If you're a fan of everything we do here at tuned In with Jim Cummings, you could support the show on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts, as well as early in ad free access to the show itself, prize drawings, and more. You'll feel the difference, so go ahead and join the tuned In family today at patreon dot com slash Jim Cummings Podcast. Do it now? How you doing out there? It's me Tigger, I am Doc Wayne Duck. It's me Bunkers keep Bobcat All right, y'all? Is it great?
Your favorite firefly you desire Hondo old knock Gud. My name is Jim Cummings and welcome to tuned In.
Welcome back, everybody to another episode of Tuned In with Jim Cummings. I'm producer Chris, joined as always by the legend himself, mister Jim Cummings. How are you doing today, sir?
Hello, Hello, very good. It's a beautiful day, wonderful day in paradise here.
Absolutely, it's a hot day out today.
Today we have a very special for you, the very talented Matt Lancer.
How are you doing today, sir?
Thank you, I'm I'm I'm well, I'm in Nashville, so it's quite hot here too. Are you guys in l a row? Oh yeah, yeah, ye humidity, so we might have your beat.
That's true, that's true. But you're in Atlanta, right, Nashville, Nashville, Nashville, Nashville.
I'm a stone's throw from James Old Taylor. Oh yeah, literally a stone's throw.
Wow, no, kid, it's funny.
It'd be a good throw.
Well yeah, yeah, good throw. Well tell him, get him stoned and tell him that.
I said, yeah, can on the on the on the string. Yeah, there you go.
They work.
Hey.
Yeah, great to have you here, man, that's that's a it's a beautiful thing. My old Star Wars clone Wars buddy.
Thank you absolutely, thank you for having me. It's an honor to an honor to be on the line with you. No, you're you're a legend.
So in my own mind, that's right, everyone's mine. Well, thanks for being here, and thank you for that.
Yeah.
We've been doing this for a while now. Lots of folks out there. We come in, we have fun and you know, nothing too, having nothing to I don't think what what politics and religion, that's about the only thing we we haven't solved.
And if you do, you know you need to go to Yeah.
Yeah, it's good luck. Yeah, yes, indeed it's great to have you man. Thank you. And you know, I was doing I was doing some research on you, and I realized that we were born not that far away from each other. I mean I saw Northeastern Ohio and I said, wait a minute, I'm from Northeastern Ohio.
You know, you know I had seen that before too, Jim. I was. I had done the google on YouTube because I'm like, I know, I've seen him in six million projects. I want to feel somewhat knowledgeable. And I saw that as well. You were born in Youngstown, is that right?
Yeah, I'm afraid so.
Yeah. So I was born in Maslin, Ohio. Which I don't know how far that is, but it can't be more than an hour an hour and a half.
Yeah it's not because it's in Ohio, right, Yeah, I understand. They play a little football there.
They play some football, that's right. Yeah, that's like one of my first memories, you know, living with Ohio. I was there until I was eight years old, and you know, the little kid NFL uniforms, like the little uniforms that was my first you know, intro to football. I had a Cleveland Brown's Bernie Cozar number nineteen. Wow, Bernie Cozar, a little jersey and helmet, and you know, I've just
sort of been a Browns fan my whole life. I'm a Falcons fan too, because I more or less grew up in Atlanta after eight years old until I was an adult. But there's something about the Browns and this nostalgia of it. My wife is actually from Akron, oh and my whole family, at least my mom's side, is actually still in Ohio and we actually own a home in the Canton area in Ohio. So unfortunately I am a Browns fan. Uh well but close. You get a choice with the Steelers though, too, right.
That's true. Yeah, well I was literally right between them, so you know, whoever was had a more winning season, that's who I went with them.
So you're a Steelers fan?
Yeah, yeah, I suppose so.
Yeah, I think the Browns had a couple of years in the history of the Browns, you know, yeah, they were good.
But definitely an Ohio State fan, how about that? So we got to get that out.
So I'm not an Ohio State fan. Yeah, because I went to Georgia and I moved there and then I actually went to University of Georgia. So I'm a bulldog guy. But my fans not bad.
Yeah, well that's not bad. Well you got it, not bad? Yeah, good for you. Ye. Well, this is interesting because it's a it's good to see you without a line of people in front of you dying for your autograph. It's kind of cool.
Don't know about that, you know, but it's fun. We go to these things and you know people now you know, Jim, we've been doing the Clone Wars. We started in like what two thousand and six, I think it came out, you know, And so now you got all these people that are mid twenties and young twenties, and they literally grew up with the show. Yes, and this show is a core part of their childhood and their memories. And so that's a lot of the people that I'm getting
at my table. I'm sure you've got a whole lifetime of characters.
But yeah, I've got too. Yeah, what I've got those kids and their parents and the parents.
Good for you. But it's it's really cool. It's really fun to have people come up and say you know, man, this was my childhood and this show meant so much and oftentimes I'm sure, as you know, it's more than just I like the shows. Yeah, it means a lot more to a lot of people in certain ways, and numerous stories that more pertain to you know, heart and life situations than just oh I like the show. Not that we don't love that as well, but it's a pretty cool and unique spot to be in.
Yeah.
I'm getting getting to kind of witness and hear these people's stories.
Yeah, yeah, oh, I agree. I agree. It's it's nice to know, and it's it's interesting over the years I've noticed doing these conventions and conferences and everything that you know, cartoon character, especially like with Winnie the Poo and everything, He's helped people get through things, get through tough times, get through you know, oh my gosh, you know, and you hear stories about Grandma's funeral and you know, God bless them, you know. And I said, well, thank you.
I'm very very grateful, and I never you know, I don't take myself seriously. I'm sure you're the same, but I take the work seriously because it means something to other people, and.
I can't imagine, you know, the stories that I get and I play, you know, in the Star Wars. It's it's an action hero and fantasy. Sure, I can't imagine the stories that you probably get with what you just said Winnie the Pooh, because Winnie the Pooh, it's he's such a kind of a soft, kind of nurturing, kind of comfort food. Yeah, he's kind of like your your pillow in your safe bed, you know what I mean.
So I can't imagine the stuff that you get. I mean, I've got people coming to me saying I can't fall asleep without Clone Wars, and I'm like, really, with all the blasters and the King, that's what puts you to sleep.
But yeah, but I can imagine that was my bed blaster.
And Winnie the Pooh was our comfort.
Yes, that's what it was, that's for sure. Well yeah, well it's always nice to know that Winnie the Pooh comforts people, because then I build up my camera and then it can go back to being a jerk. Yeah yeah, and still break even.
Yeah, you can put in your nice guy bank and then just go about your business until.
Absolutely absolutely, but again, you hear good stuff.
Absolutely.
Like I said, it's good to see you without a line of people between us.
Yeah.
And in fact, at the end, we'll have to you know, we have to make an announcement of any place that people can come and see you in the near future. And we won't tell him now because we're gonna make him late.
Wait. Yeah, okay, I have to think about it for a minute.
Anyway, Yeah, there you go.
Were you a big Star Wars fan before you got the role of Anakin?
Not really, No, I had seen Star Wars, sure, you know, I think I think my first introduction to Star Wars was because my parents weren't Star Wars people either. I didn't really come from Star Wars family. So I really think that my first Star Wars film that I saw was maybe Attack of the Clones just in my basement as a very young teenager. You know. Of course, I knew Star Wars characters through pop culture. Everyone knows Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, but I didn't know the story.
I didn't really know how it how it all came together. So no, And then once I booked the job, though, you know that, I really dug into it and it kind of became a Star Wars nerd and people know this, but but my I had Star Wars kind of a Star Wars themed wedding. My dog's name is Ahsoka.
Oh my god, dog that goes over well.
She's yeah, she's thirteen years old now and we named her Soka thirteen years ago.
So, oh my gosh.
What what's a kind of Star Wars themed wedding.
Well, we had Star Wars elements to it. We My groom's cake was the Death Star I had. I had some Clone Troopers, some great great guys from the Fible first came out to the wedding and walked in the wedding party, you know the yeah, yeah, yeah, and uh.
Those guys are cool. They're really They're a lot of fun.
They're great. They're wonderful people. They do some cool things. Yeah, and you know children's hospitals and charities and stuff like that.
They're like the New Shriners, you know, they go out and do cool stuff for people.
It's really neat make a lot of people happy. They made me yeah yeah, oh yeah, but man, yeah, it was fun. We had a little couple of Star Wars vows. I think my wife said something like you're the Obi Wan for me. No, under a you know, like a you know, they do like military swords if you're like a marine. Well, yeah, not a marine. But we had like the lightsabers, so we had party favors and people held up the lightsabers and we walked we walked out.
Oh that's cool.
Yeah, we had Star Wars elements.
I was looking around for because the five Ozho first gave me an honorary plaque for being hondo O Naka.
Yeah.
And uh, and I think we haven't packed up. I'm sorry to say, because uh, you know, we're doing a little juggling here. But but yeah, it's really great and they're into it. My gosh, these guys are dead serious. They walked through. I remember years ago I was walking through, uh,
just hanging out with Mark Hamill. It was at the San Diego San Diego Comic Con, you know, the big big mamou and uh and and these guys walk in tandem there at marching to boom boom boo boom, you know, dead dead, dead serious and Mark and I were just hanging out in the hallway. I think Tom Kenney was there.
And so anyway, Luke Skywalker, uh, you know, cat Dog and Winnie the Pooh we're all talking anyway, uh, and you hear all of a sudden they they stop dead dead in their tracks and they see Mark, and you hear, oh.
My god, Oh my god.
And then Mark goes, I gotta go, and he runs down the hall and it cracked me up because he literally ran down the hall. So we're standing there watching Luke Skywalker being shape east by storm troopers and.
I'm thinking, should have filmed it? Yeah, I wish.
I'd love to get them to recreate that, and I'm sure they'd be happy to do so, except maybe not Mark. But it's a fun world. Yeah.
We definitely have some passionate fans and that's what makes it fun though.
Yeah, oh god, yeah, yeah. They must go nuts at you over you at the conventions, and I know they do.
Sometimes sometimes no one cares a thing in the world. Oh you never know you.
I don't know about that. I don't know about that. Well, you've had a lot of people caring a lot of things in the world. We were doing some research on you, and oh my gosh, you're all over the place right you were command did Commander in Chief with Geena Davis, who I'm crazy about years ago.
Yeah, that was one of my first really really big jobs. Yeah yeah, quick, quick fun story with that, Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. I had been out in LA for a relatively short amount of time. I think it was around six months by that point, and then I booked that job. And that does not happen to people, you know, all of a sudden, I was a series regular on an ABC show with an Oscar Winner as my mom. I mean, it was wild. Had no idea what I was doing.
I mean, I tend to look back on all my work and cringe, but truly back back then, yeah, it's bad, bad, bad, But man, I'm proud to be a part of that show. And you know, I got to work with Gina of course, and Donald Sutherland to a degree. We we didn't have a lot of scenes where we had dialogue, but I was. I was in scene with him at times. Getting to watch these people work when I was so young and fresh and green. It was a lot of experience.
And yeah, well he's a great actor too. I mean on Marvel, Donald Suthams, he's wonderful.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, good for you man.
Yeah. And then that just sort of, you know, paved the way, and I ended up ended up on a lot of other really great shows with a lot of a lot of great people.
Well, you were on the cult hit, right, Heroes.
I was on Heroes. I was on Heroes before it became a hit because I think I did like episodes.
Well you probably helped make it a hit, then, how about that?
Yeah, there you go, that's the way to go. It wasn't many of the other series regular actors.
But yeah, it couldn't have been.
Yeah it was. I think I did like episode three through seven or something on that and you know it had just aired maybe.
And where did they shoot that?
They shot it in la for some reason. Yeah, the majority of my stuff was in like Valencia. We shot a lot out there. So yeah, but yeah, that was then it just sort of season two, that thing really really blew up, and you know, it really wasn't a part of it, Uh didn't. So I didn't really feel the fandom from that really, But but yeah, yeah, mmm, a lot of a lot of good stuff. I was able to do a play with Lawrence Fishburne. It was me and him and one other girl man. That was an experience.
I was going to ask you about that.
Yeah, you gotta tell us about that well, that was a play.
Uh Alfred Yuri wrote that and it was like I said, me and and Lawrence and another girl. I believe her name was Amanda McDonald. Maybe I haven't seen her in years, but uh that was really the first theater I'd really done. And then all of a sudden, I'm in and I mean one in one, one on one scenes with with Lawrence Fishburne at all?
Was that? Was that nervous.
As I nervous? Oh my god. I mean every night before I went out there, I was trying to do push ups or whatever I could do to like just try to call myself. It's one of those things with theater. And by the way, this was at the Mark Taper Form in LA. I think this might be the second largest theater in LA. I think it seats around eight hundred and of course we sold out every night. It's it's you know, Florence Fishburn's more years so and he's wonderful.
Uh So that was intimidating and scary, but it's like taking five acting classes at one time. I remember one night we had been doing it several weeks at this point, and looking back, I totally understand. But he came to my dressing room and he goes, I'm gonna throw you a curve ball tonight. I want you to hit it. I want you to hit it out of the park. And I was like, oh, no problem. And he left and I'm like, what does that mean?
Right?
Yeah, you know, but no nerves, no nerves. But looking back, I really what he was saying is I'm gonna I'm gonna do things just a little bit different. We want to keep it fresh for ourselves. And looking back, I understand it, and you know, whatever, whatever, don't remember you know specifically what he did that night, but but eventually, you know, we the words just kind of we're there, and uh, you know, you sort of ben begun to look for things to sort of go wrong to kind
of you can work with it? Yeah, can can we work through this? And one one evening we there was a scene in the kitchen where we had to open up coke bottle or something that I had to open it and the thing exploded everywhere perfect, you know, yeah, exactly, Yeah, but I remember it because you know, coke or whatever was went everywhere. We're grabbing towels out of the kitchen and we're just continuing this scene while we're the blocking is totally different than what we'd rehearsed, and it worked.
And I remember that because I was like, this is really interesting. We had to figure out how to make that thing work and we did, and no one would have known the difference.
Yeah.
Wow.
To me, that's the most exhilarating part about acting on stage is like the game within the game, that's what I call it. It's like when you've reheard something so many times that you know it like the back of your hand, but like exactly what you're talking about. The intricacies that come up with even a different inflection on something or like you mentioned, you know, different blocking. To me, that's like the most fun part about being on stage.
It's so vulnerable being on stage, right, Yeah, so vulnerable. You know, you can hide behind a microphone, you can hide behind a camera because you can just cut and then just restart. But when you're out there in front of eight hundred people on Saturday night and you've got long fish for next to you, and these people are paying good money and they're expecting to see art, and I'm just trying to survive.
You know, He's a hell of an actor. My gosh, yeah, you know, oh he really is.
And I don't think a lot of people know how good he is on stage, Like he really has a thespian background, Like he was a theater actor first and foremost. You know, obviously he got the fame from the Matrix, but he is a phenomenal actor.
When they when they use the word presence on screen or on stage, he is that. He has such a presence about him. And I haven't seen him since actually, but I kind of want to apologize just for like ruining his play.
Generous. I'm sure you're in I'm standing.
Did you did you grow up as a theater kid where you're doing plays? As a kid, I did church plays.
I went with the first time you were on stage? Can you remember that?
Well? That that the first time I was really stage? Was that the first time? But aside from yeah, I mean, aside from you know, church skits, but I don't think you can really count that. But I did not grow up. I grew up. I grew up as a sports kid. I was playing more sports and I can't kind of came from a sports family. My sister did some stage and you know, she was part of chorus and and
she did. She did some some theater when she was in high school, so I remember going to watch, but I was a part of it, not the same as being on stage, you know, so that really I really did not have a back gruned in. And I think, I feel like, maybe I still feel like this. And I have heard this before, so I get it. But a lot of times I just feel like I'm a faker, you know what I mean. I don't know how I'm doing. I'm just faking.
Care, fake it till you make it right.
I guess, I guess, But you know, it's like you feel like you're sometimes you feel like you're a phony. I mean, Jim, You've got about a million projects under your name, so I can't imagine you feel like that at any time. But but sometimes I'm like, why am I here? You know? They could cast someone away with me, you know, But I don't know. It's just it happens.
And then and then sometimes sometimes things do fall into place, and and you know, like in for example, the case of Star Wars, we've gotten great feedback Shore Wars and just me personally actually with the character of Anakin. For the most part, I I mostly get love and I'm not saying that's all me. I'm not saying that's all my performance. But I obviously like to think that I.
You know, yeah, I can contribute it to that.
Yeah, but I mean, but I but I'm I'm not just being humble. I mean, I mean obviously, like you know, being a voice actor, you are a small part of a larger Oh.
Yeah, you're that's exactly my words.
You know that the animation and the writers and the director. So I'm not just trying to be like, you know, QUI with that or what. Yeah, but but yeah, but but but response, you know, has been really wonderful and you know, as we talked about a little bit earlier, it's really impacted people in positive ways. So yeah, I don't know. I just do what I do and hopefully I get work and I try the best that I can and and commit myself to it.
And yeah, if you're a fan of everything we do here at tuned In with Jim Cummings, you could support the show on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts, as well as early in ad free access to the show itself, prize drawings, and more. You'll feel the difference, so go ahead and join the tuned in Family Today at Patreon dot com, Slash Jim Cummings podcast, Do It Now. Well, I always say that it's just such a blessing, especially for a guy like me. You know, I've said it before.
I've worked steel mills, I worked a deckhand on a riverboat, and so I'm in heaven forever. This is wait what what now? What do I get to do?
Yeah?
And it's the kind of I always said, you know, it's the kind of stuff I used to do in the shower for free. Yeah, you know, and and if they'll pay you, geez, forget it. Yep, ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. That's that's like hitting the lottery.
To me, I say the same thing, you know. With with vo especially, I feel like it's one of those things that we all have done as kids. We give voices the characters in the sandbox, and it's literally what it is.
Yeah, it's just you just.
Got to understand how to kind of commit and perform in a little bit more of a deeper way and you get paid for Yeah, but it's that's what it is.
Yeah. And I remember, you know, I did a I've done one or two, maybe maybe a half dozen workshops over the years for friends who have you know, classes or whatever. And I always think, you know, it's instincts are the best thinks, right, and if you know, if you think something in your head, because I'm ad lib a lot and it's and it's good for me because back in the day when I was doing plays, I couldn't remember the lines very well, so I had to learn to add lib otherwise you have this dead air.
And I just tell people, you know, if you you know, when it comes to advice and things like that, do the impression of your uncle or your aunt or somebody, or if you do a terrible impression, nobody knows who it is. That's a new character. And you know, all these little things can go into go into formulating and developing and fleshing out all these characters that were asked
to do. Do you have a process like when they say you know, well you're you know, I don't know if you've ever had this, but you know, we want you to play an old prospector in the eighteen seventies and east from Alabama. You know where does that take you? Well besides Alabama?
Right, I think that I tend to when it comes to voiceover. I definitely tend to. I don't think I'm probably known in the casting world as as a accent guy or a dialect guy, you know. I And I'm okay with that. I mean, obviously I'd love to work more than I do. We all do. But I would like to think that when I do perform a character that it feels like it's got a real life behind it.
And so, you know, for me, I just want to make sure that I'm that I I am, I'm bringing life in an authentic way and that I and that I'm I'm a good actor. That's my goal as far as like process goes. And kind of the same thing really for me too. On on camera, you know, they're really they're really not going to give me much of a chance for something that I couldn't sort of fit
into a mold anyway. But you know, I don't know, I mean, when it comes to on camera or really behind the mic, I guess it's just watch what's out there, watch what's out there, and imitate the great you know, and then you know, even even if that if that other actor, that other project is is just a starting canvas for you, and then you can kind of start to fill in your own colors, and I think that's
that's what I do. I always look at an audition and you know, I feel like it's my job to the painting is kind of there, which just that's sort of the dialogue and that's sort of the scene, and it's my job to paint with the colors and I can have the downs, I can I can add the the tempo, I can control. You know. It's things like that. I think I look for ways, you know, that I
can control. And I know that's maybe not quite answering the question you asked, but it's just sort of I'm just sort of going and you know, process.
And of course, yeah.
You know, I had like a we had a role on. It was a Netflix show called Jupiter's Legacy. It was a few years back, and I'm proud of the work that I did on that. It was a sort of slightly eclectic character. He was sort of a nineteen thirty sort of a playboy, kind kind of flashy.
Oh that's kind of cool.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the show was awesome. I really had Netflix had this big plan for it. Supposedly spent hundreds of millions on the IP. It was a market Killar comic which has done really well as a comic book. But we did eight eight episodes. They ended up and what was the what was the comic book that was called Jupiter's Legacy. It was okay, yeah, Jupiter's Legacy, and then the show is also called Jupiter's Legacy, and there was actually there was like a prequel comic called Jupiter's
Circle and it's a whole ip. But but anyway, for that particular audition, this kind of kind of flashy playboy. I loved what Robert Downey Jr. Was doing and as as Iron Man, as Tony Stark, you know, he's he's kind of big and loud, and so I kind of took that confidence and kind of rolled with that. You know. It's like sort of a Robert Downey Jr. And just at times incorporate the coolness of like a Harrison Ford and as Han solo or even Indiana Jones.
That's a pretty good mix.
Yeah, you can't go wrong with that mix, right, Like a Paul Newman, you know, Paul Newman. Paul Newman is one to me that I always try to draw from a little bit. He's a really interesting leading man to watch and you know, if you watch Paul Newman, to me, he always looks like he has a secret, and he's always got this like sort of kind of a smirk, kind of a smile, kind of a smirk going on, and it always looks like he's got a secret that you want to next time you watch Paul Newman, watch
you know, he looks like he's got a secret. Yeah.
I think that's always interesting. And Luke, that's for sure.
Yeah, I mean really yeah, but I kind of borrow from that too, you know. And uh, I don't know, man, I just don't.
Yeah, yeah, put it together. It's sorcery. It's a it's a recipe, and you hope and you hope it comes out half more than half baked. Yeah. Oh man, Well that's good stuff and you have done. But I was I was looking up your your your voice credits here, and you've got some pretty cool stuff here, you know what the Secret of Wings, the Ultimate Spider Man, the Justice League, and of course Star Wars, the Bad Batch
and uh you do you have any favorites? Do you like villains or heroes or you know the male man.
Well, I feel like I've had a lot of fun with the hero until he becomes the one with yea with Star Wars. But uh, yeah, I have I mean, you know, not compared to again, like someone like yourself or James Arnold Taylor, you know, legends like this. But yeah, I've had some fun with THEO. I did Ultimate Spider Man. We did that four or five seasons. And for that one I did, I was doing Flash Thompson, who's kind of the you know that bully. Yeah, just just kind
of loud in your face bully. And then for whatever reason, they had let go there Harry Osbourne, so they wanted me to do Harry Osborne. So I was doing Flash Thompson and Harry Osborne, who's he's a low key a hero friend in that show.
Yeah, and he became the Green Goblin.
He did, he did, But I didn't do Green Goblin. But I did do Agent Venom because Flash Thompson becomes Agent Venom and so that was kind of.
Fun too, wow, sort.
Of the heroic version of Venom. But yeah, I've done man, I've done little bits on Scooby Doo and yeah, Secret of the Wings, which my daughter loves that movie. That's on a lot in our house right now than your old daughter so great. It's it's one of the Disney tinker Bell movies and part of that and that's what that was. So yeah, it's it's been it's been a blast.
I mean, I really love the world of voiceover, and it's it's interesting because I feel like a lot of people, maybe especially like ten years ago, now it's a little different. People are really people are really like kind of looking at your social media and your IMDb and seeing the
thing the different projects you do. But you know, definitely ten years ago when I did like I did five seasons of nine to two and zero, and it was you know, mostly aimed at young girls, you know, and so I had I had people that had no idea that I did vo and sometimes still now people that are fans of Star Wars, fans of Anak and they have no idea that I do on camera work. Oh you know, I'm like.
Well, sure, well, Star Wars fans are rabid. You know, if you if you do anything in the Star Wars, you're in you.
Are you are? Yeah, and vice versa. You know, a lot of a lot of on camera people that know me strictly from an on camera career, I have no idea that I you know, I have done some really great voice over roles as well.
On that note, I think it's really interesting these days how you can even throw like social media into the mix, Like how many times do you come across like a profile with like millions of followers and like you've never heard of this person and it's like, oh, like they have like such a massive audience and like I've never never seen a clip of this.
Like same And I feel that way, Like I guess I'm not I'm not really a music buff kind of guy. I like music, but I couldn't name you all the bands from the seventies and I'm just not that guy. Uh But even now, I mean there's there's like artists.
That I'm oh, yeah, I can't do it now, she's got I can't do it for the seventies.
Yeah, I think I listened to like Spotify nineties for me is what it is. I'm working out. I'm listening to like, you know, I don' a Nirvana and things like that, and I'm like, yeah, don't know, I know, you know, I think it makes I feel like I'm getting older.
Oh hear tell me about it.
Well, time doesn't stop for anyone doesn't.
No, it doesn't.
But I just want to go back to your childhood for a second because I wanted this to ask this question. So you talked about you were into sports as a kid. When did you decide that you wanted to be an actor? At what point was there like a moment did you kind of dip your feet in. I know you were on the on that reality show Manhunt, and that you mentioned how that was kind of how you got your agent. You know, he saw you on that show and that
was kind of your introduction. But where was the precipice of, like, I want to be a performer.
Sure. Yeah, So I was in college and I was working with the Atlanta Braves as a bat boy, and I was also working simultaneously at a golf course as a cart guy, you know. So I'd be there at five am and get the cars ready and it was a it was a pretty nice golf course in my area in Georgia. And we had a fax come through, not anything else, not internet.
It was a fact, that's right.
We had the facts come through to our pro shop that they were looking for extras on a movie that they were doing in Atlanta. It was a golf movie called Bobby Jones Stroke of Genius. Jim Caviezel was in that as Bobby Jones.
Oh yeah.
And so they shot that thing in Atlanta, and I thought, that's amazing. And you got to keep in mind Atlanta twenty twenty five years ago, there was nothing going on. There's no industry in Atlanta like there is now. So for me, you know, growing up as a kid, that that didn't cross my mind at all. That's just that was a world I could never be a part of.
It literally didn't cross my mind. Right. I was watching things like Jurassic Park and whatever movies, but I that connection that I could be a part of it was not in my wheelhouse. And so after that facts came through, of course I went to be an extra because I thought it would be awesome. And I really that's kind of where I got bit with the bug, so to speak.
You know, I saw all the big line heights and and I think when I saw that happening in real life with my own two eyes, that's when it opened up that I was like, wait, I maybe I could be doing that. And I think that's where it became real and uh, and that's how it started and and and from that I was an extra, but I got selected to be a featured extra, which I still had no I still had no lines, no dialogue.
I was going to ask you that no any line that meant like one line.
Or no, no, not one line. But it was called featured because I played. I got to play Bobby Jones caddy for one of the tournaments. So they actually had the camera kind of close up on my face book. Oh ye, looks a couple of looks. You know, he'd miss a shot. It would be you know, you know, stuff like that. So uh and you know, we went to the Fox Theater in Atlanta with my family and it was this big premiere. And so from there I started taking some acting classes at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta.
M hm. And and then the reality show happened. And again it was a newspaper casting call and I went into this hotel, big ballroom that they were seeing a bunch of guys and really essentially that show was kind of like the America's Next Top Model, you know, the Tyra Banks Show, but it was for men. And whoever won got one hundred thousand dollars for a contract. And I mean that was un.
What were like the competitions like on that show, like what would you guys have to do?
Well, so I basically I let's see, well i'll tell you. I'll tell you. One of the competitions that I actually won was an acting competition, and so good that competition was. There was a there was a board room of fake actors that they had hired. Of course, we as the contestants on the show, we didn't know that they were not real executives. We thought they were real advertising executives for a jeans company. And so my gosh, that was
they had us doing. Of course silly things. We had our jeens, and you know they would say, well tell us, tell us why so and so should by these jeans, and we kind of had to pitch them their jeans, and you know, of course stupid things happened. They were like, well, get up on the table and do a little walk on the on the boardroom table. And I was, I was up there doing this thing, and anyway, I guess I put together, you know, in my pitch in my head, a pitch that was like a sellable pitch and kind
of sold the jeans. And so I won that competition.
Oh that's great. Yeah, but then you got a free pair of jeans.
I don't even think I got a free pair of jean Oh no. But when I got out of that, I actually I ended up getting kicked off the show and like I don't know, eighth place or something because I was too fat for a modeling show.
Wow.
And I was like, yeah, I said, you know, it's okay, I can't see that, but okay, well compared to a bunch of models, so you know, I had never done this, and so I was like, you know, it's so cool, it's right. You know. I don't know if you guys have ever seen it, but they have these exit interviews. You get kicked off, they interview you where they they hope to get some really some tears out of you and some drama. But I was like, you know, it's all right. I would rather be an actor anyway. I'm
not really a model. I don't have a model's body. I'm five ten, I'm not six two. It's perfectly fine. I'd rather be an actor. So on that show, my manager at the time happened to be He said he was playing poker one night and channels were going and he saw me say I'd rather be an actor. He found my email. I was back at the University of Georgia's you know, finishing school, and he emailed me and said, hey, I'm a manager in LA If you were serious, let
me know. And that's how we connected. And yeah, finished the semester and saved up a few grand and I drove out my car with you know.
Kill What year was that that was?
I was literally driving on December thirty, first of four, So I literally arrived like day one in.
My apartment of five, no kidding, wow, Yeah, And the rest is history.
The rest is history. I had a rough time just for a few months. I was probably think I was down to you know, the last dollar or something, and and and I ended up booking two jobs at one time. My first job was eight Simple Rules for Dating my teenage daughter with Ritter.
Oh yeah.
It was like an ABC comedy, oh yeah. And then roughly at the same exact time, I booked a recurring role on a on a Fox teen horror show called Point Pleasant. And I remember that vividly because I could afford a small Starbucks vanilla latte, and I thought I was on top of the world.
I was like, yes, I wait, you can shop at Starbuck.
Well I did. No point point being is I couldn't really afford anything. I was about to run out of my last buck. And then all of a sudden, you know, I was getting top of show, which at the time was like I don't know, fifty eight hundred dollars or something for an episode, and I did three or four episodes, and I was like, I've made it.
Oh yeah, heck yeah.
I was so naive. But but I could afford my latte.
Yeah, that's right.
I remember cruising up the four or five. We shot that thing in San Diego. I remember cruising up the four or five. I talking to my mom or my aunt on my phone, had a Starbucks, my ninety eight accuracyl and life was good.
Yeah, no doubt. Well, hey, you know, if you I think anybody who's success successful, is anybody who's working.
Hey, especially now man especially Yeah.
Yeah, because it's it's scary out there, I wouldn't be I don't. I don't think I would like to be starting out now. It would It would be a little scary.
We don't you feel that constantly? My friends and I because I have a lot of friends that are in the industry. We constantly say, we literally don't know how people make it in LA if they're not working as a doctor or a series regular on some show or something. We just I don't know how you do it. Now, I really don't. As expensive as rent prices are and food process you're working. You gotta be working three jobs just to get by, you know, if you're not always trying to get started, Well.
You can't eat at McDonald's anymore money wise. No, it's it's yeah, it's kind of scary.
You know.
We'll do these little trips on the weekends, as you know, and we'll go to convention here or there, and I'm shocked, you know, we can have dinner for four people and it's a couple hundred bucks instead of flirting with a thousand easily. Well, it's unbelievable.
I can speak to that.
You know, as a little bit younger of an actor, I kind of experience this whole like social media shift, and it's really like I feel like as an actor, you know, trying to make it, you really have to have like a whole bunch of different things going, you know, like social media. I had a clothing company selling clothing, you know, just like you got to do what you
can and just keep hustling. And then I was very fortunate, you know, to get this opportunity, you know, to produce this show with Jim, and it's just like, you know, my main app focus has always been acting, but like there's other creative aspects where I feel like you can exercise and still get that gratification, maybe in a little bit different way.
If you're a fan of everything we do here at tuned In with Jim Cummings, you could support the show on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts, as well as early in ad free access to the show itself, prize drawings, and more. You'll feel the difference, so go ahead and join the tuned In family today at patreon dot com slash Jim Cummings podcast. Do it now.
I think maybe you experienced that too with your podcast. You had a podcast with your wife, correct, the Hello Baby we did?
Yeah, yeah, this was back in twenty seventeen, which now feels like this is prior to most people having a podcast. But yeah, we we just sort of we started that one chronicling our journey as first time parents, and oh yeah, you know, I'm a bit of a tech nerd. I like my tech and my microphones and my things like that, and so back then it was a lot of fun
for me to technically set this thing up. And then we kind of just started doing this for ourselves, just sort of talking about what we were feeling, what she was feeling, what I was feeling, and I think a couple episodes in we just decided like, we're going to make this a real thing, and so we you know, got the ad placement agency and we basically, yeah, we
did an episode every week. And it's really really cool because now we can go back and listen to that, and that is so awesome and so awesome that we have that audio for my daughter to go back and listen to twenty years from now about how mom and dad were feeling in that moment, you know, because we were we were joyful, you know, we we we had prayed for her and so and actually we were you probably know, Jim, we're pregnant again right now. My wife is twenty three weeks right now.
And congratulations, well, thank you, thank you.
Yeah, we were contemplating doing the you know, another season of the podcast. We've just been so busy. You tend to be a little busier when you have children already.
Yes, that's for sure.
So we haven't gotten to record anything, but we might just kind of record, you know, a few, not not weekly, but that's what we did. And yeah, man, we're so glad we had it. And we got some really really great response off that well, off that one as well, just a lot of people saying, you know, hey, at that time in twenty seventeen, there maybe was a couple, maybe a few, a small handful of podcasts that we're
parenting and pregnancy related podcasts. Oh sure, yeah, and at that time, and it really helped a lot of people. We got a lot of comments, like, you know, because we had like overall is very healthy pregnancy, but of course we had things that happened and scarers that happened, and oh yes, as they as they do. And you know, we had people, you know, oh, we're listening along to you know whatever week nineteen and we felt the same way or my daughter had the same thing and we
had to see the doctor. And it really gave me a lot of comfort that you guys had experienced this and I could. So it was really cool in that way too.
Yeah, oh, that's beautiful. Yea, yeah, yeah, well that's a great memory.
I think a cool thing you mentioned about it was how it was like a like a journal, almost like a journal, and being able to share that in the future. And you know, I've kind of experienced that too, just in the last two years on this podcast. It's really interesting to like go back and look at like how you've developed, like even just as like an interviewer.
You know.
I know me and Jim have talked about this before because this is both our first time, you know, doing something like this, and it's really fascinating to like tweak all those little skills that you don't even necessarily think of when you're watching somebody do it, you.
Know, yeah, absolutely, it's that's that's the cool part about you know this audio and video even say performing you know, doing TV shows and movies and stuff. You look back and you know, although I'm embarrassed about it, it is fun to see progression of how I've gotten better at certain things and you know, things that I can look back and be proud about. But yeah, certainly that diary aspect of our.
Pregnancy, and you know that's beautiful, yeah, yeah, yeah, and it'll be nice for the little one too.
Absolutely, you know.
That's that's gonna be that's gonna be cute, that'll be sweet.
Could could be the most valuable ball for her.
Yeah, you mentioned she's seven now has she has she gone back yet or is still too young? Has she listened to any of them?
She hasn't listened to it. I don't even really I don't even really know that she knows we have that, but because we haven't like sat down and said, hey, listen to this. But she's she's really into, you know, going back in our phones and looking at pictures and videos of herself she was a baby and mommy was pregnant. You know, at this time, she's really really into this pregnancy now as a big sister. She's really excited about it.
You know, we have all the pregnancy apps, the bump app and all that sort of stuff, and she wants to look at it every day and you know, how big is the baby and what you know, what do you what fruit do you compare it to today? What's the size? What's developed in today? And she's been so involved in the excitement of this current pregnancy.
That she's going to be an excellent big sister.
Absolutely. Yeah, this is as much her baby as it is, you know, me and me and Mommy's baby. Oh yeah, so yeah, she's she's really really pumped to be a big sister.
Yeah.
Well I remember at that age. You know, my kids are all adults now, but I remember, you know, telling them, you know what, girls, what these are the good old days? And they go, oh, okay, And then of course eventually I'd say, you know what, girls, yeah, dad, these are the good old days. Okay. Then I go, well they will bae dang it.
Yeah, I promise you.
Yeah, you know, you don't have that perspective until you do.
Man. Man, it's uh, it's wild. Do you guys remember this song came out in nineteen ninety nine, Chris, I don't know how old you are, but and I don't remember who it was by, but it was kind of the first of its kind. It was a song, but it was a guy and he was just talking. It might have been called like sunscreen, and he was like the very it was. It was like he was talking for a couple of minutes about advice, and he was like,
where your sunscreen? You're gonna wanna wear your sunscreen? It's the most valuable thing, you know, talk to your parents and and uh, it just popped up on social media things. It reminded me of that. But yeah, but the advice is so true. Came out in nineteen ninety nine and everything applies today still. It's yeah, except the sunscreen thing, because I've seen articles that talk about sunscreen now causes cancer. You know, we can't win.
Oh yeah, so you're doomed if you do and doomed if you don't.
Yeah. I guess, so that's that's not fair.
Yeah, you know, yeah, yeah, what was it? I remember that commercial about eggs. The eggs were walking around looking at the camera, going, well, I guess we're okay for you again. You can eat us again. For a couple of years there, we weren't allowed to eat eggs because they'll kill you till you're dead. Yeah, and uh and now well we're back. You can you can have us. So I thought that was nice.
I don't understand. I don't you eat a raw egg and you could die from salmonella if you're making brownies, But then you can eat you can drink six raw eggs if you're trying to build muscle. I don't get it.
What's the Yeah, right, yeah, Rocky looked okay, he did.
All right, but yeah, yeah, clearly.
No, huh, that doesn't look like it. Yeah, that's funny. If you're a fan of everything we do here at tuned In with Jim Cummings, you could support the show on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts, as well as early in ad free access to the show itself, prize drawings, and more. You'll feel the difference, so go ahead and join the tuned In family today at patreon dot com slash Jim Cummings Podcast.
Do it now, Well, we usually do with this little game on this podcast, and it's a it's a little voice swap game. If you're interested in playing, I went on sure. It's pretty simple. So Jim will say a line of one of his characters, one of his voice characters, you know, say Winnie the Pooh, and then you'll copy that same line in one of the characters that you've voiced, and then we'll swap back and forth.
And then yeah, and then you can give me one of your line.
So no, and then this can be This could be from any vo or any on camera.
Anything you want, anything you want.
Whatever, whatever pops into your head.
Okay, and you have to preface it, which with which character it is?
Yeah, yeah, just for the audience.
Yeah, So like, for example, like we have Hondo and Anakin, so Jim would say a Hondo line, and then you'd say that Hondo line as Anakin and vice versa.
Okay, how about we start off.
With all right, there you go. I think Hondo is a good place to start. Okay, Hondo here is an actual of course, I had lived all the lines, so they're easier for me to remember. I don't think I ever said I didn't say half the words that they wrote. I did give them one as written, and then I don't know if you ever remember reading along in the script, you know, and then I would do it as it should have been. So I'll do one of my favorite ad libs that I came up with. Alright, so Hondos
was reminiscent. He said, Oh my goodness, the stories, the stories I could tell, so many of them.
True, Okay, so Anakin is really my voice in the later seasons. Yeah, a little. I'm a little deeper, a little more down in here, so it'd be a little more like, Oh my goodness, the stories I could tell about me and padme something like that.
Any of them true.
All of them are true.
The rumors are always true.
Always true, always true.
There you go, All right.
Did Anakin and Hondo ever interact in Clone Wars?
I can't recall, Jim, I don't know.
I gotta believe we did. Yeah, I mean I think so.
I don't know. You know, Anakin, I feel like he wouldn't mind tagging along. Actually, Hondo's pretty fun, So yeah, I could see Anakin wanting some adventure with Hondo. Get me, get me away from this old Obi Wan guy. He's a rule follower.
Yeah. Well, I remember one of the things that I enjoyed doing was cracking up Steve Bloom and kind of screwing up his lines because you know, he would start laughing instead of doing his line. Yeah, so that's how I knew I was onto something.
Yeah.
Did you guys ever do any sessions together while recording the Clone Wars?
I feel like we kind of entered in the booth. I just don't. I just don't don't recall if we had immediate exchange of dialogue.
Yeah, yeah, let us know in the comments. I'm sure, I'm sure they're fans will know, I'm.
Sure that is true.
We could queue up the you know, I haven't gone back and watched any of these episodes in a long long time, and I made it a point I want to go back and watch a handful of these episodes again, ones that people talk to me about often. For me, it's like the Umbara arc and there's a there's a Mortis uh Forced God Planet arc that people talk a lot about. Now I remember that pretty well, but there's
a few. But anyway, I want to go back and watch these things because I want to be able to talk with a little more Star Wars knowledge when people come.
To the table. But yeah, you have to get refreshed. Yeah, watch them or you know, because you know, people will come up to me and they'll a lot of times I told the story before those that do the word do the line? Do the line? Like I what line? Oh bother, No, the line, you know, And and it's and it was from a video game that I did a hundred years ago, and it was Go Ford the Ice Boo and it was and now I'm not going to remember the name of the damn game. Oh gosh. Anyway, we'll edit that up.
You know, what's what's interesting, though, is is is people, you know, they come up to your table and let's for example, that they're a fan of Winnie the Pooh and that's their thing, right, so they know the line, they remember these lines. But for you, you know, I'm not and I'm not saying Winnie the Pooh or even Anakin is just a job. But it's a job for us, and we've done we've done a lot of them, and we've said a lot that's the problem for a lot
of different projects. And I think I think that's something that and and I find it enduring and it's very sweet. I think people just kind of don't. I don't realize that. They don't realize that, Yeah I don't. I've been doing this for fifteen years with lines from all kinds of characters.
So yeah, yeah, oh god, they just can't.
I don't. I don't have a cue up like like you do, you know.
Like they do. Yeah, they do well, yeah, and you know, and it's very gratifying and it's wonderful that it means that much to them that it impacts them and they carry it around in their head their heart.
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, you.
Know, and it just makes me grateful. I'm sure you're in the same category.
It does it does it is? You know, yeah, it's I it feels like I'm disappointing them when I can't come up with it though, you.
Know, yeah, so yes, yeah, well what are you going to do? But yeah, man, well, I just thank you so much for being here. It's really great.
Always, it's always fun to come in and just you know, have a loose chat with others and yeah, especially in the industry. And absolutely, I know you know it's been around you for a while and it's it's true, it's truly, it's an honor to be, you know, even considered to be doing this podcast with you because, oh, thank You're an absolute legend someone I look up to.
Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, sir, it doesn't. I don't feel legendary. But I'll on the other hand, I'm well stupid.
I'll take you are You're.
Absolutely bless you, bless you, thank you, and anything you want to close with that, we should be looking forward to anything you want to talut anything.
Okay, By the time this probably comes out, I have a show coming out on Amazon Prime actually tomorrow, so oh wow, it's May twentieth is the release date, and I believe all episodes are being released. It's called Motorheads. It's a nice yeah. So for those watching, if you haven't seen it, it's I'm sure it's on there, Go to Amazon find it. It's a it's kind of a teen teen kind of coming of age television show, sort
of like we keep comparing. It's a Friday night lights meets Fast and Furious to the town laws, street racing, not football.
Wow, that's that's pretty good.
It's really cool, and the scripts were wonderful. It's the first time I'm playing a dad to a teenager and that's weird for me, but really good scripts. I saw the first two episodes and I was really impressed. It's shot really well. So you know, yeah, anyone watching, go check that out. I'm looking forward to its release. I've
mentioned James Arnold Taylor before. James and I are working on a show called Gabriel and the Guardians, and that is a It's an animated series on the Angel platform and we've released one episode and it's gotten some really great attention. It's beautiful to look at it is.
I love Angel. They're they're great people.
It's it's eye candy to look at. Performances are amazing, Christina Viz in there, Johnny Young, Bosh, myself, James and it is a show that's loosely based around a lot of ancient Hebrew text. So it's very cool, very very there's bifficult ties and connections and inspiration. I should say, if you look for it, you will find the inspiration. But in and of itself, it is a fantasy story with fantasy characters. But really proud to be a part of that one and can't wait to see more of that.
I think we've we've done six episodes. I think we're about to gear up to do the second half of the season, so maybe another six or something. I don't know. Don't don't take my word on that.
I'm just avoided good. But check out too many more. Yeah, hopefully, hopefully, hopefully. Well, I'll knock wood for you. Thank you well, thank you brother. I appreciate you being here. Thank you ever so much.
It is my pleasure, ad a blast. Thanks for having me. Yes, thank you very much. Yeah, I'll just take us, take us home. Thank you everybody, ladies and gentlemen for watching. That was another episode of Tuned in with Jim Cummings. Today we were joined by Matt Lanter. Thank you again so much for being here. If you guys like this content, be sure to like and subscribe. We really appreciate it.
It helps you out as well, find more episodes and stuff like that. Did you know on YouTube you can really watch a video and it's never recommended to you again, so be sure to like and subscribe to that doesn't happen because it's really frustrating. If you like this content even more, guess what, there's bonus content on Patreon.
That's right, Patreon members. We appreciate you all.
There's extra episodes, extended episodes, and much much more. We do contest, giveaways, all that good stuff, so be sure to check us out there. What else, Jim, Oh, you can get merchandise Jim Cummings closetm Shopify. You can get some cool T shirts, some little keychains. There's a whole bunch of good stuff. Go check that out. And I think that just about does it for today. We will see you in the next one.
Thank you.