Still the Place with Laura Layton, Courtney thorn Smith.
And daphnews Aniga and iHeartRadio Podcast.
Well, welcome to the Melrose Minute.
We have another.
Special guest with us this week.
We have Colin Egglesfield.
Melrose fans probably remember him from his appearance.
He was a star on the Melrose reboot in two thousand and nine.
That's how we came to know him, and that's how he came to be on The Melrose Minute.
But he is so much more beyond Melrose to share with us, and we're so happy to have him here today. Thanks for coming, Colin.
All the way from Dublin. Thank you so much for breaking the up for Yeah.
So I'm here.
My mom was born here, so I've got some roots and I'm scoping out my next retreats. So just checking out the yoga and the Somble healing and the cliffs of More and all that good stuff.
Get to hear about.
I saw that you had retreats coming up. Can you tell us about those?
Yeah?
So, you know, I kind of went on this, uh, this health and wellness journey a few years ago after being diagnosed with cancer.
At thirty two. Wow, I was actually.
Working on all my children at the time, and I had been I was planning of going to medical school.
That was what I thought I was going to be doing.
And then when I was at college at the University of Iowa, I've heard on the radio, but come to the Model Search America. You can travel the world. So I went to this thing, and next thing you knew, I was in Mulan, Italy doing runway show. Armani and Barsace and you know, the likes of you were in the crowd, and I probably waved at you and I was walking down the runway.
I wish I was in the crowd, very crowd.
I say, yeah, I mean, you do look like a Versace.
Model, Laura, right, yes, I'm always hearing a little mini version, a little miniver.
Never never was model in my like possible list of things to do.
I found myself in New York City, and you know, I'd always been kind of shy and introverted growing up. And my modeling agent started sending me on these commercial auditions and I started booking some of these things, but I was just, you know, incredibly nervous in front of the camera because I didn't have any experience. And she said why don't you take an acting class see if
you like it. So I jumped into this acting class in New York City and absolutely fell in love with it and just felt like my career trajectory was going this way instead of this way. And I ended up booking this role on all my children, and six months into my three year contract, was diagnosed with testicular cancer. And so it was like the most exciting time of my life, but also the most scary because you never think you're going to hear those words.
And when I did, I was thirty two.
You know, I'd always tried to work out and eat healthy, and so you know, it was like this, you know, it's kind of like that denial. But I had to have surgery radiation treatment, and so I hid this from everyone in my cast because at the time, it's guy stuff, it's testicular I mean, I don't want to the public to know about this stuff. And after a few weeks of of showing up on set having the radiation treatment, I just I was just feeling weak and sweaty and
just and not great. And I didn't want my my my producers and the director to think I'd gone out and was partying all night and my director came up to me and he said, you don't you don't look so good, and I just I, honestly from trying to hold it all in, I just broke down and I I just told him I I was going through this cancer experience and had radiation treatment.
And he was like, an idiot, why didn't you tell us? Like why would you hold something.
Like this in?
Yeah, this is what I guess the big reason why I now talk about it because I know how lonely it can be and how scary it can be to go through this experience on your own. And a year later the cancer came back, had to have another surgery, and so I've been pretty adamant about my checkups and early detection, so thankfully because I've been going yearly. And this is why I would say anyone out there, if you haven't seen your doctor in a.
While, get it checked out. Guys. Prostate PSA's it's an easy blood test.
Women obviously you know it's you know, breast cancer is the number one diagnosed cancer for women. So early detection can really help. And for me, thankfully now I'm fifty two, I was getting my my yearly checkups and they discovered that I had a high PSA and got a biopsy and sure enough it was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year. So I just had surgery about two months ago for process.
Again, incredible, it came back after all of these years.
Yeah, a different kind.
It is different kind, but yeah, I have to go through this now for a third time. Wow, I'm grateful and I I'm just so grateful that I've I'm here to be able to talk about this and just share this experience. So I guess in long answer to your question, Courtney, I've been trying to put together some health and wellness
support groups and it turned into these retreats. So I've got one in Scottsdale, Arizona, coming up April third through the seventh, and it's open to the public, men and women, and we do all kinds of things.
Who's it for, Colin?
Who is it for people who are ill or people? Is it also about your motivation speaking? Or is it health and wellness are all tight en er?
What is it?
Yeah, it's it's for anyone who's looking to I mean essentially anyone anyone who's looking to come to have a weekend of rejuvenation, relaxation, meet some like minded people. We have a hot whole lineup of guest speakers talking about health and wellness. We have a doctor talking about hormone therapy and hormones in general, entrepreneurs, mindfulness. I do a talk about resiliency, and I teach some communication, some corporate consultancy communication where I teach a lot of what we
learned enacting classes to corporations to improve people's communication. And so it's a weekend of coming together. We do hikings, yoga, sound bowl, healing, tai chi. We've got a dance contest on Saturday night, and we're going to be airing the it's a sneak preview screening of my next film called Where the Wind Blows on Sunday night.
Oh that's amazing.
We should go.
Amazing.
I love that you're talking about that experience when you were younger, because it's such a strange thing when we get all the embarrassment, like why would you have been embarrassed for shame? But it's as if and it's inter just because you started with I was fed, I was athletic, I did all these things as if you didn't deserve to have cancer, right, it's we sort of say, we feel like it's our fault when something like that happens,
and then we get embarrassed. But I love that they paid attention and you opened yourself up and they were so kind to you, because it's so important to be able to talk about it becau when you're hiding it anything like this, it makes it so much worse.
And it's also really incredible that you were just muscling up and just.
Like being so I can't imagine how hard that must have been to try to show up to do a job and not just any job, but a job where you have to be on camera and you're trying to like put on a good face and you're going through one of the heaviest, hardest, scariest things ever and alone, and like, it's just incredible that you were just you know, forcing yourself to try to do that and be strong and stuff.
And it's so proper where you also have to be gorgeous and do thirty pages of dialogue in a day.
That's insane that my shirt off and these scenes and both my radiation treatments. But I'll tell you one thing that really got me through it was you know with my with our acting training, having to play these roles that we do to decide who your character is and what their objective is.
I decided to just apply.
Some of that that same type of perspective to what I was going through in the sense that when you're diagnosed with something like this, a lot of the times you can allow a diagnosis or your outside circumstances dictate how you feel about it. And what I learned from our acting experience is you've got to decide who your character is so that when you walk into that audition or you walk in onto set, you're actually communicating to the world who this character is instead of being more
reactive to what your circumstances are. And so I was like, well, who do I choose to be in the face of all of this? Do I Am I going to let this defeat me and get me pressed and worried? Or can I choose to be, you know, resilient and courageous and what would Maximus do in Gladiator in this moment?
And so I started channeling some of these characteristics so much so that when I was going to Sloan Kettering Hospital every month for my checkups, I would stand outside of the building in front of you know, New York City, and I would just be like.
Are you not enginetained? And people by like, who's that crazy guy?
Like?
But just you know, you got to pondure up whatever works for you that gives you that that courage and that strength to be able to move through something so scary and disempowering.
And that's what I try to share with people.
Colin. Isn't also the part of the wellness that you're also bringing to people, also the vulnerability, also space for rest, also the other aspect because it's not a gladiator situation all the time.
Yep, yep.
It's such a good point that you bring up the after you because, especially as guys, we don't necessarily want to admit when we're struggling or when we need help. And most of the time I think we just try to make sure that we're not bothering other people or being a nuisance. But what I learned was by keeping this all to yourself, not only do you stay isolated and alone in this experience, you deny other people the opportunity to show up for.
You, to be.
Giving and supportive and to create more of these authentic friendships and bonds. And as soon as I started telling people what I was going through on all my children, Man, I've never seen so many people show up to say, Hey, do you want me to go with you to your doctor's appointments or to your radiation treatments or whatever. And
I was like, actually, that would be great. And so by sharing this and opening up, you know, you don't have to be needy in the experience, but you can confidently and from an empowered space tell people what you need and that and.
Then accept it and let it in, let the love in.
Yeah, and that creates I.
Know you talk about heart space, you talk about communication from the heart on your I was looking at some of your reels, which I love because you don't expect that from someone looking like you and having had the career and being in charge, and it was like, whoa, Wow, that's a whole other level of wisdom.
I think that you can share with people.
Wouldn't you say?
Our acting, though, has enabled us to to be more open about our feelings and our emotions, and you have to be to channel all the crap and life into our work.
Yes, yeah, but it can be a double edged sword because I think yes, we have to stay open and vulnerable for our work. But I know when I was younger and more recognizable, it was harder for me to be authentic and honest because I felt like I was maintaining this persona. And I remember when my dad was very sick and I finally allowed myself to start telling the truth about it instead of trying to maintain this persona.
And so many said, oh, I had that experience, I had that experience, that had that experience, and suddenly what was separating me? You know, I love the term, there's a term where sick as our secrets, and I would say it was as separate as separate as our secrets, right, Like we're hiding it, we're trying to maintain this and like you said, you're not giving people a chance to show up for you. But you're also not allowing yourself
to be authentic. You're separating yourself from the moment. So I'm so touched by that moment when you allowed yourself to be seen as you really were and allowed yourself to accept that help, right.
And so much of who you are and how you've handled everything that's come your way is so inspiring.
And you have been.
As long, I mean as long as I've known you, and clearly your whole life.
You're not just one thing. You were not just an actor. You were so many things.
Even while you know, while you were dealing with cancer and recovery and healing, you were always very entrepreneurial and there were so many other things that you were pursuing and that you were focused on, and you've always had other business interests, And I love that you've channeled all of those things about who you are and you're bringing your message and healing to other people, and it's just such a wonderful thing to share.
You're so cool, Colin.
You just have so many cool things going on, and you're very inspiring.
Yeah. I mean, I'm sorry you've gone through and are going through. You have gone through and are going through. But I also feel like the right person was chosen because you're turning it around and using it for good and using it to connect to people. You could use it to stay in the shame in the dark, but you're using it to step out and connect and lead the way to say you can go through it this way.
Like one of the things I've been looking at in my own life A lot is the story I tell about what's happening to me, Like there's a thing that happened, and there's a story I tell. And how I can change the story, which is what you were talking about, You sort of change your character. And I would say, I can always change the story. I don't have to say this is bad. I can say this is interesting, this is different. And you're literally utilizing this difficult thing
to connect. It's such a wonderful example for people.
Yeah, and I actually I wrote a book a few years ago called Agile Artist Life Lessons from Hollywood and Beyond. I talk about the experience of going through this cancer journey. And I actually I lived through the whole nine to eleven experience as well. I was living across the street when the planes hit and saw.
Colin and when.
The first tower fell, I was one of the people running down the street and I couldn't get back to my place for a few days. And once I did, it looked like the windows were blown in. It looked
like a bomb had blown up in my apartment. And I just I always think of that day and it always reminds me of no matter how crappier life, for your day might be going there's always someone who has something or some challenge that they're going through that may be worse than yours, or and or they were, they're not even here to be able to experience another day
to pursue their dreams and their goals. And so at twenty seven years old, when I experienced that whole thing, I'd been studying acting for a couple of years, but the idea of going out to Hollywood to pursue this crazy acting dream was like, well, who am I to think that I could do that? And after that experience, I realized the only thing that was holding me back was my fear of what other people might think, or
my fear of failure. And that experience made me realize that I feel like I had a second chance at life, and that if you ever think about if you were one of those people trapped up on the top of those towers and someone said, Okay, I'm going to give you a second chance at life, would you let anything stop you from going after.
What you care about?
Tell that person you love them, that you love them fully, you know, because tomorrow is not guaranteed. And I think that's the philosophy that's really helped me go into It's incredible a lot of the challenges that we face in life, and that at the end of the day, you know, if you're for me at least, if I'm not pursuing my goals or my dreams, and if not, if I'm not being authentic to who I who I am and pursuing purpose, I feel like why are we here? Then
you know what's what's the point? And so that's just what I've been trying to pay.
I'm going to your retreats.
You just told me I'm there.
So sts Tail is April third to seventh, and Ireland is May twenty second to twenty sixth, correct Iland. I would love to be a part of your stuff, honestly, I I that's just such an organic, amazing journey with this gift of one life that we have.
It's really amazing.
And did you decide to do these retreats because you thought it was something you'd want to do? Like, are you guessed at the retreat or are these retreats that you have organized and you've created?
So I was invited to speak at a retreat Intulu, Mexico like three years ago, and so a woman had organized it and got down there and there was yoga and steam baths and it was just an amazing few days of complete strangers coming together. By the end, you've got these authentic connections and bonds and it's spiritually and
mentally physically rejuvenating. And it was like, Man, I'd love to do this back in the States, and so I've rented an airbnb in Scottsdale now for the third year in a row, and we just we put on these events and now we're doing Ireland. So it's slowly expanding and growing. So we'd love to have you guys and host you at the next one.
That's amazing And how can people How can people sign up?
How can people find you?
Yeah, the easiest way is probably just go to my website.
It's Colin Egglesfield dot com and on the tab on the top right, there's an events tab.
You just click on the events.
And both the Scottsdale Retreat and the Ireland Retreat are right there. And you can go to my Instagram which is at Colin Eglesfield and there's some links there as well to the sites, and there's some videos from the previous retreats. And it's gonna be another amazing couple of weekends.
It sounds incredible.
It sounds it does. And you said that at the end of this upcoming retreat, you're going to share your new movie. Do you want tell us about your new movie.
Yeah. So it's called Where the Wind Blows.
It's based on a best selling novel by a woman named Carolyn Fife, and it stars a new up and coming actress, Ashley Elaine. And it's got Trevor Donovan, who I've who was actually on nine O two and oh, and he plays a guy who falls in love with Ashley, and then I played the bad guy who kidnaps their dog.
That's fun, always good to be the bad guy.
Yeah, and it's going to be very confusing for the people that you retreat, who are all bonded and they're all of and then you're gonna kidnapped.
What happened? He seems like such a good but good.
For your psyche that you're balancing.
But it was.
It's set in eighteen ninety and we shot in Montana last summer. And have you guys ever been to Montana?
Yeah?
Oh, amazing, there corgeous, a lot of time another planet kind of Yeah, it's really beautiful.
But yeah, so we've got that.
And then yeah, just last night, I just want to say, Laura, thank you for when I was working on Melrose's Place. It was right after I had gotten off All My Children and my three year contract on All my Children was not renewed, and.
I thought, well, yeah.
Everyone on the soap opera the contracts were renewed, and I played the transplanted, unaboarded fetus of Erica Caine All my Children, so.
I was.
Biological son of Ju's character. And after three years of that, my contract was not renewed and I was just like in this place of like self doubt and like, you know, my horrible actor and whatever on I when I was hired on melrose Place, I just remember you always being so gracious and so friendly, and I was intimidated at first when I first met you, but you were just so sweet, so kind, and you just made me feel so welcomed on set.
So I just want to say thank you for that.
Oh You're amazing, Colin, And I just remember thinking you were the coolest person who had so many layers and so many more things going on than just acting. You know, we were there to do this goofy show, and and we're fellow Midwesterners, you know, so I remember bonding over you being from Chicago, and you remember that I'm from Iowa City, Iowa, which is where you went to college at the U of I.
Right, So go Hawks, I mean, you know, for everybody else out.
There, and Jephane Corney, my sister is incredibly jealous that I'm getting to talk to you right now because growing up we used to watch Melose Place her and her girlfriends, and of course she had hot girlfriends.
So I was like, I watch that show would actually go to bars.
They would show them at bars, so they'd have these viewing parties and I'm like, oh my god, these girls are so hot.
Like this is.
So when you did the reboot, did it feel like was there a lot of build up? Did it feel like we're going to restart Meloy's Place, We're gonna do seven thousand episodes. It's gonna be amazing. Is that how felt?
Yeah?
Like we just won the lottery.
Yeah, wait a minute, how come people are watching like they first of we'll.
Call when I walked on that side because I did a few episodes. Did anyone point out that the pool was in the wrong direction, like my apartment conversation.
Yeah, the pool is like duh.
I mean, of course the show's not gonna you know, the pools in the wrong That was.
The real problem and killing Sydney like.
Dance member.
You know, we talk a lot about when we're doing the reboot with the rewatch. It started really slow, and I felt like the reboot it was just like crazy from the get before I even knew who anybody was, like stuff was, people were dying.
Are the hest.
It was like, Look, it's like just a couple of cool kids in an apartment complex getting to know each other, Like can we just maybe have folks on the relationships?
Like, yeah, it did start up.
You never know how a show is going to go.
How long.
I don't even remember how long that reboot lasted.
I know it was just one season, and I try.
To say thirteen episodes on our.
Yeah, may have just been thirteen sheep, yeah, and then just yeah, no more but eye one day we'll do a real one.
But you through it, and you've lived through a lot more than that. And again, I'm just going to reiterate, it's so inspiring to have someone take life and what it's given to you turn it into and stay focused on your full potential and your heart's desire and following and that giving to others and sharing who you are such a huge part of it. It's that right there is you know goals over here. So I think that's really wonderful.
You guys do the very same thing, and you know the fact that you guys are here bringing people together and providing a platform to share.
We do the really important work, Colin, and.
It also gives us an opportunity to connect and reconnect with people like you and to hear your story that you're you know so much more than just any any of the things that most people are, and your your journey's amazing and super inspiring.
I'm proud to know you, and.
I'm so glad that you got to that you were willing to come on and talk to us today.
I'm still the place, enjoy the problem.
It's so nice to meet you. Come by everybody else, you're all old friends.
But we'll see you at a retreat. Yeah, it sounds like we're going to see you in Ireland.
Yeah, beyond if you in the steam bath, that's right, go and Lauren and Laura.
Well, thanks so much for coming Colin, best buck to you, congratulations on everything and all of your healing.
Will be thinking about you and hope sees it. Bye Colin talking