Khary Payton

brand baum Gartner for decades. That's my claim to fame. He Hi, everybody, and welcome back to Off the Beat on this Tuesday edition. I am your host, Brian baum Gartner. Now I go way back with today's guest. In fact, I go all the way back to my college days at good old s MU. Are you sensing a trend? I'm gonna have everybody whoever went to s m U on the podcast at some point. I guess I was lucky enough to go to school with Cary Peyton, who, let me say, he has been a talent since day one.

I have always admired caries work, but since college, oh, man. He has done a lot playing Cyborg for the last twenty years, roughly twenty years on Teen Titans and many other animated DC series. Carry has inspired countless fans, and he has changed the voice acting game for good. But now he is perhaps best known for his on camera role as the charismatic King Ezekiel on The Walking Dead.

That's right, the original the icon Hank Walking Dead. I'm so excited to share our conversation as we get into the nitty gritty of the business people, including carries jump from voice on camera work, and what it was like to join a show as huge as The Walking Dead. This is a good one, you guys. You have my word on that. So here he is my good friend, Cary Peyton, Bubble and Squeak. I love it, Bubble and Squeak on Bubble and Squeaker cooking at every month, left

over from the night before. What's up? What's going on? How are you my friend? It has been a very very long time, dude, I don't I don't know when I when was the last time I actually saw you? Were you were you walking through the neighborhood because you used to live in my in the same neighborhood as my brother Guy and I would see you taking walks when I when I uh, when I was just hanging out with I think the first time I just screamed at you, like from the wind from the window as

I walked by. Yes, exactly, exactly. Well listen, I moved away. And you're a very busy man. I mean you basically have been have been living in our old home state for the last several years. Yeah, two years, yeah, yeah, well, yeah, definitely. I used to fly back and forth the lot and then the pandemic hit and I just got stuck. But yeah, yeah, it's been it's been a crazy yeah, last couple of years, man,

but it's good. But I literally us got back to Los Angeles and getting you know, settled and everything that the pandemic has done so many things. But I used to do random studio like home studio recordings as you do, you know, but I would just do them in you know, walk in closet and uh and uh. And then over the course of the pandemic it was like, well now not now, you just slowly build, uh build an actual studio in your house. And so so I'm doing this

for it. I feel like the third time in two years, you know. So so yeah, yeah, it's been it's uh, it's been crazy. But I'm I finally got this space put together. This used to be a bathroom. The fact that you are such a professional voiceover actor that you're willing to give up a toilet to have to have a studio, it's true. Now it helps that I've got I've got a few toilets, you know, in the house.

I got a few more that It was funny because I really had to pee one day and I and I read it read it here before this this was finished, and I read it here and I used the bathroom, and I was like, you realize you're giving this up. You realize you're given up the you know, because it's right next to the garage, you know, it's like it's and I was like, you're you're you're giving up the convenience of dancing at the door and being able to pop right here. But somehow I will make it work.

You'll make it work. All right, Let's let's go back for those of you carry and I. We've known each other along too long to mention. If I start doing the math, I'm gonna start getting really uncomfortable. Um. We we'll talk about that in a minute. You grew up in in In Georgia, in my home state as well. There in uh in Augusta, No no, I was born in Augusta and Guy and then we bounced around a little bit. But by the third grade I had moved to Athens, Georgia and that's where I stayed until I

graduated from high school. So it's Athens, Georgia, home of the Bulldogs. I uh, we have we have that in common. I didn't live there, but was there most weekends as a child as well, rooting on that it was an awesome town on the weekends. Man, yeah, yeah you could. You could get fed just walking walking near the stadium. You know, you know everybody's tailgating and and yeah yeah throwing. You're hunger, you want to eat. When did you realize

that you had a passion at least for acting? Man, it was it was really early, It was really early on. I um, I remember going to see the first thing I remembered that that honestly made me want to become an actor. I think it was the first grade. There might be it might have been something else that that I that that I don't remember but the first but in the first grade, we went to see a community theater production of syra No de bergierac in in Anniston, Alabama.

My dad was was at Fort McClellan, Alabama. He was a captain in the army, and uh, we were stationed there for a while and we went to see syran No. And I just remember watching this dude and just thinking, this is the coolest guy I've ever seen in my life. He's the coolest guy I've ever seen in my life, you know what, And and that he reminded me of the Fox from Robin Hood, you know, the Disney movie, which was my favorite growing up probably still is my

my my favorite. And uh, you know, he's he's literally you know, sword fighting, he's he's the wittiest, he's the sharpest, he's you know, he's he's got everything. And uh, I think it was lost on me that that he was kind of so down on himself. When I first watched Sara. Oh, you know, all I could see is that he was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, and I was like, I want to do that, and um, I don't know.

At some point I went home and found a bunch of rocks and washed them and started uh painting them. And then I started going door to door to my neighbors trying to sell rocks. And one of my neighbors called my mom and said, your boys out here selling rocks, trying to sell rocks to us, and and my mom said, you know at we cup home and uh it said why are you selling rocks? And I was like, I need capital to start my theater company. And she was

like what and and uh. I don't know where I came up with this, but this is what my mom told. I remember, I remember trying to sell the rocks. Um, but uh, I was. I was going to start a theater company and perform in in the in the backyard of our house, you know. And there was just like nothing but like Georgia woods out in the out back of the house. It up, but that was that was it for me. I remember watching uh Syra nota Bergerac

and being like, that's what I want to do. And then there was a TV show called Emergency that was about paramedics and uh and it was around the same time and uh and I remember thinking I want to be a paramedic. And then I saw Syen no, and I was like, no, I don't want to be a paramedic. I want to be on a TV show about paramedics. Okay, yeah. Yeah. So it was all around the first grade that that it that that it first came together, that that this was something that I wanted to do. I wanted to

be Syra. No, that's that's by the way, have you played Sera? Now? No? No, no, there's still time. There's still time. There's still time. So so you decide that you sell rocks and you're trying to make capital, but what what are you doing than doing school plays? Is that? Yeah? I? Um? I told yeah, yeah, Well I told my mom, like the Sears catalogs would come in the in the in the middle, and I was like, and I would show the models in them, Like, Mom, I can do that.

They're just standing there with clothes. I can do that, you know, call up Sears, you know. And I started telling my mom to call people and do something, you know, and and so, uh, when we finally got settled in Athens, I started doing yeah, community theater. I remember I played a frog, you know, and like a tiny little theater show. And I think I played um Christmas past in like a children's theater production of of Christmas Carol, Christmas Carol, and yeah, a little stuff like that. But it was

just kind of here and there, you know. And then what what what happened is I I saw this, uh, this contest for Showtime, the Showtime Kid Talent Quest. They had like a children's hour and they wanted, you know, kids to introduce the movies. And uh, I didn't really sing or dance or anything, but I love Saturday Night Live. I watched Saturday. I stayed up, you know, every night to watch Saturday Night Live. And so I tried to do these little skits on this huge video camera. You

know that it was. It was immense and uh, I didn't know how to edit, so I would just press record and then my mom would press pause and I would change my clothes into the other character and then and then unpaused, you know, reading or whatever it was.

It was the most convoluted thing. But I I made this this crazy video and sent it in and uh and honestly, I think they were like, you know, they had all of these people who were singing and dancing and doing stuff, and then it was this you know, probably this one kid who was doing weird comedy skits pretending to be Rod Serling. It was just so yeah, yeah, so probably weird, but some I won that contest and

they came me to New York. Yeah when I was twelve, and the research says fourteen the first annual talent quest. But they flew you to New York. This is the first time, I must go. Yeah, maybe I was thirteen when I when I recorded it, yeah, first time it well yeah yeah, first time in New York. The whole family went we I recorded it over all of it over a few days, and oh that was the thing, so so so yeah. I had started getting into this

idea of um of uh. I loved Eddie Murphy. He was my favorite growing up because of Mr Rogers Neighborhood and and Gumby and all of that from Saturday Night Live and and I would sneak and listen to his you know, raunchy comedy shows. Just loved him. Wanted to be Eddie Murphy and so um I went to this camp. It was like it was like a two week maybe three week uh camp up in the mountains of South Carolina,

Callowe Calorween, North Carolina. They had a talent contest and the and um, one of the guys that I befriended who had been there a few times, he had done a stand up comedy routine and I was joking with everybody at the lunch table and he said, Hey, can I use that in my comedy routine? And I said, no, I'm going to use it in my comedy. And so that that was the first time I got on stage to to do stand up comedy, and uh, I ended up winning the talent contest at the at the camp.

And then so at the second annual Showtime Kid Talent Quest, they had had the other winners come up and do their talent and I had just made a stupid video, so I didn't have any talent to, you know. So so I started doing stand up comedy like in these malls, you know, you know, at like yeah, thirteen or fourteen, I was I was say, only fourteen by then. And then I started um going to comedy clubs and trying

to get into comedy clubs. And they were they were like, you can't come in here, kid, You're you're you're like a baby. But my mom was very isn't it. And she found my my who would become my my Jewish grandmother, Edith Sims. She was She was a comedy booker who worked in Atlanta and New York for some reason. Yeah, and and I went up and bombed the first time. And I came back and she said, I can't put

you back on. And then I did. I did some impressions of Oh my God, I did an impression of Bill Cosby, and I did an impression of Pat Robertson from the Seven. You know, so imagine like a black kid, fourteen year old black kid doing doing uh Pat roberts and yes exactly, you know, barely open your eyes when you talk, and and uh. And so she was like, okay, okay, you can do Pat Robertson for everybody. And and that night I I killed and she was like, I was

like her new best friend. I would go up to New York for I don't know, a couple of weeks, for a couple of summers, and do stand up comedy at these at these different play in New York City and a stand up New York comedy store at the Village Gate and uh in the in the Village, a couple of divy places. I kind of uh you know, is just cultivating that performing thing. And then and then comedians started to depress the hell out of me that comedians are are are an amazing group because they are

wonderfully talented. I mean I would sit there for weeks and so and and there'd be a new crop of comedians that would come through every week, and I would sit at the bar and listen to them all and just think, Oh my god, they're all so funny, they're all so great. You know, I want to, you know, learn to be be like these guys. And they would come to the bar and talk to me, and some of them were positive. Of them were positive, and at at we're just mad that they hadn't been discovered yet.

And I'm sitting at the bar, you know, having a sprite and they they are drinking hard and being being like, kid, are you gonna take me with you when you get to be a big shot? And I was like sure, and they were like, no, you won't know, you won't That's what Chris Rock said, No you won't. You know. It was just I was like, I was like, you know what, I think I've got to find something better to do it. So I went back home. It started doing theater more and uh, I auditioned for an art

school and that's where my theater bent really started. I went to Northside High School School of the Arts for a semester because it was, um it was in Atlanta and my folks lived in Athens. But I did it for a semester and that's where I met our mutual professors, Charlie Hilfert and uh and Dale Moffat. Yeah. Yeah, I auditioned for them when I was in a junior in

high school. And then when when it came back around for me to find a place to go to go to college, Uh, you know, I auditioned for them again. But but that's where that relationship started and and I really, you know, developed that love of thing. Is so crazy though the idea as a fourteen year old you're like in the middle of like hardcore stand up culture. I mean even just you saying sitting at the bar watching these guys and imagining that I mean your experience there.

I learned to play poker sitting at the bar at stand up New York comedy store. There was a bartender and I hate that I can't remember his name because he he would uh you know, play cards with me while he was addishing drinks or whatever. And he this is a mantra that I try to live by. And he always he would always tell me he was He was like, Cary, whatever you do, play with your balls, you win big, you lose big. Just play with your balls.

I I never forget that. And it was like, it's like, you know, if you're gonna do something that go for it. Way with your pauls Oh my god, So you do theater. And yes, the two people car I just mentioned, Charlie Helford and Dale Moffatt were well. They were the papas and the grandpa's and the moms and everything at Smulder Statesman, the Elder Statesman, you auditioned to get into SMU and spoiler alert, Carry and I ended up at college together.

Now Carry is significantly older one year. Um. But I mean, here's the thing. S MU is it is a conservatory training theater program was a conservatory training theater program. It still is. So when you make the decision that you're going to audition and ultimately go to s m U, now things can be derailed, just like with any college uh student, But you really are making a commitment. At that point, you knew that this was what you wanted

to do, was that right? Yeah? Yeah, Well here was the thing I I told myself, um, the last couple of years of high school, you know, because I had won this contest and I had done you know, I was doing stand up and you know, and I was doing these different things and and and so I was sort of a big deal, you know in my high school, I guess for having you know, kind of stepped outside of our community and having done something doing Uh yeah, I haven't done something, but uh but I knew in

my head I I didn't want I mean, American Idol wasn't a thing yet. But I didn't want to be one of those people that because everybody in their little, small hometown told them that they that they were the

most talented thing, that they were deluding themselves. And and we're going to you know, go off with big dreams, and then you know, Simon Call tells them, you know that they that they have no idea what what pitches and never will and so and so I told myself, I was like, all right, you need more than just belief in yourself. You need corroboration that you're actually good

at this. And I was like, I was like, you know what, I'm going to audition for the best schools in the country for theater, and if I get into those schools, then that then that means something because and it doesn't mean everything, but it means something because when you're auditioning for a school, they're they're gonna take a certain amount of kids. When you're auditioning for a role, they're taking one. So so so you know, it's like

it's like, it's like, this is just preliminary. This doesn't mean that you that you got it, but it means you got a chance. And all I needed was a chance. And so I auditioned for let's see, I didn't audition for like the North Carolina School of the Arts because my dad was a doctor and I had to go to like an actual university university, Carnegie Mellon I auditioned for, and then s m U in Florida State. I think

that was that was it. And then I and then I, uh was like, you know what, if I don't get into any of those, then I don't know that that means you know what, you can have fun out here doing this. But but let's not get crazy. And I and my fallback was, you know what, I could always teach history because my favorite teachers of history like performed history.

You know. It was like, you know, I remember one of my favorite teachers in high school was Mr Cavalier, David Cavalier, and uh, I mean, I don't know how many times he was, you know, standing on somebody's desk literally captain, my captain, you know what I mean, just like you know, you know, preaching to to the class. And and I was like, you know, maybe maybe that's as big as my my audience is supposed to get, you know. But if I get into these places, then maybe I got a shot to do more. And I

got in everywhere that I auditioned. But the cheapest place to go was Florida State because of the state school. And so I sent my dorm deposit to Florida State. And then Charlie Helfort called from SMU and said, hey, you know, are you coming down from Mustang days to check out the school? And U s MU, even in those days, was not inexpensive to go to SMU, and I had just I didn't even think about going to SMU. I was like, no, my folks aren't aren't paying you know.

I mean, my dad's a doctor, but he's a pediatrician, you know what I mean. He's taking like you know, he's taking ten dollar copays. You know. It's where we're doing, all right, we're letting. I living high on the hoggin. So I was I was like, I gotta pay for this myself. But but little did I know that, um some you had quite the endowment. And uh and I swear it was like I felt like I was getting recruited for a football team, like a college football team.

Like I got flown in. They showed me, you know, the facility, you know. I mean it was like I was like, whoa, this is amazing. And then uh and then I got there and all the students were like, they were like, man, hold out, hold out for a full scholarship. They've got the money. You hold out, dude, it's you know. And they're all telling me to hold that. And I go running back to my mom who's having a meeting with Charlie, and she was like, well, if

you if you wanna, um wanna go here. I was like, yeah, I want to go here. She was like, well, it's all set up and I was like, did you hold out? She was like, well, they gave me like an eight percent and I was like, oh mom, we could have got the fall. She felt so guilty for so long because she was like, because of course every year, because if you get a full scholarship, if the if tuition goes up, they still pay the full thing. If you get scholars if then no, no, if that goes up,

it don't go up eighty percent. You just got to start. So yeah, so eventually I did pay off my student los and everything. But yeah, yeah, that was that was my very It's very interesting. I've never heard that story from you before, and and I don't know if I've publicly told this either, but like you, my dad was a doctor, right, so you hear doctor, But my dad

was a doctor at at Emory University. He so he was, you know, a teacher and you know, had made that decision for his family and because of certain situations, had to pay a lot of money for me to go to high school there in Atlanta, and basically said, because he's on staff at Emery, I have a free ride at Emory. Emory University an amazing school. My sister school. Yeah,

a room board, like it was like everything. And so when it came time, he was like, I really think you should go check out Emory's theater department again if we went to a show and I'm like, yeah, this is not this is not and he said, okay, well you know here, the offer here is free. So I traveled to eSIM had a very similar experience, which was just like guys, I'm sold. And and just so you know, it would be like you he mentioned football, and I've

used that analogy all the time. People don't understand like you're doing plays, you're doing like you're you're kind of like a football player or a basketball player, like you're you're constantly working within the theater for this conservatory training program. I almost never saw a football game at SMU because we were always in rehearsal. We were always in rehearsal. Yeah you know I did do that, but but yes, I hear a point. No, but your point is right.

And and it's hard for people to kind of comprehend, like, wait, what theater like you're but no, they are. They have an incredible endowment and they are incredibly supportive of not just theater but all of the arts. The Meadow School of the Arts there at s m U is a fantastic place. So I've done some of I've done some amazing theater shows. Still some of the most incredible, like like like pyrotechnic you know, stuff that that that I've ever seen done on a stage was at my college.

They have there's like an oil spring like flowing like like right up through the Greer Garson stiff you know, thrust stage and s MU just spewing out money to be spent on these theater productions. It is incredible the the amount of money that that they that they put towards this pro Graham and uh, yeah, I imagine it

is hard to believe. I went back a couple of years ago for for actually um a film festival and uh and went back to s m U and saw a show and and and was just shocked again that I was like, Wow, they're doing They're doing five performances of this and then it's going away. And I was just amazed at the at the production value that they that they put on at that school. If you get a chance to go to SMU for theater, you really should go. Yeah. That's the that's the that's the sum

total of it. I it's like Oregon, like because of all the Nike money. Like if you're an athlete, you go to Oregon, you see the you know, the workout facilities in the locker room and everything that they have at their disposal there because of the it's kind of

like that. I mean I went to USC Florida State, you know, a bunch of you know, both public and private schools, and then showed up coming from USC in Los Angeles through Dallas and you step onto s m us campus and you see their like for fully functional stages of different varieties, and you're like, well, it's kind of a no brainer if they'll take me. Yeah, yeah, it's it's crazy. Um. I you've mentioned this before. Your dad, who I've met a number of times, just amazing, amazing guy.

Um he was not originally a big fan of your acting career until he saw you in a production of Hamlet in your twice Is this right? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah? I. Um, Like I said, my dad's a doctor and you know, very practical, very practical sort of fellow. My my my mom was always the one who was kind of pushing me towards my arts thing. My mom was had biology degree and UH ended up having UH an arts degree. She was going to be UH a biology UH illustrator, and UM ended up getting her masters. And it's a

it's an amazing story. I have to tell you that story as as well about about my mom. She years ago, UH, like when as I was being born, UM was about to graduate from Mercer University and making Georgia, and UH she had her biology degree, but she was pregnant with with me. My dad was already in medical school at at UH in Augusta, and so they were living apart from from each other, and she was gonna give birth

birth right around the time of graduation. And my mom was what you would call, uh, I guess a troublemaker. She was. She she was a bit of an activist, you know, imagine growing up it, you know, as a teenager in the sixties. And her paintings reflected that those sorts of things. And the president of the art department, the dean of the art department UH called a lot of her paintings too controversial to be shown in gallery.

And in order to graduate, she had to be a part of the gallery showing and he wouldn't let her become a part of the gallery showing and and so doing. Uh. She was not allowed to graduate with her arts major, although she did graduate with her biology major. But uh, cool story is um, at the age of uh seventy two, she finally walked uh and got got her degree. Um. She she was as she does, you know, as talkative Peyton's.

She was sitting at a bench at the Atlanta airport waiting to get driven back home, and was sitting with a woman who happened to be a professor at Mercer University. And she was like, she was like, you know, I never got my arts degree. They wouldn't give it to me. And that started a conversation and and so that was a big wrong that was finally righted. And uh and just a few months before my my my dad died.

But but my mom has always been a fighter and and uh and always been a proponent of the arts. And and my dad was always, uh, you know, supportive of the arts. But he also was like, you know what, it's also a good idea to get a chemistry minor, maybe so you can work in a lab. Carry And I would I would tell if I said, Dad, you know, people like me getting a minor in chemistry and working in a lab. That's the way scandals happen. That's the way the wrong person goes to jail for a crime

they didn't commit. I was like, I was like, I am not I'm not the one to do that. And so he he was as supportive as he could be. And by saying that, I mean he just didn't say anything, you know, like for a long time, I would just

not hear anything from him. Uh as far as you know, you know, my major of choice was concerned, and uh I remember I took business Calculus at SMU just so that my dad would feel like I was taking a class that sounded like actual college because because you you know, the the classes that we took, you know that our first major like like like like like it's it's it's the tent pole class that you take as a freshman at at s MU. You know, with with Dale Moffatt

is called experiencing. Experiencing. So I'm gonna tell my dad, who was a chemistry major who who like literally like made like like patents for you know, you know before like while he was still in school, before he ended up becoming a doctor. You know, he was like, what are you taking your class, you're taking experiencing movement for theater, you know what I mean? These are the things that I could tell him. So I took business calculus just so that he would it would feel like I was

actually taking a college course. And um, I'm actually I was actually pretty good at business calculus because now I gotta be plus in there. I don't understand how I'm I'm some sort of savant but um but yeah, yeah, no. My dad was less than encouraging at first. And then I did. Uh. I did a production of Hamlet, actually not at s MU, but but with a bunch of um friends and graduates of of SMU. I played Horatio, you know, I mean, I'm I'm the guy who gets down on his knees and and talks to a ghost,

you know. And and I remember in that in that moment, you know, with like tears in my eyes and pleading to this non existent ghost in a dark room. And my folks, you know who, you know, rarely made it all the way from Georgia to to to Texas came to see that that production and it's you know, it's a little black box theater production, you know, not not not not uh not all of the bells and whistles

that we were talking about before. And uh, I just remember my mom coming back afterwards, and she was so excited, you know. She was like, Cary, your dad after he saw you in that show. And uh and and she would never tell me, and she literally shouldn't. And I never told you this before, but whenever somebody was asking, you know, what's carry doing, he was like, oh, I don't know. He's waiting tables or something and doing some theater thing. And uh. And my mom was so good.

She never told me. I never knew that my dad would, you know, disparage me in any way, you know, as far as me not being that chemistry major, but uh, but he was just you know, didn't understand what I

was doing. And then and then uh but she said, ever since he saw that that our production of Hamlet, he would go on and on and on about me being an actor and how how I was a great actor, and he was he was so excited to see see, uh, see what I'm gonna do next, and and uh at that point, you know, it's funny because that kind of stuff kind of rolls off my back a little bit.

But uh, like as far as you know, my dad being you know, uh, you know, not the most vocal supporter, you know, because that's just my dad, and I expect that. But knowing that he started changing the way that that he spoke to people about me, that was that was kind of all the validation I needed, you know, like, uh like from then on, it was like, it's time to go to l A. It's time to kick this thing into gear. And I never had a lack of confidence, you know. I mean I was pretty cocky already, but

that that that that one, that's all I needed. I knew that I was. Yeah, I told myself when I'm when I when I drove to l A, I put in uh this um uh CD of John Lennon Wheels Go Round and Round. Do you know that song? You know, starts off people saying crazy doing what I'm doing, you know. And they were always everybody was always like, oh, it's a horrible time to go to l A. This is not a good time to go to l A. And uh and I would tell them and I would just say,

you know, it's a horrible time. For nineties seven of the people who moved to l A, you know, but for three it's the right time to go to l A. And I'm I'm gonna bet on being that three and yeah, and that John Lennon and my dad Man is the three of us driving to l A. Baby you go, you moved to l A. As you said. Yeah. Here's the thing people I think don't realize being an actor in Los Angeles. Being an actor period and film and

television is very difficult. There is one thing that is decidedly more difficult, and very quickly after moving to Los Angeles, you become a voice actor. And now let me say this to people. It's hard for people to understand because when you're on a television show, you are seen, and there's things like exclusivity. You can only do one show

at a time. People will get tired of seeing your face and so they have to they whoever the they is, one must focus on in general and individual project at once. The thing about voice acting is that it's the most difficult thing to get into because casting directors, directors, voice directors studios um fall in love with people who are reliable and good and every show they do they just hire the same people. So it's incredibly difficult to break in.

Yet you break in very quickly. How how was that experience for you and how did you feel like it compared to the theater work that that you had been mostly focused on before it. I it kind of harkened back to the theater stuff because the thing is is that coming to l a you have you know it. It has so much to do with what you look like. You know, even you know on the in the breakdown that that you get you know, it's like man female,

you know, uh, Caucasian, African American, blah blah blah. They're all of these stipulations about how you look that go into which role that you're going that you're going to take. And even for me getting here, you know, I'm five ten, a hundred and seventy pounds. I'm I'm not a big,

you know, brawny black dude. And there are so many parts where when you're building the team like that tank dude, like that be a baracus, Mr T. You know that the big intimidating black guy who's on the tent on the team is uh, you know, that's just not me, you know, and um, there are a lot of um, a lot of things that that even being you know, young African American. But still I'm not the right type. You know, I'm I'm I'm a whole lot more uh, you know, Disney Kid than than kind of your your hard,

intimidated sort of dude. And so, uh it's so I couldn't um, you know, break into you know those things. There were still plenty of things for me to to audition for, but but with voice over, you know, it was like the shackles are taken off, and you can be anything, not just like a big, brawny dude, but I can be monsters, I can be mice, I can be anything. And that reminded me of theater. It could

be anything that the imagination desired. I I played, uh, the creature in Frankenstein once, and I played him even though I was you know, I was little. I I just I just imagined myself as uh as armed, armed to the teeth, like like like like I always had, you know, some kind of power to be able to just snap someone's neck like I had a Sometimes I would just think of myself as sitting there with a big gun in my hand, and that's what was imitating

or imitating intimidating to the people around me. And so I walked with this swagger and this in vulnerability, and it had everything to do with my own imagination and I could do anything on stage and uh, and the people would go along with it, you know because uh, you know, if you gave them uh the reason, then they would go along with it. And in in uh in voiceover. You know, you're only limited by your your vocal maneuverability. So uh, that's what That's what I I think,

you know, really helped. Is that my my theater experience and training you know, gave me you know this, I mean the first time I I auditioned, it was so freeing. I I slapped the microphone and and slapped it because I was I was just so I felt so alive, you know that that you could kind of do and be anything. But But the funny thing is about uh, it's another SMU connection that got me that that first audition and that first job, which was Cyborg from Teen Titans.

I had known longer than you, for a year, longer then then I've known you. I had known one of my one of my best friends, David Slack, was a was a theater major and SMU as well, and he moved to l a before I did and started assisting and writing on cartoons. He uh, he like Jackie Chan Adventures and and Men in Black and he he was always telling me, you know what, carry you should get into voice over. I don't know how to get into voice over. You know, everybody says you should get into it.

How do you get I asked my my my agents, and they were like, oh, you don't even want to try. You can't. I mean, they're my agents and they're they were like, yeah, it's impossible, you can't. You know, you have to get a job before they'll give you a job. It's it's crazy, you know, and um. But but I would just always kind of ask and um. And then finally David called me up and he was like, carry, I've never done this before, but I I'm I'm on I'm on this show. I'm like, I'm like the main

writer on this show. And uh, and I think this part is perfect for you, and so I'm gonna try and get you an audition and uh and I was like, okay, So I I sent him my my resume and head shot as if that mattered at all, you know, in voice over your head shot because I've never done it before.

I don't know, but they called me, but they called me and uh and and let me audition, and I was just first of all, I I remembered the character from my from my own comic books, you know that this uh, this cyborg character, because I remember, you know, you you look, you look in comic books and you look for any kind of of similarity at least I did, you know too, and be be like, oh, that's me. I'm gonna be that guy, you know. And for me, it was always Spider Man because he was skinny and scared.

He was skinny and the nerd and and and he came alive when he put on a mask, and I was like, dude, that's me. That's me. And so Spider Man has always been my favorite. But of the teen Titans on that cover, the black dude, that's me, you know. So I don't play Cyborg in the playground. And I

went to UH to audition for this. And this cool outdoor mall, Sherman Oaks Galleria in in UH in Los Angeles is like this open air mall that you walk through, but there there's a part of it that that used to be the main headquarters of of Warner Brothers Animation Studios, and it was like glass and the lobby went up like seven floors, you know, it was it looked like one of those fancy, you know, high rise you know,

San Francisco, Silicon Valley sort of situations. Yeah. Yeah, and and uh and it was just kind of like you opened the door and you're like whoa. You know, it's like like like the Willy Wonka of of uh, you know, of animation. And you and and I go in there to audition and I look in the lobby and every black dude from nineties television is sitting there. You know.

It's like all the guys from Living Color arkles over here, you know, I mean, you know what I mean, It's like Cockroach is sitting over there from The Cosby Show. It was like they're all sitting there. And I was like, well, I'm in the right place, and uh, I probably won't get this, but this is really exciting. And I went in there and just had a ball just you know, I mean, my my face hurt from smiling. After after that audition, I just thought it was so much fun.

And um. The casting director, the legendary casting director Andrea Romano asked me what I had done before, and I had done a video game in Dallas, Texas once and I remember she said never heard of it. And I was like, yeah, yeah, I probably hadn't and uh, but I was. I was just so excited and uh and walked out of there, um feeling great. And then a couple of weeks later, David called me up and he was like, all right, I think you might get it. It's like down to you and like a couple of people,

I think you could get it. Man, he was like, he was like I was. I would be in the halls and um and they'd be talking about like different people or whatever, and they were like, yeah, we really like this Carry Payton guy and he and and he day. It would be like that's my friend, that's my friend.

He was so excited, bro, and they were like really yeah and so uh and so the the story goes that Sam Register, who's vice president of animation at at Warner Brothers, asked for the three best options and to leave them unlabeled, just A, B and C and I and he's the reason that I that I got the job of Cyborg. David Slacken and and Sam Register, he uh, he picked me. I don't know who the other two were,

but life changing. Life changing. Yeah, I didn't. But if not for that, I'd still be wondering how to get into voice over if not for that. No, I didn't realize that was your first audition, first audition, I mean, you got You don't understand he does. He's he just came from a session. He's works nineteen hours a day just recording things. I don't. I still can't figure it out. I get one job and I'm over the moon, and so this guy is doing it all the time. I

didn't realize that was your first job. So you have been. I'm trying to do the math, but you probably know because by the way, it's it's Teen Titans, It's it's Teen Titans Go. It's Lego d C Comics, It's Batman Beleaguered, it's justin Lee, Justice League Action. He has voiced Cyborg in all of these shows. How many years now have you been? I mean it's fair to say the voice of Cyborg is this twenty years. It'll be twenty It

will be officially twenty years, I think in August. In August, because well, we we started recording Teen Titans the first show in in March or something, and then it came out at at Comic Con at San Diego Comic Con. I've never been to Comic Con before, and um, and we went down there and they and they played it there. It was because I either it's it's either nineteen or twenty years. I have to check to be sure, but yeah, yeah, it's been it's been pretty much two decades. I know,

it's crazy. What's crazy to me is that there are kids who who think about Teen Titans the way that we thought about Scooby Doo. You know that that like like it was always around. You know that that we've been around that long. That uh, that that kids grew up and now their kids watched Teen Titans go who that That's That's the thing that kind of blows my mind that we've been around that long. Unbelievable. Yeah, such a such a great story. I did not realize that

was the first one. I knew David Slack had helped you out. But that is that's unbelievable. And I love also that that he did that he said label ABC and let me just pick the voice because ultimately what what their name is doesn't matter. There they're going to deliver it or they're not, and and gave you a shot. I love that. We have to discuss your your latest triumph,

The Walking Dead, King Ezekiel. Would you say this is your this is this is your crowning on screen moment thus far, getting without Walking Dead one of the biggest TV franchises ever. Were you a fan of the show before joining Yeah, yeah, I was a fan of the show. I was, um. I was a frustrated fan of the show because the main character Rick. In order to to to have a show that that um that stays compelling for so many years, you kind of have to have

a leader who makes poor decisions. Rick makes poor decisions all the time. He he saves people that should never have been saved. You know, you know, it's like he walks into a place that seems idyllic, fine, and next thing you know, you know, it's overrun with zombies and the walls are falling down. It's just like, you know, you know, I would I would always scream at the TV and just be like, don't listen to him, just because he's got that Shares uniform on. Don't listen to him.

I kid, but I don't Andy Lincoln, who plays him is it's one of the finest actors I have ever worked with and one of the most incredible people I've ever worked with. And uh, it's so, it's so. I I have this love in my heart for Andy as as Rick. But uh, but but Rick himself would frustrate the hell out of me as uh. You know, before I became a fan of the I mean before I became uh ezekiel on the show. But yeah, yeah, but

I couldn't stop watching. I always uh, I would get up and walk out, and then I would come back and turn it on again. It's it's such an amazing show. Yeah, yeah, no, I was a big fan. Yeah yeah. Tell me about your audition process. How how did that? How did that come about? Well, let me tell you, Brian. I want to tell you even before the audition process, I came to l A. And in my head I was like, you come to l A. This is how it works.

You get into pilot season, you go and you audition for pilots, You get a pilot, and then you know you you worked at that pilot. It gets on the air, it becomes a big hit and and and that's how my in my head, that's how my career is going to go. I'm going to land a pilot one way or another, drama, comedy, doesn't matter. That's that's how you do it. And for years, for years coming to to l A. I got here when I was like twenty nine,

so for for almost fifteen years, I I um. In those fifteen years, I did nine pilots pilot almost every year, yes, almost every year, and I was lucky to get those, but I was, but it was also became really frustrating because I was I was like, you know, I got the There's one show that that I got on that that was canceled after one episode on ABC called Emily's

Reasons Why Not. There was another show that actually was on for a season or two, but I got fired after the pilot, and uh and so so uh and and seven others that that that didn't uh that never even made the light light of day. And UH. I remember sitting and thinking to myself, maybe a pilot isn't what I need, you know, and uh. And I would always have these I would always say these things to myself.

I was like, I was like, you know, at the beginning of the year or at some point throughout the year, I always say, I need a job that feeds my belly and a job that feeds my soul. And sometimes those jobs are very different. And so every once in a while you get a job that that does both at the same time, that it feeds your belly and it feeds your soul, and that those are the really

lucky ones. But um, I would I would kind of tell myself, you know that this is the plan moving forward, and and uh, and as long as you've got a job that feeds your belly and a job that feeds your sold, you're gonna be fine. And I had always told myself, all right, this is you know, we're gonna go get another pilot. We're gonna go get another pilot. And uh, I started telling myself, I don't think I need a pilot. I think that's I don't. I think that's just been banging my head up against the wall.

And I told um, my manager who happens to be

your manager as well, Ted Getkis and Danielle Rivera. But you know, you know what I love about about the fact that I introduced you guys is that there is nothing better than than than people thinking that you're doing them a favor when actually you're just you just see something that that is going to be magic, you know, and uh and uh and I and I've always seen magic with with you, Brian, and and as soon as I met Ted and Danielle, I was like, I was like,

you know what when you said you you are you were looking for somebody to represent you. I was like, I know, I know, I know this is gonna work. It's uh, it's it's it's my happiness and my pleasure. But yes, I told our manager, uh Ted Gekis daniel Rivera. I said, I don't think we need a pilot. We need an introduction. We need you know, because I've been doing this, doing the this for for over a decade now, and I've been very successful in in voiceover and stuff,

but but nobody knows knows my face. They still don't know my face, and I I just need I just need an introduction. I need someone to say, and here's car, this is this is who you've been looking for. And

I never forget it. I was like watching all of these zombies, you know, walking this parade at San Diego Comic Con, and I thought to myself and I was actually thinking more about like Star Trek and that kind of thing, and I was like, I need one of these comic Con shows, one of these, like one of these kind of sci fi so sort of things, because man, those fans are I mean, once you got them, they love you, you know. And uh, and I just thought, I was like, I need an introduction. I don't need

a pilot. I just need to get on one of these comic Con shows and the next pilot season. I remember going through an auditioning for a few things and not really liking anything except for this one show called The Good Place. I read that pilot. I thought it was brilliant. I was like, this is it, this is the one and and so I went in there. I met I met Michael Shore. I did the audition, and I made the cameraman laugh, and I was like, it didn't get any better than that. You you made the

cameraman break. If somebody actually breaks in the in the audition, that's just sitting back there. You know, you had a good audition. And so I walked out of their feelings so good. And I never heard from him. I never heard from him, and I was I was so bummed. I was so bummed because I really thought that I had I had knocked it out of the park and and uh, and I was I was just kind of hanging my head about it and thinking, damn, I really

wanted that show. Uh. And then a month, maybe a month and a half later, came the audition for King Ezekiel. And had I gotten a good place, I obviously, you know, would not have auditioned, you know, and would not have gotten King Ezekiel. And so you know, everything happens for a reason. And but but that was that was like the first time in like three years that I didn't

book a pilot. And uh, and I I kind of you know, when you're in the middle of trying to get a pilot, you kind of forget about that, that that whole you know, conversation you have with your manager about I don't think I need a pilot, you know, let's come along, and yeah, yeah, yeah, oh man, this is so weird. I remember I auditioned and was what do you call it, testing for another pilot that I

really didn't want. And I just didn't, you know, because I was thinking in my head, I was just like I I always extrapolate this out over the years, and I was like, is this what you want to do over the course of many, many, many years, and I didn't know if it was for me, you know. But at the same time, you know, I'm I'm not carry Peyton that anybody knows except you know, you know, really really you know, uh intense cartoon fans, you know. And and I was like, he if they want you to test,

you should go desperate job, you know. And I remember feeling so weird testing and not really having my heart in it. And then and then the good place coming along and I went full bore and just just nothing. But then you know, you get what you want and I got my introduction. I got I gotta, I gotta an introduction with a tiger sitting next to me. I mean, honestly, you couldn't ask for a better introduction. No, did you work with the tiger? Did you? There was no tiger.

That tiger was from the Life of Pie. Remember the movie The Life of Pie? Yeah? Yeah. What happened is, well, you know that the studio that that built that c g I Tiger like went broke because they put everything into that. But they also kind of low balled the price so that they could get the job in the

first place. And and so they built this beautiful tiger in the in the computer obviously, and then uh, and then it went broke and they and they had to sell that information for that tiger, and they sold it to a m C. And so a m C took that life of pie tiger and turned into Shiva. Wow, did not know that there's there's some behind the scenes knowledge. Crazy. How how long would it take you to get ready there,

your hair, your wardrobe. By the time we got you know, good at it, it was it was maybe forty minutes, forty five minutes. Yeah, yeah, when we got good at it. Now now it took me an hour and a half to work in an office. Yeah, man, we we had we had it down. Uh. Vincent Gideon. Uh, it was my hair stylist and and wig stylist. And he would glue it onto my head every day. Uh. Vincent Gideon. He's he's like a legend in in uh in Atlanta, Georgia. Um, you know he works on you know, all all the

big stuff, Marvel stuff. But for the last ten years, it's been The Walking Dead and and uh and he would he would get that thing on and and then Scott Edo, who was the head of the makeup department, who would finish up cleaning me up. And and then if we had more things to do, it would take more time. If I if I had cuts on my face or more special effects stuff, which would be uh Greg Nickotaro and his team, then uh, then it would take a little longer. But by the time we got going,

we were a finally tuned machine. It was forty five minutes. Yeah, how was it for you showing up on again? Such a successful show, most watched show, and I don't even know they call it basic cable anymore. But with the cast, the crew, it's a well oiled machine and you come in. How was it for you those those first days or weeks? It was? It was interesting because the way The Walking Dead works, when they introduced a new character, it's almost like they give you the episode. It didn't feel like

somebody else's show. It felt like my show. And I didn't have I didn't have time to worry. I had too much work to do, you know, makes sense? Yeah, And I just you know, I had these big speeches. I had, you know, a lot, a lot to do and say. And so that first episode they kind of whisked me into into Atlanta. I remember I told um, I told someone that I was shooting something in Atlanta, and they said, is it the Walking Dead? And uh,

it was a big secret. Nobody was supposed to know that it was me, because uh, you know, there was all the speculation of all of these amazing actors who who were supposed to get this job. And I was like, no, man, it's just a little on me. And at that point, every announcement on the Walking Dead was like a big secret that they wanted to wait till Comic Con to to to bust out. And so I remember telling him, no,

it's not the Walking Dead. And after that, I didn't tell anybody else that I got that job, because because as soon as I mentioned Atlanta, the first thing the thing people think of is is walking Dead. And so I started telling people that, yeah, I'm in Vancouver. I told him. I told everybody I was in Vancouver shooting in Vancouver. My parents I didn't tell except yeah, I didn't tell my mom because my mom. I love her to death. She's gotten better, but at the time she

could not keep a secret to save her life. So no, no, tell me, my my my mom, Yeah, but my dad's a vault. So I told my dad, and I and my dad would always talk about the fact that, you know, he was the last one to know. So I felt good about telling him that, you know, and he was the first one to know. And I always had a little wink and a smile with him for a few months.

There was even the time we were on family vacation after I got the job, and my mom is sitting there in the kitchen making something and she she's not She doesn't look at me, and she just says, carry I feel like there's something that you're not telling me. I don't know what it is, but I feel like there's something that you're not telling me. And my dad was standing next to her and he just looked at me, and I looked at her him and and I said, yeah, yeah, Mom,

there's something I'm not telling you. But you know, you can't keep a secret. And she was like, yeah, I know, Well tell me when you can. And I both both me and my dad just went It was like, Dad, that mama's intuition is real, but uh but yeah. So for months, for months, I couldn't tell anyone that I was doing this. Um, because I shot the first episode in May and then I didn't shoot another episode for many months. So so I come back to l A, you know, and I go on vacation for the summer.

I do a little this or that, but not until July, at the end of July when they do their big trailer and they reveal you know, me and the Tiger. Nobody has any idea, so so it was very clandestine. They would I had this big wig on, so they would they would throw a tarp over me or a blanket or something like that, even when I was getting in and out of the van going to locations. You know. It was. It was. It was a very weird feeling and situation. But yeah, we we kept a secret it was.

It was, Yeah, it was, but but yeah, yeah, have to answer you a question. It it. I didn't feel nervous. I didn't have I didn't feel like I had time to feel nervous. And also I felt like I understood Ezekiel so well, you know that this kind of theatrical presence, this guy who was faking it until he made it, and I had done all of that voice over for like ten, you know, twelve years, and before that in

my twenties. I did all of that Shakespeare, all of that theater, and it was like those two things came together because because in the script it never said that he changed his voice. It's it never said that that he he said that he his body language changed. But to me, the first thing I thought was that his voice changed, that he that he spoke with a certain you know, in platitudes, but underneath, you know, afterwards, it was just you know and uh, And the voice change

was the difference. The voice changes, what what? What? You know? Perk people up? And I think I think that's why I got the job. You know. Yeah, all of those years, all of that those jobs leading you, training you in a way for this, your biggest job. Obviously, The Walking Dead means, as you said before, so much to so many people. There's the history of the books, the story you as King Ezekiel obviously have become a fan favorite. What are your some of your favorite storylines? Oh my gosh,

they're so bittie man. I I mean, I I obviously love Ezekiel's arc and where he's gone, but I really lovely Eugene. Eugene was you know, he he is just a quirky Liar, who who over the course of many years, has become this really incredibly intricate, you know, human being on so many levels. And and Josh McDermott, who I was lucky enough to get to work with a lot the last couple of years, has just been amazing, and

I think his work has has been amazing. There's so many Oh my god, I mean, uh, to work with Lenny James, who plays Morgan on the show and he now is is on Fear the Walking Dead, but but uh, you know that to be to be that close to these incredible talents, you know, Melissa McBride who's literally so

so sensitive to her environment, it's uncanny. I remember there was a moment that I that they wanted me to to be sitting on my throne at this moment where I was feeling depressed and uh, and I was like, there's no way I can sit on that throne after everything that he's gone through. But the script called for it, and I was and they were like, well, can you get up on stage? And I was like, I was like, I can't see him walk walking up there. I can't

see him crawling up there. And uh, Melissa just she was like Cary the rug and and there was the hair for from from Shiva the tiger. This is after the tiger had been killed, and there was uh and we we we had this animatronic tiger that we almost never used, but we would put it there, you know, as a placeholder a lot of times. And uh. But but but the hair on the rug where she sat was still there. And man, I got so emotional all of a sudden, and it was just like it was

the rug and it made sense. And I crawled over to it. And I never got in the in the in the chair on the throne. I just sat down next to it and set and just and just played with the the hair on that rug. And you know, it's like hell, any of us ever you know, lost you know, beloved pet you know, it's just like it's like there it is, you know. But yeah, just so many incredible talents. And by that I mean Melissa's like like like one of the best acting teachers I've ever had,

you know. And uh and and I got paid for the ass. It's so cool. Yeah, I don't know, just thinking about you know, these these moments of clarity. Yeah, I don't think this is a secret you've just recently finished filming the series finale. I you've already talked about the secrets. Any any hints about what's coming next or do we just need to wait? Fuck you, Brian, you know better, You know better, You of all people know better. Yeah, you won't get you won't get a thing out of me, buddy.

I've I've I've I sweated too much in that week to tell you a damn thing. You're gonna You're gonna see it in all of its glory and all of its humidity, is exactly Yeah. I have been so good about not saying anything. I'm so excited for everybody to see what's uh, what's coming up? And and uh, it's it's going to be a beautiful you know, it's not really an ending, it's it's just uh any any good show, you know you've got your imagination goes wild as to

what comes next, and and there's plenty coming next. Well, there's forty seven spinoffs they're talking about for for everybody. What about King Ezekiel? I mean, anything is possible. I um, you know, in this business, I I hold out hope that that's not the last time I put that wig on. But you know. Also, you know, nothing is promised, and and you you know, you got to move on to

the next job. We we were both been very lucky that that we could, you know, sit on on shows that that had a you know, a long, a long life. But for the most part, you know, besides those, uh, you know, most jobs come and go in this busines and you just gotta keep reworking it. And so so I'll I'll keep my fingers crossed, but at the same time, I look forward to to the next thing that comes out. Whatever. Maybe you're you're so good at at evading the question.

I have one more for you. Any thoughts on a rebo a reboot for the Office? Oh yeah, well, it absolutely is going to happen. Kevin will be put in charge. And I have said this for years, and it is not just because I've known you, you know, since the beginning of time. I have always thought went as soon as Michael left, I thought to myself, I was like, the the whole the thing that made that work is that is that you put someone in charge who has

no business being in charge. And Pam and Jim have to you know, with duct tape and uh, you know, and glue try to try to hold this thing together. And I was like, what if? What if they just took an aptitude test or did an interview? And somehow they did it sort of with Robert California where for a moment Robert California thought that Kevin might be the smartest person in the room, and I was like, oh God, please go with that, go with that, make him the

one in charge. I wanted it so bad because not not only that I thought it would be hilarious, but but I but I think that that people don't still don't realize the incredible talent that is inside of one Brian Baumgartner. I have personally, I have personally seen you play so many different and varied characters and and for you to play Kevin so well that I feel like I feel like if you stepped into one of those other characters from you know that you know starts with Kevin,

people would lose their minds. I have always said this, I still I have. I I'm telling you it's going to happen at some point. This just sounds like gushing, but you can tell that I mean what I say. I'm I don't just bullshit. They're pregnant pauses when I when I don't believe something, but this, this I believe. Thank you, Thank you very much for that. That was not expected nor written. But I will send you I will, I will send you a check. I do want to

mention to you, well, first off, congratulate, congratulations. On the end of that, I'm very happy for you and to see what comes for you next. I also do want to mention that this is June, which is Pride month, and you have been a big ally of the lb G t Q community, and and you have a son, Carter, who is who is now in that community. You want to tell me a little bit about about his journey

and your specific connection now to this community. Yeah, yeah, no, Well, I mean it's funny being growing up in Georgia especially and uh, you know, in the South, kind of a religious upbringing, you know, my feelings about you know, the gay community or being gay, you know, l g B t Q. Plus it was kind of like something that you would see, you know, uh, kind of a cardboard character in a show that was you know, meant to be a joke and um and beyond that, beyond anything

beyond that would make you incredibly uncomfortable, you know, because

it was outside of your your normal sphere. And uh and all of that changed when I when I became a theater major at UH at S ANDB what even even at the North Side School of the Arts, you know, because it's just more open, it's just more inclusive and and uh, you know, it's it's like, you know, the arts is a is a place where where creativity and diversity is is um is celebrated and where where people who who are feel different can feel nurtured and loved.

And and so you know, I've I've been on that journey of of uh of being an ally to the gay and lesbian plus community. But it definitely, uh, you know, took it to another level when when my when my son when he was eight or nine years old, comes back from school and and says that he thinks that he's transgender. And it's funny because when he and he said that, it all made sense, it all made sense. He was he was always a tomboy growing up. He was he was his name he was born female and

and we named him Ruby. But but always a tomboy, always wanting to do boy things. Always his best friends were boys. You know, he was the only you know, quote unquote girl on the on the you know y m C a basketball team, you know, not not the girls can't. But he wanted to do karate and he became a black belt when he was like a seven or eight years old. He was just um, you know, when he was three or four, he was like no more dresses. No more dresses that he was. He was like,

no more pink you know. His his mom would just cover him in pink freely stuff, you know, because that's what she, you know, wanted for her daughter. And and then um, I remember the last time I got him to wear a dress was at a wedding and I told him it was because it had boy fish all on it and it was and it had cut off sleeves, and I told him it was a samurai. It was

a traditional samurai like um like uniform. And I remember halfway through the wedding he walked over to me and it was like, Daddy, this is not a samurai uniform. Somebody must have told him. And I was like, well, it's probably the last time that's gonna happen, and so uh. But but there were all of these clues that that

that made it kind of obvious. And and even like at the school dances where they were put on these productions, and I remember one time the choreographer told she was like, all of the boys, you know, uh, you know, uh across your arms and all of the girls put your hands on your hips and that's how we ended. And uh and Carter just you know, walks up and he's like, why why do I have to do that? And not do that? You know, he was always like self assured

that way. When it came to this this thing, it was like it was like it was like, I'm going to do this my way. But when he realized what transgender was, he was just telling a story that I never knew that that he would go to sleep wishing that he was a boy, and he would and he said, he said, but that could never happen because only magic can do that because I didn't know what transgender was. I didn't even understand what transgender was or the community was.

But when he but when he realized that that that's that, that's who he was. The person that I had seen be the most at home with themselves and the most like no, I'm doing this my way became even more like like calm, like like the like if his shoulders were up, it was like they dropped just a little bit more. There was just the tension if there, if there was any tension at all, you know, went away even more so. And I and I saw him just just blossom in this weird way. Because it's not like

he got loud. He's not a loud kid. He's not like me. He's an introvert. But it was it was like a quiet confidence and and and and wholeness about him and uh and and I knew that that that it was scary for me, even though I had always kind of known it. When he said it, I could tell that it was a thing that that was that was always there. It's still scared the ship out of me, you know, because I because you want your kid to be treated, you know, with dignity and respect and and

live happily. And uh and you see so many obstacles in the way of of his happiness, you know, And uh, or at least that's what I thought. I was very wrong. I was very wrong. The truth is is that I have never seen a kid more happy. I've never seen

a kid more at home. And for me, the hard The hardest thing is when he decided that he was going to change his name and not go by Ruby anymore, because I had thought long and hard about Ruby, because it was like a cute little girl's name, but it was also a badass woman business person, like, like I had this idea of her being like this high powered executive who walks into the offices and everybody's like, oh, ship, you know, Ruby's here. Everybody, get it together, Ruby's coming,

you know. I I had to. I had to take that rough draft of his life and change it. And um, and then he decided on Carter. You know, my name is Cary with a K. My brothers Curling and Curtis both with a K. My nephew, Keen is Keen with a K. And so he decides Carter with the K because he wanted the boys. Yeah, yeah, it's it's. Uh. You always think that you're supposed to or or before you have kids, you think that it's your job to teach them, you know, you know, you maybe get nervous

about not being able to teach them. And Uh, I have found that that I am the student more often than not. And if I can just reflect it back to them, you know, in a way that's that they can hear and understand that, uh, that I'm doing and I'm doing all right, and uh, I can't. I don't know, man, I'm just I'm just so grateful, you know, to to be in a position to be able to hear and to understand, you know, and love through it all. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,

but he's a he's a great kid. And yeah, and I've learned a lot and you know, so you know, that's uh, that's that's where we are now. It's a pretty good listen. I gotta I gotta tell you, Like, when I think of Cary Payton, there is an openness and a joy and a zest for life. Everyone always loves being around you because of the energy that you

have in virtually every situation. And it's not surprising to me that in this you have remained open and positive and giving and the fact that you consider it a gift that you have been given by your son um having you experienced this as a family is it is so cool. And I'm I'm so happy for Carter, and I'm happy for you and your family, and I wish you just all the blessings, all of the blessings, dude,

because you deserve it. You have worked so hard twenty years as Cyborg now bringing you to Ezekiel and to a place of of great success. I'm so happy for you, and I really appreciate you coming and and talking to me today so Openly's absolutely man. You know, I think that the hardest part of the job and the easiest part of the job is just keeping your head up, you know, keeping your head up and uh and uh

and and pushing forward. You know, they you get you get so many you get so many rejections in this business that, um, I find that that the ones who can just stay in it and smile through it, you know, are are winning. You know. That's that's you. That's you always and uh and God bless you for it. Thank you so much, Cary, Thank you, Brian. This is awesome. Cary, Cary, Cary, thank you so much. It was so great catching up

with you. I will never forget our days at s m U and the man that you have now become. I respect the hell out of you, my friends. So God bless you and continued success moving forward as you leave the zombies of the Walking Dead, and for all you listening make sure to tune in Thursday to go Off Off the Beat for our sports edition, and of course we're gonna be back here next Tuesday. Once again, you're the best listeners, But if you think we're the best,

then feel free to subscribe, leave a review. You know what you're doing. We appreciate that so much. It helps us so much to hear from you. So check in on to Graham or on Apple Reviews and we will see you next week. Off the Beat is hosted an executive produced by me Ryan Baumgartner alongside our executive producer Langley. Our producers are Diego Tapia, Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and

our intern is Sammy Cats. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak performed by my great friend Creed Bretton and the episode was mixed by seth Olandskipe