Sarah Drew

My whole career started because of a decision I made in the bathroom there because we were doing we'd only been working.

Let's it's bad decisions that happened.

It's a good decision. This is a good choice.

Hi.

My name is Sarah Drew and I love horseback riding.

Hello once again, Welcome one and all to a brand spanking new episode of Off the Beat. It's me as always, Brian Baumgartner. Is there a doctor in the house. Well, no, there's not, but my guest today did play a doctor on TV, doctor April Kepner, or as I know her, Sarah Drew from Gray's Anatomy. She's not only a doctor, but guess what, she's also a mom on Amber Brown, a shy teen from Everwood and a popular high school

Bubble and squeak.

I love it, Bubble and Squeakna, Bubble and squeak.

I cook get every more left over from the night pople.

Hi, Sarah, how are you? I'm so good? How are you?

I'm great. It's so nice to meet you.

It is very, very nice to meet you. I've been a fan of yours for a long time. Oh, thanks for taking the time. Where are you today?

I'm just at home in l A.

You're in l A? All right?

Where are you? Are you in l A?

I'm I'm adjacent. Yeah, I'm near, I'm near. It's fine. It's finally nice here. So we have a we have a nice day to sit inside and talk. So there go. What what? What's what's happening? I mean we're coming into spring here. Are you excited about this?

Yeah?

I mean I'm excited to have warm weather again. I'm excited for my daughter to want it to get into the pool because it's not quite as freezing.

That's exciting. Gets some energy out when she gets home. Yeah, I don't know. I got a movie coming out at the end of this month.

I was just about to say, write new spring blooms new things, and so it is.

Always blooming new, always bloom, always new things.

We're going to talk about that, uh in a little bit. You're in La now, but you came originally from New York. I have been I have been researching you. Uh fascinating to me childhood. Uh. Your your father was a was a pastor. Is that right? Yeah? Now so you you saw him in a way performing h a stage?

Absolutely? Yes.

Do you do you feel like was was that your first sort of in person watching someone in front of a group of people. Was this something that was interesting to you as a child? Did you Did you think about it?

Absolutely?

I mean there is there is a lot of theater to the church experience.

For sure.

You go and you sit down, you get your program, you follow along, you sing along sometimes which you don't get to do usually in musicals. But and then there's a presentation and there's uh it's uh, there is a theater aspect to it. So I grew up you know that always being a part of my life in a big way. I I will say, I mean I started performing. I would do little my dad would do little skits, little church skits, you know, like for the kids and stuff,

But I started.

I think the first moment my parents were like, oh, this might be a thing was my graduation from kindergarten, where I just walked on to the stage with all the presents in the world, absolutely eating up the reality that there was an audience full of people and just was like A is for apple. Well, I think it was a Christian school, so I think I said it was Bee is for be still and know that.

I am God.

So they kind of looked at each other and they're like, that's interesting, and then they couldn't get me off the stage any opportunity I had.

I've been performing ever.

Since, So at a super young age, you decided this is what you wanted to do.

There is an I never wanted to do anything else in the world. It was always from my earliest memories, all I wanted to do was perform. I would come up with shows and make my parents give me tickets, like I'd make tickets and then I would do a show on the coffee table, you.

Know, like that.

That was I wrote a musical when I was eleven, Never got never got to make it happen because you know, everybody went back to school and nobody had time anymore. But but fully had auditions and started rehearsals that you know, all the community theater and all the school plays. Anytime I could get to jump into somebody else's skin and live live a life through somebody else's eyes, I wanted to do it.

So it sounds like not, but I read that your your brothers are are also pastors in the church.

One brother, one brother, and he was a pastor for about ten years and now he is working sort of adjacent to the church, but he's working for a nonprofit that whose whole purpose is to activate the church to care about the climate crisis. Okay, so that's what he's working on now. But it's in the same world of let's let's gather as a community to care and be good stewards of the people and the planet that we're on.

Well, that's a responsible mission, yes, time to accomplish absolutely, did you. I mean it sounds like performing was always in your blood. Did you ever have a thought to go into theology or religious stuy?

I mean I did.

I was always in leadership positions. So I would I would go to the Christian youth camps, and then I would come home from the internships, and then I would start a Bible study and I would plan my talks. And so in high school I was leading Bible studies, and in college as well, I met my husband actually leading worship. We sang and he plays guitar too, and so that was how I met my husband, always being

Community, right. And while that might be a skill that you have, undoubtedly these early experiences in the church gave you experience and an opportunity to sort of at least try that out or flex those muscles. Right.

Oh, absolutely, yeah, standing up in front of people and guiding a discussion and planning, you know, planning my talk and writing out the thoughts and listening to you know. Yeah, of course, I mean I directed a little bit. I remember directing the spring play my senior year of high school. So just any opportunity I had to be able to

You grew up in Stony Brook. Did you find yourself going into the city a lot, meaning the city New York City?

Oh?

Is there another city?

Right? Yeah?

Sounds like a New Yorker to see shows? I mean, was that a part of your upbringing?

Absolutely?

The way that because we didn't have a lot of money. My mom, well, she was a research scientist and then she left that career to become a teacher at a private school that she wanted to put us in because I needed to move into a different school situation, and she changed careers and became a teacher actually in order to get us into this I have a school, so we could actually afford to go, so.

Where we didn't.

I did not grow up with like a lot of extra money or funds lying around. So what we would do is we would go at the crack dawn, get on the train, take the train into Manhattan, and go stand in line for four hours at ts KTS.

Oh yeah, that's where you were going. Yeah, that's so great. I tell people that all the time, like, if you put in the effort, you have the opportunity. And particularly as someone who who has an interest in the field, like I don't know, I'm gonna I'm gonna like date myself by references or whatever. But it's like you don't have to go see lay Miz or whatever is the

Right, No, I, I mean we that's that. That was the sort of fun and joy and crapshoot of it all is that you go, you take the journey, and it's a two hour journey into the city, just the train ride as a two hour train ride, you know, and you're getting up at the crack of dawn to get out with the whole family in tow and there's no guarantee that you're going to get to see any of the shows that you want to see, so it's

Yeah, that's amazing, Yeah, I do, I miss so. I remember seeing an early version of Cabaret that that same way I couldn't get in. Did the the Sro stuff and and loved every minute of it.

I think there's something also about when you're when you're making the choice to do the thing that's not very comfortable and takes a lot of effort, it makes you appreciate the experience also so much more, Like I better like this show. I better find all the things that are great about the show and love it because I spend all day to trying to get in to see this and then you like jump for joy that you actually got into the the Sro seed, Like, yes.

I get to see this thing.

It doesn't matter that I'm standing, you know, I don't know.

Uh.

So you're in high school. You're you're in high school and you end up getting cast with a voice role as Stacy in Daria, which ends up becoming quite quite a big thing. Now, how how did that come about for you? And let me just say this, I've said this a lot, being a voice actor. If you think being an actor is hard, being a voice actor is way way more difficult, uh to do? How How did how did that role come about for you?

So?

Yeah, and by the way, I keep trying and nobody wants me for any other cartoons or animated anything. You know, it doesn't matter that I was on Gray's Anatomy for nine years. They're like, Nope, you're not in the Mafia. You're not in the Voice Sober Mafia, so you don't get to do it.

How did you get in the mafia though? To start? You're there.

So the interesting thing is it's actually funny because it's similar to how Grays turned up.

It is.

I I was doing like children's theater at this awesome regional theater on Long Island called Gateway Playhouse, and there was a so they it was an established regional the summerstock theater, so there were professionals that would live there and do main stage shows, but during the summer we would also the kids in the area would.

Do children's theater.

So we would use the same stages as the main stage was, so we would be doing like Winnie the Pooh on the set of The King and I you know, like that's just that was what we were doing, right, And our dream was to be on main.

Stage, you know.

That was just like, oh, if we could just get to main stage, all our dreams would come true.

Right.

But with that community, there was like a couple actors that I knew a couple friends that I knew there who had like a manager who worked out of her basement on Long Island, you know, and she and they introduced me to her. So I started auditioning for a couple of little things and she got me this audition

Wow, isn't that crazy?

Yeah? And this is a good run. And this was a big show, Like were you aware as you were doing it how big it was? Were you?

Okay, completely unaware?

And I got paid nothing because I was I mean nothing, yes.

Zero, no residuals.

Like I would go in and record five episodes at once, and they'd give me a couple hundred bucks and call it a day, like nothing. So, I mean, I think about the staying power of that show and I'm just like, well, I didn't really have representation then.

So wow.

Yeah, I mean I remember I was still recording those episodes when I went to college, and they would just hold all of my stuff to do all at once, and I would take the train in to Manhattan from Virginia where I was in college, and I would just record for six hours straight, several episodes, all my lines and then call it a day. And that's it.

And you were you in the Union?

No, no, no, nothing.

No nothing. You were literally just like I was just a.

Hired kid that everybody took advantage of. That's inane, a single pen of residuals now.

So you see nothing now, I've never.

Seen anything, not even just now. I've never seen a cent.

They just slip you.

I was non union.

I had no experience. There was I think they called me directly, like the manager might have gotten me that first audition, but then they called me direct mes i'd want.

To come in and read this other part into.

And for me, I'm like, yay, I'm doing something professional.

No, wow, all right, Well, yeah, producers of Daria, I'm coming after.

You, I know, and there's some sort of reboot or something. I mean, they never include me in any of that stuff. It's as if I was never there.

Well, it's better for them if they pretend you were never there, Sarah, What, I don't think that's right. That wasn't anyone.

That can't be true.

No, it had to have and someone else. Wow, that's crazy.

But I did have a lot of cool bragging power during that time. I didn't watch I didn't watch the show. I didn't have MTV, I had no access to it, and there was no streaming at that point, so like, I never even really saw it.

And you know, I but people were like, Daria, you're on Daria. You have you have a role?

Yeah, I mean I get a couple hundred bucks every few months.

Oh that's so good, that is so MTV. Wow. All right. Uh, well, you say you went to college. You ended up going down south Ish South adjacent is what I call Virginia, down to the University of Virginia study drama. I had a great friend from high school who went there studied drama. How was that experience?

I loved it? I loved down a second. I loved it. I I had some incredible professors there. In fact, my you know what was so great is first of all, I got to have the real college experience, you know, like I just got to study all the things. It wasn't a conservatory program. The drama department was very friendly, not competitive, just like I found I still have some of my best friends in the world from doing drama at UVA. I lived in awesome houses with good friends,

It was good.

It was really really good. And then my professors were amazing. And so what's interesting is I I did this musical theater program in New York called CAP twenty one the summer between my second and third year of college, and my whole career started because of a decision I made in the bathroom there because we were doing we'd only been.

Working bad decisions that happened.

Now this is a good decision, this is a good choice. We're in the I'm in the bathroom and we have this casting director from Telsea Casting coming to do a masterclass with us that afternoon. At this musical theater program, we had not worked on monologues at all. We had only been doing songs. So every student was planning to do two songs for this casting director and get the

One does as one does, yes.

And I did Nora for her, and that casting office started bringing me in for auditions. And the third one I went in for was a production of Romeo and Juliet where I was cast as Juliette, and I almost didn't audition for it. This was at the Macarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey, because it conflicted with the first five years of my fourth year, first five weeks of my final year of college and I'm like, I just can't.

So I have.

I have a meticulously kept journal diary from my entire experience of playing Juliet, which was my launch into my entire career as a result of the just nurturing of that in that drama department. So I'm very grateful for that experience.

After college, you you entered the theater world. You made your Broadway debut in two thousand and three, and did you think that that was your life. Did you think that theater was what you were going to do or did you always have an eye toward television? Film? Was there? Where were you at?

What I always wanted to do? And in fact, right before I did the play on Broadway, I actually did my first movie, so I did have I did Radio with Ed Harris and Debra Winger and Cuba Gooding teens. That was my first moment on any set of any kind in my whole life was like a scene with Ed Harris.

So that's a good start.

By the way, my first take, hiss, I love that, man, My first take that they laid down. He gathered the whole crew around and he said, all right, let's give it up for the first take in the future illustrious career of Sarah Drew. And he had the whole crew give me a standing ovation.

Wow.

I mean classy dude, right, the.

Classic classy Yes.

Yes, And I'm a twenty two year old, you know. And actually I was cast in the Broadway show. I did a self tape in my little efficiency apartment in where was I Walter Burrows, South Carolina shooting that movie? I couldn't get in. I couldn't go in for the audition, right, so they so the director for that play at the Lincoln Center cast me off of.

Tape, which is crazy.

So what I what I My vision I think as a teenager was I wanted to be a serious actress. However that played out, Maybe it would be in film and television, maybe it would be on the stage. I didn't have any understanding when I was a teenager of what film and television would be. The only experience I had was on stage, and I loved it so much and it fed my soul in such a profound way that I think I most I probably mostly envisioned myself

There you go. That's like you truth, there you go. Yeah, No, I know, well, I mean you know our and I won't bore you with it. Our pasts were similar, I think for me, I don't, I don't know. I never thought about film and television like for me it was. I was so singularly focused on the other thing. Yeah, for such a long period of time. And so it's it's always interesting to me to talk to, you know, actors who when they were very young, like like how

Little America, Little Americas stayed a little America.

Well, it might have been Grand America, but one of the one of the America's America, of one of the Americas. Yes, and in fact, I don't know if I've told this story or not in a long time, but you'll know what I'm talking about. I arrived, so I know exactly when it was. It was the first week of April where I was shooting, and I think I I think it was two episodes. I think I shot them at the same time, like I stayed.

Do you remember the season you were in.

I wasn't.

I wasn't in season one and two. I only came.

I think it was season one or two. I really don't, but I I was with I know I was with mister Wolf.

Yes, okay, yeah, because he came on when I came on, So yeah, it would have been.

Three or four. Okay, Yeah, this was not this This did not change the trajectory of your seasons. I don't remember exactly, but I was there. Here's the crazy. My memory isn't about the work. My memory is about the extras. So I don't think I not the extras, but like the extra the outside of work. I don't think at that point I might be lying that I had ever been to Salt Lake City. And I know things have

In order to go into an establishment that serves alcohol.

Correct, And that was that.

And I was like, this phenomenal.

This is people think Hawaii is like a different country. This is no.

I just I just shot a movie. So I've now been I've shot five things in Salt Lake City now in my life, and I just yeah, I'm there all the time and I love it. By the way, my husband and I bought our first house, we got our dog.

Now you're just trying to be nice to the no no, no.

Listen, I will say still to this day.

You cannot go into an establishment and get a double of anything.

A double.

They will not they will.

Not give no, they cannot serve a double like a like a you know, jack and coke with a double.

They can't.

They will literally get arrested. Oh so you have to have someone else at the table order a shot if you want to have a double. Like the rules are really interesting. The cocktails I discovered are very weak in Salt Lake City.

Well, you and I are going to get along. Just by Sarah, I'm just saying you're going to get you and I are going to get along just fine. Yeah, that was that was my That was what I remember about.

I don't remember that. I don't because I lived there for two years, and like.

We bought houses. We bought houses like Scott and I had known Scott sort of peripherally. I don't even know if that's the right word. And yeah, everyone had a house in Park City, like everyone was like, I.

Wasn't in Park City. I know, I wasn't that fancy I was. I didn't live in Park City. I lived in Salt Lake.

I liked Salt Lake. I wasn't like York City was fun, but I don't know. It was so much cheaper to buy and it was our first time, so we bought in Salt Lake City. I love it there.

You entered season three, as you mentioned, did you find it difficult to enter midstream or like you just mentioned, other people came in and that made it easier. Was it tough for you to start?

It was such a wonderful community.

I mean that's the other thing is like I was welcomed with open arms to a very kind.

Sweet group of people who were all living in Utah together.

You know, you know, I'm like, I'm like on a WB show, and the actors are like sweethearts who are not getting all mixed up in the head because of being surrounded by the Hollywood scene. We're like in the mountains and skiing and gathering around fires and having a glass of wine.

You know.

Like it was so sweet. That was such a sweet community that I was just like welcomed with open arms it and they were excited to have somebody new too.

It was like, Oh, who's this. It was just so lovely. I was so loved there.

The ending felt like it was sort of external to what the show was, the WB and the upn merger CW. It was all sort of weird. How did you feel about about it ending?

Oh, it was such a bummer.

And the thing is that the reason we didn't get another season is because Seventh Heaven decided to come and.

Do a bonus season.

That's literally why we were supposed to do another season, right, And they had, in fact, they had, in fact shot their finale. They were like three sets of twin babies on that show at that point, and all I remember thinking was like, good fucking luck with all your babies on set.

Like I was so mad.

Yeah, no, it was they decided to come back even after they did their farewell episode because the numbers were big for the farewell episode, obviously because it was a farewell episode.

Guys, God, someone should think about that. Actually, they're smart. Every year, every numbers going forever excited you. You then had I mean some pretty amazing guest star opportunities on some very big shows. I had. You looked quite different on mad Men. I will tell you. I know mister Ham quite a bit. I'm a big fan of that show, and I was like, wait, who was she in that? And then I saw you and I was like, oh my word, Glee, Medium, Supernatural. Do you have any favorite experiences? Well,

Oh?

Yeah, what I mean?

The only thing that was said about it is that I thought there was so much more room to tell a much longer story for those characters, Like, I mean, the last time you see my character is when my husband's doing Bye Viberti for me and you just see my face go, oh is this my life?

Right?

And that's and I'm like, that could have been like the number of places that you could have gone and the layers we could have unpacked in that story, it could have been so great. So that's the only that's only sadness I have about it because I was only there for like four episodes and I but I loved every second. I mean, Matt Winer was amazing, super involved in exactly how every beat of the scene was going

On the show forever.

But I was like, oh, I love that you have a very specific vision and I'm I'm just a visitor here, so like, yeah, lay it on me, what what is what is your vision that I can help bring to life? And I felt very encouraged there too. It was very like encouraging as well. So yeah, it was fun. The secrecy though around that show was insane, Like they wouldn't even give me the whole script for this stuff. Whenever I was on a show, I think I maybe went to one table read, but I wasn't allowed to hold

I'm like, you, guys, what what are we doing? What are we doing here?

Why it's not national security.

It's not national like, let's we're pretending.

That doesn't surpriss me in any way.

No, but it was a big time hush hush, and they'd only give me my sides for my scenes. And I do remember, Oh they paid so cheap. But everybody again, but everybody would do. Everybody said yes because it's mad men. But like I was playing full interesting guest star spots, but was getting paid like a day rate, you know, which.

Is what the industry has kind of gone back to.

Now. Yeah, not for long, Sarah, Not not for long. You may have been paying been paid day rates, but not for long, because now Juliet may have launched you, but another guest are uh relaunched you. You get a guest role on Private Practice, You get introduced to someone what's her name again? Oh yeah, Shonda rhymes that was a show and what her name is? Uh, you enter the universe of Shondaland, and what some people may not know is you were actually cast in a in a

I know, we're all like, this is the one. I mean, this is the most sure.

Congratulations you landed the definite pilot show.

Yeah.

Right, well, clearly it wasn't your fault. It didn't go oh because she has you join Gray's Anatomy. Now, I'm told for two episodes. Yes, that was your contract.

Yeah. I came in.

She was like, I've got this fun little two episode arc that I would love. You want to come play for a couple episodes. I was like sure, as I'd been doing all my other little spots along the way. Yeah, I go, I do my two and then I go and I don't think about it again.

And then you then you go back for nine years. Now I'll go back for nine years.

Yeah.

You know. It's always fascinating to me to talk to people who start your way, and you know what's funny because now not always. Obviously, there are people who are cast in pilots and as you know, main characters, pivotal characters, and they stay forever. And I mean I guess that was my case too in a way, though it changed a little bit. But yeah, having the opportunity to just work, I mean it goes to like the say, yet, do

I had one of the writers. I mean, this is all just like sweet conversations that people told me down the road.

But sure, but one of the writers told.

Me that after I got fired, there was a riot in the writer's room, like the character They're like.

Why but why? You know?

I think my mad Men episode aired like right around the time that I was like where my episode at Grays was about to air. So it was so there was just this like what are guys, come on, what are we doing?

Let's find some story for this person.

So I mean that felt I don't I don't truly know you know, that's like the nice things that people say to you once you come back. I don't know, I don't know what the reality was. All I know is that I got a call the morning after my firing episode aired, and it was my team saying they want to bring you back, and they're talking about it being a potent turning into a potential series regular. So then I spent all of season six auditioning at every

Going have they given me something.

To say or do that I could show that maybe there's a reason I should stay, you know, like there was all there was that feeling of, right, this is every every single second you every single word you are given to say, every single moment screen moment that you are given, is you building a massive audition for them to see if they want to keep you around.

Right in addition to just you know, because this should not be undersold, and this is obviously not a comment on how important the work is or your performance, but also like, what they're also given is an opportunity to see if you're an asshole totally like and like how you are you? Are you a nice person to work with?

Yes?

Because you know, I do personally believe that is a that is an underappreciated or undercomment. People don't talk about how important that is of just like being a good person and wanting to hang out with you for nine years, right, Yeah, you're on.

Set like for that show too. We were still in those earlier seasons. We're still doing sixteen hour days. You know, these are the people that you're spending the vast maturity of your time with. I will say though, and I'm not not specifically talking about Grace, but like across the Hollywood board, I have not found that the rule applies that if you're not an asshole, you get to do all the work like if anything, well, well the assholes are still very much alive and well doing very good work.

Yes, But but I will say this rare. Most of the time there, it's well, I shouldn't say this a lot of the time, but I know they're stuck. No, there's because there is a difference. What I mean is, particularly if you're brought into a long running show and you're there for what you say, essentially an extended audition, it's much easier to lose one of those.

Yes, So totally yes if they're an asshole.

But I do appreciate what I mean.

I'm not and I'm.

Not specifically talking about grays, and I say that across the way I'm talking about this.

I'm going to know.

Listen, Listen, I'm saying, I am saying I'm talking about this on a grander scheme that often I'm noticing it now. You just even in the worlds that I'm in right now, it's like, do people get the numbers, Great, we'll keep hiring them, and and it's like, well, but that person

Just like yes, yes, well winning yes, well, but you you started the story. You start, I mean you started our conversation talking about Ed Harris too. I mean like that's an example of someone who is supremely talented. Yes, and then every story I've ever heard about him is like incredibly great, uh, you know, like really successful comedy actors that I've had the opportunity to work with, Steve

Oh my gosh, I didn't even you.

Yeah, I mean a long time. Nine o'clock on Thursday Nights. Oh who was it? It was you guys, it was us, it was CSI for a while, because like Thursday Nights is like for those of you who don't and these are days before before streaming. The people who spend the most money on advertising are other studios that are advertising their movies that are premiering that weekend. And so Thursday night is a very big night in television, so a lot of networks put their big shows up. But yeah,

So were you like checking in on.

All the very every Friday morning.

Yeah, I was in the makeup and then you would come in and be like, this is how we did freaking Grace anatomy.

Or we I mean, here's the thing is we we were fine against you in the in the coveted eighteen to forty nine demographic. But then you know, the first number they give is how many people were watching, and you guys were like ninety eight billion and against us, and it's like, who are all these people that are watching the show? But no, I say that in I mean, what an incredible run. I just uh, I just heard coming back for more the show nine nine years and then and then you left for a little bit, and

Oh do you know it is?

You know it was this one specific I know who it was because she let us know because she reached out to both me and Jessica just to make sure that we would both be on set, so she didn't want to fly the plane. So we knew it was going to happen, okay, and we but like we she or this fan organized it. And it's a very sweet fan who actually had come and done a set visit one time, and Jesse Williams and I had hung out with her for a while and she's an unbelievable sweetheart.

Yeah, for those of you who don't know, I don't know if I set that up entirely great, but basically, someone flew a plane over the studio saying, don't don't this person go for these two people, not y.

It was we love you Sarah and Jessica, I think, is what it said.

Yeah, so that was it was difficult for you.

Oh yeah, it was awful.

I'd never I you know, I've never been fired from anything. And of course they weren't calling it firing. They were just saying not picking up your option. But in my brain that feels like firing. It's like, well, you could keep me, but you choose not to. So I don't know how else to interpret that, right, and so, and it was, you know, I was aware of what I was bringing to the table, and I was just kind of confused by all of it, to be perfectly honest,

It just hadn't happened to me yet.

And so it felt like a like a big blow after nine years for it to happened. But I will say, like since then, I've I've expanded as an artist in so many ways. And I wouldn't have started producing or you know, I've been directing and I like all and writing. I wouldn't have written my first two things and produced them. And so there's like so many good things I don't know well.

And you it's interesting to me because it Yeah, it must have been difficult, but you did choose to go back. Yeah, so there there was that was that was positive. I mean you felt at least okay enough to go back and play with them a little bit longer.

Oh yeah, because I mean again, I loved my community there. It wasn't like I wanted to go see everybody I wanted to go say hi, I was excited for the potential of this, of the story that they pitched to me, about how I would be going back, and it all felt really good, and I was feeling like I was I would getting ready to go.

Shoot my first.

Oh no, I was that one was right after I'd finished another series. I mean it was like there was a lot going on in my world that made it all feel really good to go back.

Yeah, You've talked a lot about taking on leadership roles since you left. You have, as you mentioned, You've written, You've produced Start, You've done some directing Reindeer Games, Homecoming, you also wrote a cowboy Christmas romance with Lifetime, and so you've enjoyed being on that side of it and developing your own material. Yeah.

Absolutely.

I just feel like this, this industry is so we have absolutely no control. We There's there's nothing. I could sit and wait for my agent to call. I could sit and wait for an appointment. I can sit and wait to see if the tape I sent out was watched by anyone or not. You can throw it into

To me.

You also produced some rather dramatic dark material in the years since you left, most recently How She Caught a Killer. Is there something about that dark material that is attractive to you? The right thing?

Yeah, No, it's it's interesting.

I'm I'm interested in the human experience of like seeing the glimmers of light in the midst of darkness.

I don't.

I do love the like the feel good stuff that makes me really happy put smiles on people's faces. But even the stuff that I write that is feel good always has to have like a like a well of depths underneath of like we're really sorting some grief out or some family drama out or something, because.

That's what I feel like life is. For How She Caught a Killer.

I loved it so much because it was about a woman seeing a community of women that were usually forgotten. So these sex workers who people dehumanize at every turn, right, and this cop being like we're not doing enough. This is an important community of people. These are human beings, these are women with lives, and I will do whatever it takes to bring this killer to justice. And that to me felt very in line with the things that that that draw me to material. It's like, where's the

Just we are.

Constantly holding pain and hope, and you can you can allow the hope to win. You can force yourself to see the light, or you can stay in the pain and the anger and the cynicism. I like to find I like to be like hunting for the hope even when.

Things are blackest. So that's that's what drew me to that specific story.

That's awesome. Yeah, I mean that, I mean that's truly what for me. It's all about using art to ask questions, not preach, but ask questions and shine lights little lights in places that people don't necessarily go to that often. So good for you. You have breaking news here on the podcast. A new movie coming out this month, premiering very shortly here in late April, branching out a new Hallmark movie you're starring in. Tell me a little bit about this movie and why you're excited about it.

I love this one.

It is a story about a single mom and her daughter, and she became pregnant through IVF. Doesn't have a partner, never had a partner, but wanted to make a family and so yeah, so she so she made her family. When her daughter's nine, she has an assignment to make a family tree and she goes home and she's like, who's in my tree?

I feel like we're just a log. What is our family? What is the tree?

And so we wind up going doing genetic registry to try and find because she's too young to get the name of the person who's the donor for IVF. So we wind up finding the family and it's this beautiful, vibrant, large Mexican family who just want to embrace these these two humans and like envelop them into this this beautiful, chaotic new group of people to love. So it's really a wonderful story.

And then there's a love story that happens, of course through the donor and the mom.

But but but the biggest love story is the story between the daughter finding this this guy who's just a he was a donor, and then they fall in love. They love each other, they just adore each other from the first moment. And for me, it's a story about how there are a million different ways to make a family and and the and the great joy of pulling people into your experience and choosing your family. Doesn't have to be genetic. It doesn't have to be what you

Yeah. I mean the log line is, uh, a journey of trust, love and discovering the meaning of family. And you know, I mean, look, there was a show called Modern Family that I remember quite well as well. Yeah, that that redefining what family means and and and it sounds like the search for not just your daughter, but the search for sort of defining what family is is.

Uh.

It is a powerful message and I I I, Hey, look, I want all of the best for you, so check it out. Branching out Hall March.

I'm also yes, I've also got my I directed a radio play that is out right now with LA Theater Works. It's called The Fever syndrome. Yes, it's called Fever Syndrome, and it's actually starring My Gray's Anatomy co star Kelly McCreary. She's playing a really fantastic role in it. It's a great it's Hugo Armstrong, Seamus Dever, Patrick Husinger, Kelly McCreary, Matthew Floyd Miller, Deshaun k Terry, and Joanne Whaley. And they're all in this awesome, meaty family drama that I got to direct.

That's out now.

Yeah, I have such a blast doing that one. But you can go to la la tw dot org and search fever Syndrome and you can download it for like five.

Bucks la tw dot org. Check it out. I mean, look, I mean, the only real question that I have for you is, I mean, you haven't called me to do anything. I mean, here's what it feels like. This relationship is one sided. I call you, I call you, you don't call me. This is really okay. Well, I mean that's where I feel like we're at right now.

I'm writing a role for you in my head as we speak.

I feel like the relationship is very one sided. Sarah, Thank you, thank you so much for being so generous with your time. I know you're very busy. Congratulations on well everything that you have accomplished, and uh and and what's to come next. I'm gonna be watching. I promise you that so much.

It's so fun to chat with you. This was such a blast.

Thanks Brian, Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Sarah, Thank you, Sarah. It was so great to talk to you and to get to know you. Listeners check out Ranching Out, starring My new Friend and Yours Sarah Drew, coming out April twenty seventh on Hallmark Channel. Thank you all for joining us. I'm going to be back next week with another guest, another guest who also could be a doctor. Until then, have a wonderful week. Off the Beat is hosted and executive produced by me Ryan Baumgartner,