her, you know, and then I can say anything. You can ask me anything, I can say it like her.
But I didn't just go oh, I'll try like I worked on that for days until it hit the right pocket. All right, now you know that was that was a that was a freemaster class. You look only nerdificent dropping nuggets like this. That's why you need a sub to me on twitch at least thank me. Back. Let's go into these abilities. So we were talking about her being a doctor, but she does have abilities because she has friends, for example, poison Ivy, who was toxic by nature. She
didn't want to poison hardly with her natural toxins. Oh, Harlequinn is immune to various though not all, toxin and heals quickly from minor wounds. See, so she's not just a doctor with a big old mallet. She actually has something. Although that mallet, if we are saying she has tremendous strength, because that mallet is like it's massive. I'll talk about the girl's four arms. I mean that's like that's superhuman strength.
Harley Quinn superhuman, superhuman, she's a superhero. She didn't enhance her strength and natural agility and developed an immunity to Joker's venom and toxic gas. So, and it was mentioned in the Batman animated series and comic books, and she probably is has community for other knockout chemicals. There's a lot of fake out she likes to do, where she's like, I'm knocked out, just kidding. I love that. Sorry, Okay, you're having a good time. You're having a good time.
Need to listen to her a thousand times? I would love that. Though. If you do listen to Tear a thousand times, you come back and you have that voice down, we will be Um. Something that I forgot about Harley is that she is a gymnast. She's a trained gymnast, and she was actually before she when she was studying to be to get her PhD, she was a gymnast. So she can bend in ways that agile. Yeah, she makes that pretty apparent. I didn't want to say also
that she has a PhD in criminal psychology. She also, I want to say, as as someone that is a hardcore feminist, I like the fact that she does use her sexuality in certain ways. Um, that's well, and like you, like you say, over the years, it's changed. She was a lot more submissive in the beginning, but she's found her power over the years and she's not afraid to
use it. Yeah. As she shouldn't be. And I think I think her being sex positive is also important too, because I feel like that has changed and I feel like my generation is super sex positive and we're no longer just like trying to shame women, you know. So I like that. I like that about her costumes. I like that she can be sexy, smart, and super freaking strong. Yeah, I like that too. So you know, I'm the game dude, because her look actually changed with Arkham Asylum and then
Terry you came in for Arkham's City Origins and night. Yeah, let's talk about the skeletons of this how because you know, in games, you it's it's a lot different than just a straight narrative script. You're doing all these potential side you know, comments, especially like if a player chooses to ask a million questions, is that a different process or
is it just a longer session. Well, when you're doing a series, you're with typically the other actors, so you're playing off each other, which I prefer to do because it's more fun. Like if someone says we gotta go, you might go okay. If someone you know you're responding, you're listening, is the actor. So when you're doing a video game, you're all by yourself and you have to like imagine what the other people are saying. And in video games you have to and you have to act
out all the different scenarios that could happen. So, yes, it's a lot more work. It's a lot more dialogue, like if if it's almost like a choose your own adventure book, like you have to record every which way that could end right, and a lot of times you're recording like the idol lines to like hello, I guess that in here you want to thank me to do something.
I mean, like you you know, you gotta There's so much to record, and I think the obviously the most vocally taxing or the pain noises and the fighting noises, they can be bad, like you know, okay, in this scene, Harley's electrocuted. Okay, in this scene she's falling off a cliff and dies, and you know, there's so many different things that you have to record, and it's a lot.
It's a lot, for sure, but it's it's I don't know why with Harley, it's just never a chore, Like I always feel so grateful to be in those shoes. I did want to say because her costume changed with these games, but then also with Suicide Squad, which I saw you dress up as Um. Do you have a
favorite costume of hers? I think the first game is still my favorite that I did, And I remember UM being a comic con and being like a building of her in the new outfit and going, holy crap, I don't know if we can swear in this show, so okay,
Holy Crow. Like Harley in full she's a building, like she's huge, like wow, and she's so hot and sexy and strong, and I was like, I don't know that was my That would have been my first choice for Harley cosplay, but I ended up doing I think a different one the first time, which was so much fun because normally at comic con I can't walk from my hotel to the con without people going to a strong, but as Harley, I could go anywhere because there's a
million Harley's and in fact, people wanted to take my picture because they liked the costume, and there was just one guy that's like, can you take your picture? Harley is my favorite and there's like thirteen I've taken today and I said, okayun in my favorite and he goes, I don't know, I've seen a lot of good ones. Like I just I couldn't wait for that guy to go home and make his iPhone just a little bigger. It was so much fun to do that. I had the best time. That would be funny if he uploads
it's like facial recognition tear is strong. Like on there there was another There was like a family that just happened. You know, I love cosplay families. It's the cutest thing ever when they're all in costume and like the mom was bad Girl, the daughter was Raven, the boy was Benten, the other daughter was Harley. And I was with a director friend of mine and the mom said, will you take a picture with my daughter? She's dressed as Harley, And I said sure. And then they're like, actually, let's
do a family photo. And I said okay, And I'm standing next to Raven and I go, do you know do you know who I am? And she's like I know who I am? And I go, okay, whatever, and she's like yeah whatever, Like they didn't know, right, And then my director goes, you know, she voices all of you, right, but she's your whole family, right, And they were like oh my god a second. They were like, it's just but cosplay is so fun. It was. Yeah. I always like I liked seeing when um Daniel Radcliffe was like
spider I think you walked around a Spider Man. Yeah, but since he had a mask on, nobody. Yeah, that's the greatest, so much fun. My favorite is one you're like Blake Anderson from Workaholics, was he just he wanted to go in and buy stuff and he just put on a Wolverine mask and and like, I was like, but I could still see your hair. But I was like, yeah, but I only know because I know it's you. Anyone
else's like, who's that weird hair over? But it's so fun to just walk around the con incognito and be able to go anywhere and do anything. It's fun. If I was gonna say, we have to take another break, so I think that we can take a break and then wrap up with the future of Harley and yeah, and and and you know it's it's gonna be a new segment I called the Gush Session. Uh, and we'll go there that it sounds not good, that doesn't sound good,
It'll make sense, It'll make sense when we get to it. Okay, we'll see you after the break. Wait is that you're going to a break? Yeah? What did you want to do? I don't know, just say hey, so well, uh, we'll get into you know, the movie is the future of Harley Quinn and wrap up and that's whatever, or we can keep that. We're gonna keeping all of that. We'll see y'all after the break. That's great and we're back.
And before we move on to current Harley, I just wanted to touch on for those of you that are kind of thinking of where to start with her. Obviously, the animated series UM, which Terry was saying, still holds up so beautifully. I feel like you could honestly freeze frame any part of that show and like make it a poster. It's so pretty. Um. But another thing is her.
She also appears. Harley appears in the graphic novel The Batman Adventures Mad Love, and that recounts a lot of her origin story UM and also her you know, her love with Joker, that relationship. You can see all of that in Mad Love. I actually just bought it. I'm really excited. I was listening to a podcast of people talking about it and it sounds amazing. So pick that up and yeah, so now we have Hardly in Suicide Squad. She also is going to be in Birds of Prey.
My fans went ape when they found out I wasn't playing her on camera, and I'm like, dudes, I go on Twitter. I'm like, Margot Robbie's the hottest chick ever and she's a stunningly amazing actress. Um. She's also a lot younger than me. I mean, not that, but like like let her shine, you know, and she she's a star. Like if i'd pick her to play Harley, like great, I understand that, but I would like a tear of Harley Quinn. You know what I've said a million times,
which I think would be really fun. I think they should put me him all in Conroy, like in a booth at a diner, like how you know, Stanley does this whole thing. I think we need a little cameo, I think, I mean, I think so when the fans go nuts, totally totally. I was reading. I thought I read somewhere though that you you did like a little
thing of Harley for Arrow. Okay, so that was like her because people didn't really get to see her, right, people went because they knew right away was my voice, and I was like, you guys should put me on the show. The fans would really like that. But anyway, it was just that one little one off with those one everybody, right, everybody make this happen Tara for Arrows number four. Maybe they could do like, you know, Harley's a mom and she has teenage boys or something like
mom Harley, What does Harley as a mom do? Like she still likes to dress up and look hot, but then in the morning she makes outmeal like maybe she kicked us at night, but during the day she goes to p t a. Oh my gosh, that would make a lot of sense. That would be Moley. You know, at home she's like everyone I have their breakfast and she's like, bye, kick somebody. Maybe you know there's two I don't know. You guys can totally pitch that steel and it's fine. Put me in an episode, okay, let
I did want to say um in Suicide Squad. I did like the fact that Harley was, you know, she still let her hopes and dreams when she was in love with a joker. They had that Lolla Land sequence of her like with a baby and I love that fact that, like what Tara was saying, that she's fully fleshed out. You know, she's not a one dimensional villain. She's a woman that had dreams of her own. She's someone that has this love interest. She then, like we said, moves from a follower to a leader. She is, Ah,
she's a one woman show. Yeah if he is. This where you wanted to do your gush session before we let Tara like, I want to individually, just go down. I'm dB and thank you for each individually, like you know, Benton, Yeah, well't we well't we have two more hours? Right? Do
you want to? I do want to tell Tara? So we had um Maurice Wanzer, who's a transgender actress and supermodel, come on, and she did on My Little Pony episode, and she was talking about how much your show, the new animated show, has affected her life and it's so yeah, and we went over the history of it and cutie marks and like just representation and what it means to people,
but that it is just she was really funny. She was like, you know, anytime I'm feeling bad and I can see a rainbow coming out of a pony's butt, it makes me no. No, I meant like the hottest army brownies that like paint pinky Pie on their tanks and sing the songs to get them through crap in Afghanistans what like, and they're like hot. I don't know. There's something really magical about that show that people really
identify with. And the thing that I love about animation in general, but certainly My Little Pony is that you can be from anywhere, You're any color, you're any age, any background, like everybody's friends. And it's just like the inclusiveness of that show teach us such amazing lesson lessons which we obviously need today. And uh and I love that transgender people like I feel like, oh my god, I am relating to these characters. I love these shows
because nobody has judged in these shows. Everybody's accepted and love no matter what, even the villains, right, every pretty much every villain on My Little Pony has become a good guy, like you know, and I just I don't understand bullying or hatred of any kind. So the fact that I'm in a show that in particular particularly is inclusive and welcoming of everyone is like, and when I meet these people at cons and say, you don't know what this show did for me. It saved my life.
I was suicidal or was whatever it's like means the world to me. Yeah, that's so dope and I'm so happy you could do that. I got one question another, just random question. Are you able to pull any character? People come up and go, I loved you in this blank character. Are you able to just like, okay, here it is? Oh, I know you want to ask for one and I don't have one in mind. I was just looking and I was like, man, what if somebody like came through? It was like Talia and the Animal Crackers.
I actually can do that one. Animal Crackers, by the way, is the most beautiful movie ever and it hasn't come out yet because there's been some problems with the distribution. But she talks like this. She's a beautiful girl, and it would be great to see this movie come out. So perfect I was very perfect in this movie. Is not just mean in general, but okay, well, is there anything you'd like to plug or let people know where
to find you? You can find me on all my social media at terror Strong and just I mean, I have some fun stuff coming up that I would get fired if I told you about. Don't worry, It's on your IMDb. The only new thing I'd love people to check out is the new Rocking ball Winkle because it's hard to catch it. It's on Amazon Pripe, so people don't know where to find it. But this season in particular so funny. We have weird Out and all kinds of great guests on, and it's a really really funny,
great show. Um and the new d See Girls show that I'm doing with is brilliant. And to play bad Girl and Harley by the way back to back is so much fun. And and Lauren is such a genius. I do think she's the reason Pony such a success. Her pretty just works a different way. So getting to play both those characters, it's funny. Initially she said to me, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is I want you to be back Girl. Great because anytime I look at a script and see
Backgirl in my heart is like so happy. The bad news is you can't be Harley. I said why, and she said, because I want back Girl to live in Harley Land. I want bad Girl, hyper and crazy. And you know she has no attention span and she's all over the place, and I'm just worried it's going to
be too close to Harley. And as you know, I had to kind of say, I understand, but because I've played so many iterations of Harley, I said, do me a favorite, bring me in and we'll do bad Girl, and then let me do five or six different Harley's be eid it and see if we can still pull it off. And so we do the BACKERU. We set her voice, which is higher than any backer life done
because she's a crazy crazy town. And then we start playing around with Harley, and I sort of had this inspiration to make our little Brittany Murphy ish and like that kind of clicked into her. And so they heard that and they were like, Okay, no more auditions. We're done here. And so to play them both back to back and yet another version of Harley was so fun. So check that show out too, and it's totally different and fun. That sounds so fun and exciting. Yeah, you know,
you know me is your boy? If I f y n W A d i w E on Twitter and Instagram, if ds on Twitch. Speaking of which, after you get that Amazon Prime and watch all of that go through. Make sure you go ahead and connect it to your Twitch and giving them twitch prime themselves. Y'all have been coming through watching me play video games, and I love it. A lot of times you'll talk about what we talked about on here, and we keep the conversation going. I
like that, you like that. We all like that. Also, come to the Discord Salt Discord dot g g Ford Slash Salt Squad and just get you know, keep pumping, you know, and stay stay, Stay Washington stories. You never know when a thirst trap coming through. Gosh, a lot of people people been hitting me out saying he's slowing down on thirst traps. It's like, well, I gotta keep it surprising. I mean true, true. I'm at miss Danny
Fernandez and all the socials. I wrote in a book called The Good Immigrant that drops here in the US February nineteenth. February nineteenth. It's a collection of essays from actors and writers of color. Was super honored to be asked to be a part of these very talented people. Uh so, yeah, I pick it up or preorder it. You can pre order on Amazon. It's coming out tight. Yeah, all right, Well you know uh we we usually do this and we lays will keep it going, so at
the end of the show we say stay nerdy. Uh you know, I guess it's a the Harley episode. Can we get a Harley Quinn saying stay nerdy, Stay nerty. Gouddies M