Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Hey, everybody, it's Bruce. Welcome back to the table. We are at the Sunset Tower Bar. I could not be more excited. It is a beautiful day in sunny SoCal. Are you gonna eat yeah, oh yeah, I'm gonna do like I do, my typical chop salad with chicken. Oh that's good. I love the chop sad. Yeah. Today we're having lunch with an acclaimed Broadway actor, a Tony winner, an acclaimed television star, an Emmy winner, a gentleman who has launched a podcast or our show is similar? Do

I'm Bruce Bosi and this is my podcast Table for two.

If you pulled up a chair today on Table for two, we're sitting with an incredible actor, very acclaimed actor. I'm one of the most successful television shows we all know, Modern Family, which I've a lot of questions about a Tony Winner. Yes, incredibly all around great guy. I know you Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Welcome to Table for two.

I'm so glad finally doing this. I know me too, Like we tried to do this.

Like a year ago we did. Jess and I sort of have a similar podcast going on, which is I do lunch, Jesse does dinner, and I know that the genesis for me was I believed in the romance of a meal and the intimacy of a connection and felt that in this world of podcast and zoom is, one of the things that went away was the connectivity being in the same room, which is an ask for people because it's not like they flip up their screen, but

Said it so much more elegantly than I do, and I explained mine just like the romance of it is exactly spot on.

I just feel like.

There's something about having a meal with someone your guards let down a little bit more. You know, it's a it's something you do with people you care about. So even if it's like someone I don't know so well, it does feel soon intimate that we're having a shared meal and you know, there's also the the you know, you hear us ordering our food and like you sort of get a sense of like what we're like is real people, which.

I think is interesting.

But you know, the same thing for you know, you know during the pandemic when sort of everything switched to zoom and then it kind of just stayed that way. I thought, if I'm going to do this, I want to look for a reason where like I have.

To be sitting with someone real time, and.

Like the rules of this podcast and is as you well know, like you have to be in person and you have to you must arrive at the same place and share a meal together. And it's just it's part of it's part of what makes the podcast special.

Yeah, you're right, and the like normally, like Jeff, we're at the tower and Jeff allows us to use this private space. But sometimes we're in the terrace. Yeah, and you know, and there's noise or we have the mullet king Eric behind you. It will come and you know, you know, and it's all about the interaction of again connectivity.

It's been mostly and maybe you found this too when you're when you were starting off. I mean, you have a I know, you know a lot of really incredible entertaining people, and so like I went to my own rolodext first, and so that sort of set the tone of like who was going to then come in? And you know, because I have such wonderful people who said yes so early on, like Tracy Ellis Ross and Jesse Williams and Julie Bowen and Chelsea Clinton, who's a buddy

Yeah, So you find it harder or easy?

Yeah, interesting, I find it a little harder to interview the people I know really really well.

Me too, Yeah, because you kind of sink into something. Yeah, that's and it.

Feels like weird and fraudulent to almostly be asking questions that you know the answers to.

Yeah, it's true. And you have to be careful of being too inside, right because you get too inside and the people that have pulled up the chair and I love the figurative, the idea that you and I are having lunch and there are people yes on wood that are having lunch or in their cars and they I mean, I get feedback which is like, yeah, it really wonderful.

I feel like you're fly on the wall.

The do you have. I mean it's so hard. People ask me like who are some of my favorite guests? And I never have an answer for them, just because it's all about.

The conversations that surprised you. You thought it would go one way and it ended up being a whole other conversation.

Oh that's yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think you know with Anna, who is so intimidating, so I bring her up not to be so name drop because she saw her, but she was really there was a lot of humility and there was a lot of generosity in this conversation where people are so look at her as being so stoic and some cold.

Yes.

Tom Ford was he that's his table over there, and he was very Uh, I didn't want to talk about fashion. Oh interesting, you know fashion? Was like not. You know, he wears his uniform, which is you know what you've seen him in his whole life. He's like, so, yeah, you know with the nuances of what you know, but nothing stands out. It's all a bo right blur, like from blur, think God were recording me exactly. So you born and raised in Albuquerque.

Yeah, well no, I was born in Montana. But the yeah, I only lived in Montana for the first year of my life.

It's so funny, I said to Brian two nights ago, to Montana. It's great, beautiful. I hadn't been there since I was born.

And then my dad threw his seventieth birthday party there in Missoli, Montana, which is the town I was born in, and so I I went to that. That was That's the basically the first time I got to experience Montana and it's gorgeous.

It's beautiful. Yeah. So Albuquerque ways like I mean, it's an interesting journey from Albuquerque to eventually being on Broadway, Like, that's not how did that?

How did you traverse that?

Well? I mean I became when I was young. I found a lot of comfort in theater. I didn't have a lot of a lot of friends at school, and I found my people to be, you know, the artistic types. And there was no big theater program or there was really the zero theater program in my grade school and also my high school, and so I had to look

But so because you said safe place, which made me want to you know, because I certainly didn't either, but I certainly knew I was different. And the other kids who have this like ability to sense things and be mean, yeah, you I they sense they since and they they're the ones that would tell me like, oh you're gay, right and an usually not nice.

Way, usually usually followed by get them right.

Well, you know you're so self conscious. Yeah, I don't understand that.

Age when you're self conscious about everything, right, so you don't want to get called out for anything, right, So uh yeah, when I say safe space, I think that I didn't realize even what I was trying to be safe from, but it just felt like more secure around these people. And that's I think that I do think that theater in that way sort of saved me, protected me. So that's why I have this great, great affinity for it, right, And it just always feels.

Like it came like your tribe. Yeah yeah, and when you went to did you get out of Albuquerque when you were going to college or you moved to New York? Right?

Yeah, I mean, I was able to go to New York when I was in high school as part of it. So I was part of a French exchange program, and it was our year to go to to like Paris and spend some time in France, like basically a month in France. And there's also an opportunity to go to New York City for like five days with my local community theater. Okay, and my parents said, you have to choose one or the other, and I chose to go to New York for five days rather than France for a month.

Wow.

I had never been to Broadway and it was just like you might watched the Tony Awards, and I had this just this like kind of a fantasy version of like what New York was in my head, and I needed to see if it was actually real because I was getting to that point where like I was going to graduate from high school at some point in the near future, and I wanted to know if that's where

And did you see do you remember what you saw? Uh huh, okay, tell me and what.

Ye yes, well it was nineteen ninety two or three, right.

You're sure? I mean literally there's a full like because I was eighty four. So the theater that was, you know, yeah.

Like the original of the Kaja Phone.

Oh yeah, I saw that, the original Dream amazing, It's incredible, the original Sweeney incredible because I grew up in Yeah, yeah, yeah, but.

I saw well.

The shows that we were scheduled to see were Fan of the Opera, Guys and Dolls with Naple Lane and Faith Prince, that incredible revival.

What else was it?

I think it was Cats and The Secret Garden.

Okay, and I think I played hooky And I didn't see Cats because it was my first night in New York and I really desperately wanted to see Falsettos, which was not on our list of shows to see from Albuquerque in Mexico. The Blue Hairs of Albuquerque, Mexican were not interested in seeing Falsettos, a quirky William Finn musical about you know, same sex couple, and I had. I was aware of it because I'd seen it on the

I mean, it's a it's a good one, and it's a great story. It says a lot about your strength too.

Yeah, it was part of that.

I felt like, I, yeah, I was afraid to ask about that show to the people who were planning this trip.

I didn't even tell my parents that thought I was going to do that. You know, I hear.

I had a free ticket to Probably show and I let it go and I spend money, with my own hard money to see something else. But I did feel like, Okay, I'm here in the city by myself. No one knows who I am. I felt comfortable and securely going up to the booth and buying a ticket for it. Almost felt like I was going into like a you know, I guess I'm like like looking at a porn magazine or something like. Yeah, I was afraid that something need to do this. Yeah, and yet it was just a Probably musical.

No. But unless it's the same feeling, especially because of the subject matter of the show, I think that made it makes it seem like you were doing something maybe you are you hide I was hiding a little bit, yeah, you know, and that's brave.

Yeah.

It was definitely a moment that solidified my desire to move to New York. Right, And not only that, but that show is so imprinted so much on me. Like I you know, I obviously knew who William Finn was. I was a fan of his music, but you know, I was looking through the program, I was like, oh, it's just the director James of Pine.

Oh.

He directed you know, Sending the Park with George and Into the Woods, Like these are shows that I absolutely loved. And you know, I put those two names on my dream board like people I would love to work with one day. And you know, I mean, if we fast forward a little bit, that's exactly what happened. I mean I got to work with both of them on the twenty fifth annual putin Kunty spelling basis.

Oh my god, right, you were so amazed. That was so good.

Thank you.

Did you then graduate and go and pursue the career? I should know this. She didn't know, Well, did you go to the I.

Didn't go to college.

Per se I went to. I always say I didn't take college. I got a certificate of Complete from the American Musical Dramatic Academy, which is a two year program. Okay, if had some great talent that it's come out there, yeah like you.

But yeah, you know, I auditioned for like regional theaters.

I wasn't part of the Actors Equity Association at that point. I was doing non non union work and taking whatever I could get.

Right it had it been so different now the age you were at in the nineties doing this versus where we're at now for a young person, because not only is the whole casting different because you know of representation and justifiably so you know, it's do you think could it be replicated your my experience and yeah, I mean I do social media.

Yeah, well, I mean it's also different.

I do think that there is still a deep desire to discover untapped talent and new talent and fresh talent, right which you know I was No one had hired me before, so like I was, you know, an unknown commodity, and.

Soone's actual audition the first thing I really booked.

That that sort of puts some wind in my sales was the revival of On the Town that they did the Delacorte Theater, directed by George C.

Wolf.

Yeah, of course, right, And you know, he.

Had just come off of directing Angels in America and Jelly's Last Jam and bringing the noise, bringing the funk. He was is extremely prolific. His next job is doing Gypsy with Ador McDonald on Broadway.

Wait for that.

I cannot wait for that. I mean, come on, So you know, the.

Having him sort of believe in me and give me my first big opportunity, which was also a big speaking role in On the Town. It wasn't like I was just casting the ensemble and I had never been given really much of an opportunity to even have a speaking role.

On stage, which I was fine with.

Was summer are we talking?

This is nineteen ninety seven and the show and did have transferred to Broadway in nineteen ninety eight and also bombing pretty miserably on Broadway. It ended up transferring to the Gershwin Theater, which is the large house on Broadways more.

Wicked and running successful for twenty something years.

Right, nineteen ninety nine, Yeah, gets shorted. Yeah, so that's a big break. It was a big break. That's sort of like, you're not you're not a waiter, you're working actor.

Well I was, you know at the time, I was bartending at the winter Garden Theater or Cats was playing. It's like, you know, Cats like was punishing me, Like you played hockey on us the first time, New York.

Now you're gonna have to watch the show every night.

For a year, right, you know karma, that's what they call karma. And actually I actually really do like kind of love Cats secretly. And there's production in New York right now. That's Cat's been set in the ballroom scene in New York and it is the most incredible thing I've ever seen my own. Yeah, I hope it transfers

Then he and his like dressing roommate.

Were like talking about their callbacks from the town, and someone's like, did do you even know who this is? Like, as they're putting on their cat make did you hear anything about on the town?

Do you know who got it?

And like it's one of the guys across the room was like, yeah, the bartender got it, like putting the whiskers on their.

Face, but the bartend, the bartender got it.

But then the thing is, after like I mentioned to you, I mean, it was a short run in the park. It was a few months, and then after that I didn't have a job. So I went back. I went back to the Winter Garden, I went back to like the gift shop I was working on. It's had several jobs, back to Starbucks, Like you know, I did whatever I could do to make some money. It wasn't I mean, it was a huge break and obviously people were now aware of me, and it I.

Think boomed me into other opportunities.

But I was still like in a place where I had to pay my bills.

Do you have your tribe from those years, because I find that my friends that are actors, yeah, they have that.

Yeah, I do.

You know Via Delaria who starred opposite of me and on The Town she played my girlfriend.

Can you believe that that is? Is that great? Great?

Great?

I mean this twenty one year old kid and like this forty something year old lesbian playing love interests and we had.

Such good chemistry.

Oh my god.

Well she's remained one of my very very close friends. George Wolf is still a very good friend of mine. A lot of people who are in that show, but then also other friends of mine who were up and coming actors, and you know sort of I would see auditions and become friends with them, and they're they're part of my closest friends still so to this day.

So right, yeah, that's an amazing when you're in New York now, you know, having been raised there and it's changed so much to the city and it's you know, it's still my heart. It's still my favorite place in the world. But like I see, it's like almost like I say, ghosts, but like on the corners, Like do you do you? You know, you know, like you have like now how you live. You have an apartment. You you're successful, so you live a certain way. But like, yes, when you.

The Starbucks on eighty fourth and Broadway, that's where I used to work and I walk in there and I'm like, I used to work here and like no, I'm ordering your coffee and you know it's but I always tell them it's like I used to be behind there, Like I used to work there all the time.

Yeah, all the time.

I mean when I go into the Golden Theater, which is where Falsetto's played, right, whenever I see a show in the Golden I'm like, this is where I sat right on my.

First you from that day.

I don't know if I do.

I mean, I definitely photos of me that we or right, I don't know if I have a photo of me outside of falset Know. I think I took a photo of the Marquis, photos of pigeons on that trip.

You don't watch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, right, I guess not?

You don't, don't you Like when you first saw what is this most ugly bird you've ever seen?

Was just fascinatd buy it.

I mean it's sort of like when you travel to other I mean I was just in Morocco and there's cats everywhere, and I was kicking photos of cats, like I must look like such a tourist right now.

But it was the photos of that week in.

New York, my first week, And you're ridiculous because it's just a lot of Theata marquees and pigeons.

That is you need, you need to make it back to that.

Yeah, And I think I even took a photo of like the gap because it was like, I've never seen a gap that wasn't inside the mall, like a gap that actually a butt of a sidewalk.

Cars. That's crazy, that's so funny. Yeah, because things that used impress me. Right. Thanks for joining us on Table for two. Before the break, our guest Jesse Tyler Ferguson was telling us about his journey from Albuquerque to Broadway. I'm curious to hear about some of Jesse's most interesting experiences on stage. There's nothing quite like sitting in a dark theater when the lights go down and the curtain goes up. The experience that you guys deliver.

Yeah, it's my favorite thing.

Has there ever been like when you're on stage, what's the funniest and weirdest thing that annis members are kooky? Especially like they like what I can't hear you totally anything, Any stories that you've been like, oh no.

Well, you know Take Me Out, which was the last show I did on Broadway, and they did involve a lot of male nudity. It's about a baseball team and a lot of the the scenes take place in the locker room, specifically the showers, and they're very integral scenes because it's about homophobia and masculine toxic masculinity and behave and how like someone coming out of the closet changes the whole dynamic of the locker room antics and behaviors

Life has gone.

But because I guess I just I think theaters audiences have changed so much, and and I just feel like, I just feel like such a lack of respect for what it means to be in a sacred space and a lot of you know, I mean, we did everything we could to protect his cast, but there were photos that leaked out of some of the cast members.

Of course, when Joe did it, I'm known how a phone I was taking a sneak in a.

Picture taking of they had to sneak in a whole camera.

But I think because some photos did lead the audience members that then started coming because it was a big press thing, you know. It was like they have the Tony nominations. Both Jesse Williams and myself and another cast member, Michael Oberholtzer all got nominated in the same category, and then that was immediately overshadowed by new pictures leaking out, right, And I just felt so bad for the company because

Conversations for like two minutes of nudity. And I remember.

Having to navigate that behavior amongst audiences, you know, the whistles that would have and sometimes when Jesse would walk out even fully clothed, like just on the anticipation like what's coming, and that was that was always really really rough, and I was I don't know if I ever handled

Right, Well, that's the fun of it, Yeah, in the weird way as as you know, I assume as the performer, Yeah, because each night is not going to be the same, right, and so something can go wrong, something cannot be where it's supposed to be, someone can forget the line, you can trip, you can fall, and you sort of have to figure out how to navigate this and not have necessarily the audience be sol away.

Right, right, Well, nothing's worse than when you completely go up and you don't know what's next, and there's a whole lot of God was wondering if beat or not. It's it's awful that hasn't happened to me a lot, Like personally, I'm gonna this is gonna make me like I'm gonna sound like I'm like really trying to I'm not the problems, you know what I'm saying. But there

Right.

And there's a tradition on Broadway where they record for the archives of LINC considered archives a lot of these performances and they're not available for public concention. You have to like have a reason to see them. You have to go to the library, you have to watch them in a cubicle, but they a lot of these shows are archive. You can watch incredible performances. I have lin considered library. So we who had the honor of having

And Jesse of.

Course was, you know, not too worried about it, and like there's nudity involved in this as well, and like you know that was all gonna be recorded, and like they knew that they would, everyone would be protected and the stuff and not leak. And anyway, he was walking to the theater and next door at the Saint James, Bradley Cooper was recording, was working on Maestro. They were doing scene scenes from Mestre at the Saint James Theater.

That's all you know, someone else.

But we could do a big scene between Jesse and I and Jesse completely goes up and he thinks I'm upset with him because he assumed that I'm annoyed because of we're recording this for you know.

The archives.

Sure here he is sort of like his mind goes everywhere, but like what the next line is. It's like, oh god, Jesse epsot with me, this is the recording that's gonna be the library in the middle of a scene and he's just not saying anything. He's just tail spinning right, and somehow we get back on. But it was a it was like a good forty five seconds of just pure terror for.

Both of us.

Feel like forever, forever, forever. Do you sometimes then have to sort of say, like give the hint, like say something that's not written to sort of hopefully trigger Bruce.

I went so far to my body, I don't remember what happened. I was like also like watching myself from the ceiling. I was like, what are we doing?

What are we doing? No one's talking, No one's talking.

And I think we both kind of like repeated lines a few times, like said things that we'd already said, sort of time to.

Fill the space, and and.

Jess was like rubbing his head and like, you know, it was like it was a lot of there was a lot of It was like a.

Really long I bet that's nerve wrecking. That's certainly nerve wrecking. And it's you know, my feeling is from an audience member, like the decorum that people come now, but all over life, so it's not just theater, but like how you dress. And Matthew Broderck always says this, like when you go to the theater, like who were a tie? Yeah, Like he has a very specific feeling about people that don't

I have a funny sort of Matthew though, it's like kind of that it's gonna be a little counterintuitive to.

What he just said. Okay, Oh, I was at his very.

First performance in New York of Plaza Suite and Matthew and.

I our buddies. We actually work out at the same gym sometimes we train together.

Love him left him so much. I mean, there's nobody like.

Hi, there's nothing.

So, you know, he's on the stage with his wife, the incredible Sara Juska Parker. They're in the scene and I notice Sarah looking down at his wrist, and the Plaza Suite takes place in nineteen forties, you know, at the Plaza Hotel. Matthew Broderick is wearing his Apple Watch on stage and then it starts chiming no alerts on stage, so she's just like, are you I could tell like, She's like, are you kidding me?

Right now?

He very quietly sort of takes off the watch and puts it into his you know, nineteen forties briefcase and just leaves. He can't leave the stage to them on stage, but I was like, I laughed so hard, like you were incredibly unprofessional that so he can't be exclaining too much about people not dressing right, you know what, He's wearing his Apple watch on stage for a sold out performance Applausea.

Suite, Jesse, you end up being on one of the most successful sitcoms and everyone is next level in this and that clearly the chemistry and the just connection is so real.

How did that jump happen? And when did you kind of guys realize, oh shit, we're in thing big here.

Yeah, it's you know, I never anticipated I mean, here we have. You've heard me talk so much about theater, and truly that's where I thought my career was going to stay. And I never anticipated moving to Los Angeles,

Harris, and I.

It was a great show, and I moved to LA to do that and it was canceled after a year, and I was sort of that place where I was deciding whether or not it was just going to move back to New York and you know, pick up where I left off with theater and do what I knew best, or if I was going to stick it out for a little while here and just sort of see what else.

Might come up.

And then the writers strike happened, the rider strike previous to the last one we had, and it shut down the industry just like this last one did.

And I sort of felt like I needed to see.

It through and I ended up booking a job shortly after the strike was resolved. But it was kind of in a moment of panic, and it was I think a lot of people were scrambling for work just because everyone needed to do something to take money.

And the show I ended up doing.

It was problematic because I think, first of all, it was written and created by one of my dear friends, Abraham Higabotham, who also was a writer on Modern Family, but he was a first time show runner, and I think, you know, he didn't have the ability to sort of take charge of what he wanted the show to be, and it kind of just disintegrated and it ended up being the first show canceled that year. And so I was really at a place where I was like, I think my tail has been doing my legs, like it's

I just could tell how much how much there was to mind.

From these characters, right, you know, I played and read many different gay roles, and it just felt like this was really going so much deeper under the surface than anything else IDE ever read for, or auditioned for or played. And so yeah, I went into that process obviously deeply wanting it, but kind of also feeling like I was

Yeah, the process is so now you're going to audition. Are you auditioning with different other actors to see what the couple will look like a little bit? And yeah, what was that like? And then when did you know?

You?

Guys hit? I mean the relationship between the two of you, Yeah, is amazing. And you're also playing the less sort of flame boying and he's straight and he's playing the more.

It's like, you know, yeah, how well, ironically, they would only want to see me for Cam, which was the part that Eric Ston Street ended up playing. They didn't want to see me for Mitchell, which is the well I did a play, right, So I went in an audition for Cam, but I read it as if I was from the viewpoint of Mitchell, so I think the casting within moments they realized, oh, he's in for the

I really enjoyed his take.

It was incredibly I don't know, it was so big but yet grounded at the same time. Later I found out here he was basing it off of his mother, and so it's someone that he knows so well. So even though he was completely flamboyant and was based in this like real person, it deeply cares for and it just I don't know, it just it just really clicked and it felt. It felt really it felt really right.

Yeah, you know, I don't know if he would. I don't know if he would.

Yeah.

I also can't imagine that couple with anyone else other than him.

How do you feel about that? I'm very Yeah, I feel like we can go back at a time and you kind of sounds like you came as an actor pursue a career when you didn't have to hide being gay. You could be gay and walk into the room. You go back ten years and I know people that we both know that were you know, you couldn't And so you go to Milk and you have Champagne playing Harvey Milk, right, So you know, Brian, my husband, would say the movie wouldn't have gotten made unless you had a movie star

Yeah, I mean, it's it's tricky, and I you know, every time I think about this, I don't fully know if I have all the right answers, but I mean, listen, I always, I always just reflect back upon myself. I mean, because my point of view is really the only place I can talk about this from.

Right.

I am an actor, and I want the opportunity to play roles that are not just gaying. I want to play straight part and I have played straight parts. I've played, I've played. I have played everything from like a twelve year old autistic kid and spelling bee to you know, a romantic interest in the class to half of a gay couple in modern family.

I just got to do you know.

I got to play Truman, Capodi and a reading of True you know, just just recently. I love the challenge of playing different parts. So to say only gay actors should play gay roles sort of kind of contradicts how I want people to.

Look at me.

Right.

I do think that, and I we've gotten better.

I think we are farther to go, But I think it's a lot about representation and having opportunity.

To at least cast people who have that lived experience.

I agree.

I think specifically we have a really long way to go.

All that we are getting better with a representative representation of transactors.

Yes, I'm I'm so proud.

Of my friend Jinx Monsoon who is now playing a lot of CIS roles on She's playing Mamma Morton in Chicago, she played Audrey and Little Shop of Horrors. Like that seems like that's movement forward, right, But she's not a CIS woman, right. So it's like, I do think we have to remind ourselves that we are all actors. We should be given opportunities that are not just who we are,

Right, And I think, I mean, so it is. It is a very it's still it's complicated. It is. There's a business piece to it, if you sit on one side of the room, there's an artistry piece to it. There's just a humanity piece. And I think you're right. You want to play roles. You're an actor, that's your feeling.

I also think about when they're talking about people who with some movies, I think about someone like gab Rasadabe who no one knew who she was and she comes out in this movie that absolutely blows people away. Precious, and she's incredible in it. She has an Oscar nomination. She was she had no career before that beyond like, why can't these opportunities be given to people who are part of the LGBTQ community.

Yeah, like we don't have to know who everyone is.

Yeah, welcome back to Table for two. Since his time on Modern Family, Jesse Tyler Ferguson has started a podcast, Dinner Zombie, acted in the play Take Me Out, and just released a short documentary called It's Okay about the recent drag bands in the United States.

Yeah, it's about a Drag Story Hour.

The director is David France, who directed How to Survive a Plague about the AIDS crisis, and also I worked with him on a documentary called Welcome to Chechenie about the gay purge and Checchnia, and he came to us with this idea of doing something about Drag Story Hour because it's such a hot button topic.

Yeah.

You know, there were people armed protesters outside of schools where these Drag Story Hours are being held. So we have found some kids who had never been to a drag Story out before, and we followed them and recorded their experience, and it's it's really field reporting. I mean, it's it's just we watch what happens with them. And these two brothers who we follow have both very kind of different experiences with it. The younger one is extremely open to it. The older one is a little resistant

What's the book.

The book is called It's Okay to Be Different, and it talks about everyone from like you know, some people have all their teeth and some people don't like it's all different types of Some people have two mommies, some people have one mom, some people have two dads. Some people you know, are raised by their grandparents. And it's happens to be a book that's.

That's now being banned in schools, and it's it's just like, what a part what about this book is causing so much fear in people?

Right?

And so that that happens to be the book that she leads reading.

So you hear her list reading this book, and you see these kids enraptured and engrossed and growing and learning as they're experiencing this thing. And for them it's like not even a man and address reading the book. It's like this fabulous princess with sparkles on reading this dress reading this book.

Rather and uh.

The documentary is very very simple and very quite by the way, feel like didn't see the whole Thing's right, nothing big happens, And that's what I love about it.

It's like, it's okay, is there truth to the rumor of a little reunion.

On Modern Family?

Yes?

I don't think so.

It's damn.

I mean, there was you know that I've talked about this before, but there was a spinoff written for me and Eric.

Well, I was gonna have to say, like, where's the road up? Yea, you know the fell, where's the Fonds? I mean, I mean.

There's a piece of me that sort of feels like, are we the right characters right now to you know, speaking of opening the doors for other people, letting, you know, letting other people sort of start telling me stories people make with a bit more diversity or lived experience.

I don't know.

I just don't know if Mitch and Cam or like the characters that necessarily need to be listen, I would love to explore more. I would love to do something with the entire cast. Yeah, I've been begging people to put something together. So I don't think it's for lack of interest from the cast.

I think that that is that's the show, and this is how I okay telling you. Then you have your neighbors, so like that's like you know the couple that is you know conservative, you know, but yet you know, then you have like, uh, you know, you're kind of it's like Maud, you know, you have all these different things, but and there's always some sort of message that's not like hit over the head, but you go, oh, like yeah, and then you have people like Sophia like coming to

No, I mean we the the spin off was basically based in them moving out of town to a farm. Yeah, and it is sort of like, you know, a little bit of green Acres, a little bit you know, brilliant, and especially Mitch, she's like it really is not good at this when.

He was rapped with the thing on the boat yea, yea yeah. Yeah.

So I mean it had a lot of a lot of potential. And yeah, I think you know, if there's probably one thing. I mean, Modern Family was about a family. So it's like we were mostly white. Yeah, Sophia and en Rico obviously and and Lily are exceptions. But I think you know that was a criticism that we got a lot is that it was a very white show, which you know, we weren't entirely white, we were, but

Versity.

Yes, I agree. I think that show has the capability of having a lot of diversity in the neighborhood on the farm and I love.

It, and diversity with politics too.

So yeah, anything on the horizon that a little inside skinny table for two lunch.

I just did.

I was just mentioning this Truman Capote thing I did. I did this reading of it in Tangier.

Yeah, you kept having Morocco. That's what I'm meant to say, Like, what were you doing there?

I was doing this reading of True, which is a play about Trim Capote. It's a one one man show and I did it with Rob Ashford and Tangier to benefit local chair he wanted to been being a local orphanage and we raised a lot of money.

Was really incredible, but the experience was so good. Yeah, play together.

I'm sort of now wondering if that's something that I should maybe be looking at you know.

Yes, what a great character.

Oh, when I'm going to do Shakespeare the Park next summer. Oh, you are going back.

To the delacort Okay, yes, just you know that is my favorite thing in the world and my favorite I'd look forward to it every year. So what are you going to do now?

The Delacorte Theater has been closed this past summer because there's renovation. So Oscar used to the artistic director of the Public Heada really wants to open it back up with a big bang.

So he's chosen Twelfth Night, which is a great play.

Great I saw that years ago.

Yes, with Anne Hathaway.

Maybe I almost want to say Michelle Fife for Bettle maybe a different one that was like an eighty nine.

Right, Well he attached Thus far, it's very exciting myself, the pitt in Neango, Sandra Oh and Peter dinklih God. So that's all I know of so far that I've committed to it. But that's what I'm doing next time. It's the next summer summer of twenty twenty five. Yeah, that's a big you'll see me there.

Yeah, it's gonna be a good one.

Well, this has been a true joy. Thank you for having Jesse Tyler Ferguson for having lunch with me today here. I mean just enjoy our beautiful SoCal day and I dig you digo. Thank you everyone for pulling up a shair. Thank you, thank you for pulling up a chair.

I love our lunches and never forget the romance of a meal. If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Table for two with Bruce Bosi is produced by iHeartRadio seven three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers are Bruce Bosi and Nathan King. Our supervising producer is Dylan Fagan.

Our editors are Vincent to Johnny and Cas B.

Bias.

Table for two is researched and written by Jack Sullivan. Our sound engineers are Jo B. Klein, Jess Krainich, Evan Taylor, and Jesse Funn. Our music supervisor is Randall Poster. Our talent booking is done by Jane Sarkin. Table for two Social media manager is Gracie Wiener. Special thanks to Amy Sugarman.

Uni Scherer, Kevin Yvane, Bobby Bauer, and Alison Kanter Graber.

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