215: Boom Goes the Dynamite w/ Sam Page

Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of shondaland Audio in partnership with Iheartradiots.

And Katie.

Gee.

Katie's wearying of all black. You look fire in a black T shirt.

Listen. I Oh, I feel like n of my wardrobe is black?

Really?

Oh for sure, I have like a like five gray T shirts, a couple of white ones, and the rest are all black.

But I'm also you should I can't.

You can't see it now, but I'm wearing these shorts that say vegan meat on me.

On your dog.

Oh, I just only a little bit of your happy trail and a little bit of your cute stomach.

It's so cute. You're the cutest.

I actually think more so than just plain black T shirts are white or gray, I think you have the biggest collection of T shirts I've ever seen that say like cool.

Oh yeah, yeah yeah. Do you know what's funny? A fun fact is that when we first started doing our fittings for wardrobe for Scandal, I remember speaking with Lin Paula, who's our amazing wardrobe person, and we were gonna go the graphic tea route like it was good. Huck was gonna wear all graphic like teas that said same pictures.

I don't know.

I don't know, but I think it was a smart move not to go that way, because it sort of gave him this comedic edge that I don't think we really wanted for Huck. So we kind of, you know, steered away from that. And I love that we went with the flannels. You know, we wore fucking are we were fucking well.

Thank god that Quinn moved away from the sausage skirts and the fucking button down and the spanks and like.

All that kind of shit.

Right, did you.

Ever have you ever tried man spanks?

No? I haven't, I haven't, but yeah, you wear him like on your torso, right.

Yeah, they're like like a cinsure. They're like the Kardashian cinsure for dudes.

I feel like that would fuck with my ego. I feel like I just I would rather suck in my stomach.

I'm not wearing the.

Fucking mass banks on my torso. Even though I got to by that ship well.

Someone to remain nameless and hasn't come on as a guest yet.

I know, exactly tell me whars.

Man spanks like on the fucking regular, and I'm going to out his ass on this podcast.

I probably wouldn't care.

He probably wouldn't care care, he wouldn't care.

But give anyone who's listening to this podcast one hundred dollars if you tweet or instagram message us and guess who you think of the scandal.

Where's the man's spank?

Family wears man spank?

You know how I found out, Katie that he wore him because every time I would hug him, I'd be like, what the fuck is this myrtle shit? This motherfucker's worried. You could feel it.

You know.

Yeah, you hug him and you feel like he's wearing like a scuba suit underneath.

His T shirt. Like it feels like a like a condom. It feels like a.

Yeah, it's like a body condom.

Body condom under his T shirts. Have you you've done drag before?

Yeah?

I have? Yeah, Yeah, I did drag.

One of my first movies was a movie called Stonewall, based on the nineteen sixty rights.

Yeah, most amazing indie film.

I remember.

They didn't even put me in drag till like God on God on set, which is crazy?

Was that your craze? Imemver being in drag or you would like fucked around.

In your own Oh, that was my first time ever being in drag. I mean I did a fitting and stuff before the film, but when you really saw me all put together, it was a first day on. But you know, indie films, we didn't have the money to do camera test or none of that shit.

No, And did you like it?

I did like it. I loved it. I loved it.

I remember, yo, it was so funny because you know, I'm quite hairy, so I remember I was still living at home at the time.

You know what your body hair is nice?

Yeah, it's not too too it's darker. Yeah, it's exactly.

Coarse or like wiry. It's actually like kind of soft.

Yeah yeah yeah, but yo, Katie, I remember being in the getting in the.

Bathtub because I still lived at home.

Yeah, in Washington nights and my mother helping me shave my body.

Is that great? It was so sweet?

Yeah?

Yeah, anyway, so itchy, Oh it was terrible. Yeah. Yeah, you get your.

Own hairs and of crazy. Yeah, oh my god.

And Dragon was the best. It was. It was so much fun.

You also love drag queens. I mean I feel like you and Mikey like and your friends. You are very supportive of the drive world out here in La which is I mean, the makeup skills and the Oh I don't think I've ever had to dress up like a guy.

No, that would be Katie, thank you.

Like full on suit with like a little mustag and your hair comb to the side.

I would.

I feel like I'm just too round faced, Like I think I would need to have more with jawline or something.

No, well, you could get the facial hair glued on your face and that she will you know what I mean, square.

Your jaw off in your face.

I've never had to do that.

Do it.

Let's do it, let's candle podcasts. Yes, it will be Yeah, everyone.

Listening Gearmo not a shock or Gamo's favorite holiday and the entire world is Halloween.

Halloween, Halloween.

Wait, my mother's calling me. Hold on, I just have to tell her what Hey, Mom, are you okay?

Oh? Yeah, no, I'm good. I'm just in the middle of a podcast record with Ghermo.

I Love you by.

She said she's a all fuck.

No, she said, my mom.

Says fuck all the time. But I was like, Mom, are you okay? Because when she calls me multiple times. I just jumped the fucking nightmare. Yeah, and of course I pick up.

She goes, no, I'm checking on you. Yeah, you have to.

This is my mother. Ever, I mean, she already called me be fucking voicemails. She's neurotic, and this is where I get it from. It is not my fault. Generational anxiety is not my fault.

Oh, it's the worst my dad person in the world.

Read worry at all time. If she calls me more than once, I've assumed you're like someone's like someone's in the hospital. Yes, and it's ridiculous.

Yeah.

But she also says to me, if I go twenty four hours without picking up a phone and calling or she lends me, she sends me an email or a text, and she says, if I don't hear from you within the next twenty four hours, I'm calling the police.

No way. I love her so much.

I'm like, oh my god, how am I not supposed to be anxious?

This is the person's looking good. I don't know what age she is, but she looks fucking amazing.

She's sixty seven and she's never done anything.

Wow, it's all that yoga. I mean she does that yoga hardcore right woo.

Yeah, Okay, we've got it. We've got a wild guest coming on today that.

I actually don't know what all. Okay, we have and gladiators. We have a fucking left out of left field guild.

Guess is a perfect description. I listen.

I first, hot, fucking hot. I first was introduced to his fond ass and amazing work on All My Children, because he did a little stint on All My Children, y'all.

He did a great act.

Yes he's a crazed shepherd. But let me rattle off a few of his credits. A Shark, an amazing TV show, Gray's Anatomy, Unbreakable, Kimmy Schmidt, House of Cards, was Connor Ellis on House of Cards, mad Man, he was on mad Men, Gossip Girl.

God Gossip, These dudes that has just been on everything and Katie.

He was in a show called American Dreams with Tom Verica. Oh that's right, yes, yes, yes, he's a.

Dream boat and he's a fucking talent and he is not a scandal like. Sadly for us, he was not like a major recurring And I don't know why. Gierma was like we got to get this guy on this episode.

And I'm a fan that you did that.

We started doing this more just like the rock star guest stars.

Yeah, well his work is so good in this episode. He's so good.

It's so good.

Yeah.

His name his name is even hot? Yeah, like his name is even hot? Is yes today? For all you freaking awesome gladiators? Is the one, the one, the only same?

Sam Page? What's up to?

Sam Page?

Sam Paige? What what a site for? Sorry?

He's fucking younger right now than you did twenty five years ago when we did this damn show?

What the hell is happening?

This dream boat who looks the way he does and can act the way he does, and is Benjamin Button?

Because you look younger than you do? What? What are you doing? What do you do?

What is it?

What's the secret?

I think since I since the episode when we all work together, I've had four kids, you.

Should look old as fuck, like ay drained?

No, But I've been eating their food mostly. I just subsists off of whatever is left on their plate. So I think maybe kid's food keeps you young.

That's so, it's because you're running around. It's because you're absolutely running around, like a top.

Yeah.

Oh my goodness.

But Sam, I'm so happy for you because if it is, if it is what's making you look the way you do and act the way you do, then maybe have.

A couple more.

Yeah, like just keep you had sort of been on the Shondaaland and you had been in the Shondaland space before Scandal, like you had been on Grays or I'd been.

I'd never been on Grades. I had auditioned a bunch, so I mean maybe they had watched enough footage of me to cobble together a couple episodes, But then you put it.

Have you not been on Grazing out of Me?

Now?

I just finished I just did the last four episodes this season.

Yeah yeah yeah, wow Sam.

Yeah, because when I when I saw your stuff, it said twenty twenty three, and I was like, oh shit, he was just on Grays like.

You did a little arc there right?

Yeah?

Wait? Sam?

Did you did you audition for Scandal? How did you book Scandal?

Doing a couple you know, notable things and they locked me in for that one?

You did House of Cards too?

House of Cards?

That's two great?

How did you become an actor? Tell us your origin story? How did this become a thing.

Well, I was in I played baseball in college and we didn't really have a film study class.

There was kind of a where did you go to college?

Dowent to Princeton.

Oh my god, get here, go away.

You're not allowed to have all of these things.

Wait?

Wait are you okay?

Was like, what is I was just I dropped as butt.

Drop one of my notes because I got so excited because I I know, Sam, I want you to tell our listeners about He earned a BA in ecology and evolutionary biology and he is theater.

This is such a fun little thing. Tell me if this is true.

He for his senior thesis, he wrote about the mating habits of a female mosquitofish and it was published in a science journal.

Right, Sam, that's true.

Sam Paige, I don't. So why did you become an actor when you could do all these other things?

That was so I chose by I kind of knew that I wanted to do acting. Like freshman year, I wasn't loving school. I was sick.

I grew up in Milwaukee. I was like a public school kid.

I got I went to Princeton to play baseball and just kind of figure out, and then I kind of was homesick and felt really out of place. It seemed to me like everybody knew each other when they got there and had already.

Like so many kids also at a school like that went to like prep school and had like.

A year of course.

So I was like, so I thought about transferring, and you thought, you know, I'd really like to transfer to like a film school.

That would be it.

And then and then, you know, I thought about it, and I said, you know what, No, if I leave here, I'm always going to wonder what would happen if I had just gutted it out, and it wouldn't be just knowing myself.

That wouldn't be a good feeling, I thought. And I could do film school as graduate work.

So what happens when you call your family and say, record scratch right, I want to be an actor?

A well, I so I didn't just call up and say, hey, thanks for the you know, insanely expensive education.

Now I'm going to go be an actor. I said, okay.

You know, I looked at what I achieved in college and graduating, getting okay grades, getting a published a thesis, and doing that all that. I never actually at the onset or at the outset, thought oh I can do this. I thought, oh my god, I'll do this for like a year and.

Then I'll transfer somewhere where I can actually.

Graduate and had some success and thought, okay, I did that without.

Any real passion, any real like direction, just like to.

Get the work done. Now, I kind of have no idea what my own limitations are. I have to the only way to get the value out of what my parents have given me in this education is to apply that to a dream, like, really think big, and what do I want to do most? What do I want to do where if I had to work under hard conditions for the rest of my life and not really be allowed to higher Like what would that be that I could still enjoy that that I would want to

Right?

And acting was kind of a no brainer. It was I always kind of wanted to I have.

That too, God damn it. It's like it's oh God, it's like I can't do it anything.

So I was always really excited. I couldn't wait to get into classes and tried a bunch of different ones and really really loved it.

I mean, there's always something I look forward to the most every week, and I've actually liked to get be in classes whenever.

Katie does that too.

I'm in class right now.

It's great.

It's great. It's like going to the gymney.

Yeah, I need to go.

We will be back with more after the break.

We're talking about episode two fifteen, which was called Boom Goes the Dynamite, which aired on February twenty first into the thirteen.

It was written by Jenna Bans and it.

Was directed by Randy Zisk Do you remember Randy zisk Oh?

I remember him?

I do, but I don't really have I don't have like moments of him from this episode, but I remember loving.

Working with him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The guest stars were Scott Foley as Jake Ballard, Kurt Fuller is Great in Osborne, the CIA director, ma Jana Tova as Molly Ackerman, Jay Renee Penya as Louise the President Secretary.

Joe Holt is the Secretary of Defend.

Troy Vincent is the National Security Advisor, Jay Jackson as the news anchor, Erica Schaeffer as TV anchor Eric maybe is.

Who we love.

I love Eric Maybe He's great.

Yeah, as Senator Peter Caldwell and Sam Page as Congressman Will Calledwell and Lisa Sheridan as Marion Calledwell.

And then real quick in Scandal Pace, we're going to read what happens so our listeners can maybe jog their memory. David turns to Popa associates what he thinks he's being followed, and his things deepen with Jake Ballard that he's surprisingly close to fits awkward.

Meanwhile fits his face with a delicate hostage situation is he's unsure who he can trust.

Olivia and the OPA team become high powered matchmakers for Peter Caldwell, an up and coming politician who is secretly in love with his brother's wife.

Oh shit.

Cyrus tries to find ways to make it back into fits as Good grace As, while Melly thwarts his every attempt. But Cyrus has the last laugh when he flips the tables by tricking Melly into openly talking about the President's business or porter.

As.

Just as Fitz picks up on a potential flirt Mance, I love the race word, Let's say it again? And Justice Fitz picks up on a potential flirt maance that Olivia is involved with, and we learn who the mole is. It's CIA director Osbourne, or at least we think it is. Okay, So, Sam, you did an audition for this part. You freaking nailed it. We It's one of these episodes where I love because it's sort of like case of the Week.

We get back into the.

Like boom boomp bump bom bomp bump bump bump bump bum bum bum, like we get back into the Stevie wonder. Let's have the all the people at OPA work on this case, and Olivia has been hired to help you win the race for governor, and no one you're so lined up to win it, except no one can believe that your dream boat face has been single for ten years, so everyone just assumes your gang.

Yeah, I don't go out, I don't date, I don't see anybody's.

Guess because you're getting it close to home.

Yeah, and we have.

This amazing like like this parallel show where you know, Carrie. One of my favorite scenes in the episode is that Olivia has a big speech.

To you your daughter where she's.

In the garden where She's like, like, don't do this, Like I've been the side piece for a million years and the one that missed all the Christmases and misses getting to have like a public love. Because she's obviously talking about her own situation with Fitz. Yeah, and it's the thing that puts you over the edge to say, like, fine, set me up with a with a political marriage gay Sam.

Had you worked with Eric maybeas before Eric? Maybeas plays a senior?

I met him, i'd met him before I have different auditions. We were kind of always in the same waiting room, and we see each other around all the time, especially when I'm up and when I love in Vancouver shooting, because he's always up there.

No way, he's so wonderful.

Then he's great.

Yeah's you made a great pair of brothers, truly, Like it was really, really wonderful. Oh, I'm so glad that your memory of working on Scandal was the location.

Remember do you.

Remember Katie and I?

You do?

Of course?

Yeah?

Which one did you like better? Which one did you like better? Me or Katie?

Well, I think I liked you both.

I think probably probably me.

It was just better when both of you guys were This podcast.

We took some ship this morning.

You did no, no, no, we did it.

We did it.

Just like.

But we didn't take any drugs. We didn't take any drugs or anything. Now it's weird. I watched this episode and I remember none of it, Like I don't know what that says about me, but like I don't like I I I vaguely remember, like, oh, this is the episode where Hawk smells really bad and we had a really good time shooting it and coming up with waves where we could walk by Hawk and be.

Like my favorite.

Like this episode is called Boom Goes the Dynamite and I renamed it stink stank stunk those scenes where you guys just repel and just like get sop.

It remind you guys all listening.

Hawk hasn't showered because in this episode he's trailing David Rosen because David Rosen feels like he's being watched and could get murdered. But it starts raining in DC and the rain brings up all this PTSD for Hawk from when he waterboarded, and Quinn has a really lovely scene.

Did you do anything to bring a scent in, like to like heavy clone on so they could at least add something to work off of.

That is such a great question. I wish I would have thought of that, But no, I didn't. I wish I would have just been like, I'm not showering this whole fucking week.

No, I'm glad you weren't method enough to do that stupid shit. No, but I like Sam's idea. It would have been hilarious if on one of the days you just did something like whether it was like a lot of after shave or like cologne.

Gone like full cab driver, it would have.

Been a really funny joke.

You missed out lost opportunity, man, But it's really funny, and you have a just to wrap that up. That scene like Gemo has such a lovely You look at Quinn and you're like I've lived in the subway, I've lived in a hole, I've done one million things. Me having an anxiety attack moment, It'll be fine and after the rain stops, I'll shower and I'll.

Be fine, right, yeah, and I won't stink no more.

Yeah, I was thinking about we were guarding. They all there's one sex scene in the episode. Oh, we should have that. See on Scandal, we always have the like death toll number of how many people have died, but we should really have the like the We have to come up with something. What it's called, Yeah, like the fuck button or something. I don't know, but Darby, Abby and and.

David Rosen have sex on the desk and it's cute. They're always cute. They're so cute.

Had you worked with Lisa Sheridan before Sam?

She played she played, uh this your your sister in law?

Right?

Yeah, you never, I've never worked with before.

She was great too. You guys had great com really good.

And you had to shoot it after lunch, After lunch, that's the biggest nightmare.

Did you eat?

Do you remember what you had for lunch? What was the lunch?

I'm sure I had the chicken.

Yeah, you did.

Why do you say it like that? Why are you sure you had chicken? Because you just needed some protein to get through it.

It's just you know, lunches, cater.

It's like, there's a chicken, there's a fish, there's a possum.

What's for chicken today?

What's your favorite food? Sam?

We love food.

My favorite food. I love a shrink cocktail.

I love shrink.

I know, were you nervous to work with Carrie?

Yes? Absolutely, and then and then up until they said action, I was increasingly nervous because I saw just.

In the rehearsals, like.

The megawattage that comes off of her, and on top of that, how talented she is and how hard she works and how hard her job is. And when she's when she's firing on all those cylinders, when it's game.

Time, it's sucked up.

It's intense.

It's amazing.

She's wildly impressive. Also the most beautiful looking creature.

It's distracting.

It's like I can't even sometimes I like when I'm we're, you know, just hanging out as regular friends, I'm like.

Whoa, whoa?

Like this is insane, Like you look different than regular people. You're like she you know, I think when the Great Reset happens and all the aliens make themselves known, she will be one of them. She just is too smart, too pretty. I'm like, you are operating on.

A whole other sh She's really good about going incognito though, because I bumped into her at Whole Foods like five years ago and she was like hi, And I was like, girl, who is this little nerd girl talking about like yeah, And I was like, uh, Carrie, Yeah, she looked like a little nerd.

Watching this watching this episode.

I couldn't believe how young she looked.

Yeah, she was exactly like you said.

That dress claps all around for Lynn Powelo, because she wears this dress in this episode. That's this white dress that has these like black kind of cut out triangles of these sequence right pointing like arrows to the boobies and she looks inaty.

Do you know who the designer is? It's it's Escotta. Escotta is is It's an Escotta gown?

You know.

I just like there's something about I'm doing this podcasts with him. He just he does a lot of research behind the scenes, he really does, and it's so it's so admirable. He spends time like really because he cares and it brings me such joy that he knows who that designer is or he knows all your credits.

He works so hard and I just don't do that.

And I apologize to all the gladiators, but thank god, Ghirmo's the coache.

Glynn is on the record for saying that she chose that dress because lives life. Her life and her loves are in turmoil in this episode, and that's why the dress is black and white, you know what I mean, because it's sort of you know, those two opposing colors, and yeah, so she thought about it.

That's wow.

Come on, I'm not surprised to hear that, because that was one of my big takeaways from working on the show and working with you guys, was how thoughtful everybody was there and how hard everybody's working to bring their best to the show. It was it was such an impressive environment.

It was so cool to think, Oh, this is what it takes to have a hit show.

And you know what's really cool is and I always tell people when they asked, what was it like when

Like, yeah, we're on a hit show.

Now this is this feels good? Like God, I love it.

It was it was you're right because this is episode this is episode number to fifteen, so this is like you're exactly right.

This is exactly when it sort.

Of like it landed.

Yeah, it hit, it had it had hit. Now, wait, were we better of a cast than mad Men?

Yes, we'll be right back. Guys.

Were you at our table read for this episode?

Oh?

You were?

And I think I was.

I met Shonda at the table read and.

Didn't know it was Shonda because I was.

My head was spinning and I knew I knew Verica because we had worked together.

I was so excited.

I was looking for Tom and I and I think I saw him, and then Shanda came up to introduce herself and I was like Hi, nice to meet you.

But she didn't say Hi, I'm Shonda.

She said hi Sam, welcome and no should she is.

I said that, but I was.

Like, oh, hi, a, it's nice to meet things.

And I wasn't as probably gracious as I would otherwise.

And then I.

Think later on at at in that same table read, I realized, oh no, I.

Really Shonda rhymes that's Shonda, and.

Then I should have kissed the rain didn't and.

I never worked for her until until uh grace came.

Probably why.

That's probably why I don't want to see his face ever again.

Missed opportunity. No, that's not why.

Yes, that was I was at the table reading.

It was okay, well we have to I know, we only we don't want to take up too much of your time, but we have to read a few fun facts. Let's do it, which is, while talking with Jake, Fitz mentions the swim team and starts to take a drink with his left hand, and after a very brief reaction shot on Jake, the camera cuts back to Fitz drinking with his right.

I didn't even notice it until I read it.

And another fun fact. Olivia gives a similar lecture to will Caldwell that she gave to Anna Gordon in the second episode of season two, The Other Woman.

Oh yeah, that's true. I kind of remember that.

G D you.

I figured out a fun fact too.

I remember shooting this episode and the scenes where they're vetting fake wives for your character Sam. There's a scene with a teacher on a playground and there are these these kids playing, and Verica's son is in that playground scene, and I remember.

Remember that he's you know, he's like he's a teenager now, like he's like almost six feet or whatever. And they live in London because runs all of Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte and basically, yeah, he moved his whole family London.

Yep. And the other fun fact is that lives gown is an Ascata. Sorry but we said that.

I didn't get that. I'm not I'm not on Twitter, but I am on Instagram.

We read some tweets at the time because at the time we were at I'm in viewing and tweeting every single episode. Yeah on Thursday nights. Let's see if anyone tweeted about you and your performances.

Oh, somebody did, Yeah, they did.

Someone did.

Anom mom mood.

Wow, Katie, get it together. I can't really see this anam mom mood. On February twenty second, tweeted, the Caldwell brothers are really hot multiple exclamation points hashtag candle and we agree with you and I'm let's.

See, wrote Miss Royal Royally.

On February twenty second, twenty thirteen, she tweeted, my baby Huck gotta take a bath hashtag scandal can't You're not wrong?

All yes, and as mids Virtuous also tweeted what's wrong with Hank hashtag scandal yeah.

And Chris Cooper Chris Cooper tweeted, so Fitz has old dude watching Olivia hashtag scandal she's talking about Jake yep, yeah he does, thank god.

And then someone parked behind at Lynn with no E tweeted, look who I parked behind hashtag scannal And it's a picture of a Maryland license plate of a black, beautiful BMW whose license plate is fit.

Wow. So you were right, Sam Page, our show was taking off if someone or maybe that's just their personal fucking nickname.

This dude.

Nelson Bronco tweeted, I want to be Olivia Pope when I grow up, don't y'all?

Yes, C two Esque c C Kpers tweeted at Kuana Rights the Scandal team of actors slash producers have really done a fantastic job of engaging fans. They created a Community's so nice.

When you guys were live tweeting. That was kind of the first time I'd ever been around anything like that.

I mean that was when shows going to cast crazy.

Started live tweeting, right, Yeah, I've tried that before. Man, that's exhausting. It feels like you're it feels like you're swinging at a pinata for an hour straight and they're hitting it.

I used to go to bed on Thursday nights and my eyes were like cross eye, my brain, my thumbs were sore. I was like trying to have my brain firing on all cylinders. We would do it from set, if we were on set.

I mean, it was we knew it was what was make what was engaging the fans, and it was like making the show even more and more popular. So we were like, we gotta fucking commit to this and do it like really well.

Yeah, next up, we have episode two sixteen called Top of the Hour. I can't remember what the fuck that's about the way.

We have a.

Guest that just died of ninety three factors and a bleedout on Grey's anatomy. Who's as handsome and charming and talented of a baseball player as Sam Page?

Or who's the father of form Holy?

Who?

Also? Yeah and Poppy and who can you appreciate this? Who?

What?

Two and a half weeks ago closed Carmities into with Minnesota.

How are you doing it?

I filmed a little movie, a little Christmas movie, and.

Oh my god, who produced it?

It was Mandy, Mandy Turpin.

I love Mandy. She produced the Christmas movie.

I shot there last year.

Where did you stay?

Where did you Sheridan?

Across the street from Carmody's.

Did you have a good time?

Blast? It was so much fun that everybody was always because it.

Was pretty much the same exact crew, because Mandy brought everybody back from from God.

This woman Emily Moss and.

Uh, she was great, your love interress Rachel Lee Cook.

Such a boss. It was part of she developed it. It's part of her development deal with mar Visa from she from She's all that and let me tell you she.

Is all that boss.

Like so much fun.

I loved Duluth, Minnesota so much. I thought it was so fun.

Did you bring your kids? Did you go so it's just easier?

Yeah?

Hell yeah?

And then did you go to.

The Did you go to the speakeasy underneath the Japanese restaurant?

No? How did I not know about that?

Maybe it doesn't exist anymore. Underneath the Japanese the one Japanese restaurant on the main street, the one sushi restaurant, there's a speakeasy that's opened like certain amount of times that has like good cocktails for Duluth, but great beer. I mean, did you go down to like the industrial sort of district to all the breweries and ship that was great?

There was a there's one really good restaurant right right there in the what was it called Canal Park?

Canal Park.

See, guys here giving up for Duluth, Minnesota, and you're from Milwaukee.

That's not that far.

I don't even know, six hour drive. My sister drove up while I was there.

Sam Paige, we are so lucky that you came on the podcast. We are huge fans, and now I'm such a big personal fan.

This was an unexpected delight. Yeah, this real light amazing.

I think you might be our gateway drug for like every guest star we've ever had.

Yeah, I'm the lucky one, guys, I'm the lucky one. Thank you so much.

This awesome.

My god, thank you Sam.

Beg Sam, Hey, you should just come on and co host every once in a while.

Oh my god, Sam, Thank you so so much.

Sam, You're the ship.

Thank you guys for joining us on Unpacking the Toolbox. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, share with your friends, rate, or leave us a review.

Scandal is executive produced by Sandy Bailey, Alex Alcea, Lauren Homan, Tyler Klang, and Gabrielle Collins. Our producer and editor is Vince de Johnny, with music by Chad Fisher.

Scandal is a production of ABC Signature, and you can follow along by rewatching Scandal on Hulu.

Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you subscribe to your favorite shows.