Eric Mabius

Everybody out there, You're not ready for this exceptional human being that I love and adoor.

We're kind of batting a hundred with these guests.

I mean, but this he's sickening by the way. He looks the same, just like I do.

We have an age.

Yeah, I don't know what's going I don't know what kind of big blood y'all been drinking.

I know it's insane, it's crazy, but here he is the one.

The fucking only Eric Baby is.

Let's fucking go my baby.

Hi. I'm sorry I'm not there sitting on the couch with y'all, but this is so much.

Well, yeah, I'm devastating situation. I mean, you know, we've we've had quite a few people on. We've had Terry Weinberg, We've have been Silverman, We've had many Flana Vanessa Williams.

Goodness.

Yeah, and we are just like we are trying to truly collect as many ugly Betty alum as possible. And before we even start, this is something that we're asking every single guest, correct if we were to do a round, if when when.

We do our limited series reboot, you're coming back.

Absolutely, You're coming I mean you couldn't kick me away? Oh my goodness, are you kidding? I know, I think we've been talking about this since twenty ten.

Literally literally we have been, and it's so incredible to have you here.

You look so beautiful. What the bug like? What's even happening? All right, So let's get into the nitty gritty. We're talking ugly Betty Eric.

I have so many like off the grid questions that I want to talk to, but let's let's get into the Betty of it all right now.

So when you first what was your.

So did your agents say, like, here's a part did they offered to you?

Did you have to audition?

Like?

What was your first sort of like entrance into Betty.

I actually it was two thousand and six. I was getting married in New Orleans at our place, yes, and Jordie said, you're gonna have to not go on your honeymoon because someone wants to meet with you. So there was there was the heroes of it all, the show heroes. I don't even know when anyone even remembers that show. I remember, I remember, but I was going to test for that the part that ended up going to Milo and Familiar Health, right and and that was like that

Ben is so charming. I mean, he's such a delight, a.

Water to a drowning and I swear.

It was so you read it, Arry Terry said, Terry said, is she chopped liver?

No? But you know, when you're in a room Terry Terry with Ben, it's true, right.

We had him sitting on the couch right over.

Here, and he does sort of he does sort of like take up.

You know, I did not have to speak, not not not a word.

I just I adore him and I enjoyed that, by the way. So yeah, so you just you got so you just came into the meeting, did you have to read for it or no. You just sort of had the meeting and they were like, you're fucking Daniel.

I in, I said, hello, we talked about the thing I left, and that was it.

One of my and and and the thing is is that obviously you had had such a like a.

A big career before Ugly Betty.

Of course that like that would that would yield that you make like that, you made Daniel Mead what he is. But I'm uh, we're telling all of our guests this as well. I'm watching the show for the first time.

Mark has never watched the show. Eric, Like, he's never watched it, so he's.

Watch I've seen the pilot and I've seen the finale, the series finale.

So probably because you weren't there for a lot of the screens on Thursday afternoons, right because paws and things like that.

Yeah, I had to go to school and then and then yeah.

Yeah, But also he just sort of grew up, and I think you had your own sort of relationship with with the show as it were, like you went through a whole sort of you know, chase this moment with it. But you know, he's never watched it, so he's watching you for the first time.

But I'm finding that, like, you know, it's it's it's very interesting to consider the you know, because we're all so close and such like you know, like have have remained such good friends even if we don't see each other or whatever. To see these characters and to be completely honest with you, I and I felt this way about watching it, uh with Becky Newton, like playing Amanda

Like that that makes me You really.

Towed the line in such an incredible and like that you know, he could be this kind of himbo this and that, but also with just a genuine heart of gold. And I just think that you told that line so so brilliantly.

We've talked about it a lot on the pod, how much you have this incredible ability all the actors really, because I think on this show it's so easy for these characters to be sort of these flat archetypes, and you really brought such heart to Daniel, even in the pilot episode. I mean it started from day dot. So, like, what was that.

Like for you as an actor?

Because you know he was such a sort of you know, a bro character, a NEPO baby bro character. But there's something about you, Eric that had you There was such a vulnerability and such a beauty that you brought to it. What was that like sort of portraying it?

Well? I think, uh, like you, Mark, I haven't seen a lot of the episode. What I had seen are the ones that we would see during lunch is usually on Thursdays. I was I would look forward to that because we were so busy shooting. Yeah, but I do cringe when I watch, especially the pilot in the earlier episodes.

Why why so nice?

What you're saying that the arc like we have to start somewhere, go somewhere with Daniel, And that was one of the takeaways that it was. There was no it couldn't have been done any other way than the way they wrote the episodes. But yeah, I agree, he's he's uh angless entirely unlikable, but how much more fun for us to end up where we do. And the other The other thing I noticed in rewatching some of the episodes, the most fun I had was when Daniel would come and visit the Squires.

Oh my god, he had no like real stable family of his own.

There was like he was surfing, you know, pretending what it would be like to have a whole family, and that would start. Watching those makes me very tearful because there's like a whole ness that Daniel gets, even if only briefly, he gets to sort of, you know, try out for a while when niece.

That's so true.

And also we were very close. I mean you were super close with my husband. You still are. You guys are like total buds, and we got very close during that whole thing. So and you know, you got married, you had your first baby during the show. I got married. I had my first baby during the show. You guys did it first, though, so we still we.

Moved to New York and then I had second baby.

That's right, and we really sort of leaned on you a lot.

And that during that time I think sort of you're.

Like, hey, I was supposed to do this, I really do now.

Oh really, honestly, did you guys like live like down the street from each other.

Yes, And it was amazing because when Anna was working, I was not generally speaking in Vike sparsa like it.

Was that's right. It actually was a perfect storm as as as it were.

I mean, but you guys lived in this in this beautiful place, and you had your you know, you had the babies I have still, you know what, I would love to sort of maybe if we could put that on some sort of thing of like our our little babies playing together is so ridiculous and crazy and fun. But we all went through all of this together like

And we had we had Max right before shooting the show, like we were like we were in Saint John's in Santa Monica, and and I remember Richard and Jim being like, so when do you think you can come to work now? And we're excited that you have a son now. But I was like, what do I do?

Are you serious?

Because I was two weeks out of having follow me and they were like.

So your call time's four am. And I was like, I had a baby two weeks ago, you.

Motherfuckers well, and you looked better than ever. Stop.

I definitely gonna have to pad my. I didn't need no chicken cutlors.

And we're but we're I mean this this season of this pod is talking about season one, but I just I, you know, since we have Eric, I wanted to just talk about season two when when Daniel and Justin have like this this kind of like this this bonding moment and I just remember being in downtown LA on a basketball court.

Do you remember?

And it's just.

It's just I've not seen the episode itself, but upon watching the show, I'm just having all accessing all of these memories. And like when I was thinking about having you, know that we were going to have you on the pod, I was just kind of like, what are my like core memories of Eric, like working with with you, and and that was the thing that just kind of literally like came out of my mind, like where I was just like, oh, right, when when we were forced to play basketball.

On some rooftop.

There's nothing linear about my memories from the show. I sort of like La and New York. But I felt like it was just one. Yeah, so because we were shooting, we were finishing one, starting another, going back to do reshoots from a third.

So it was all, yeah, this was in the day.

This is in the day when we're shooting twenty four episodes. Yeah, we were working on film, on film, God bless it rip on film.

We're working. We're shooting twenty four.

So we had like two months off actually because we're you know, it was a regular job.

It was so fabulous bring those back, bring back.

But what I really but but in terms of who you're working with, I want to know about what that episode in season one when we are introduced.

To Judith was when we first met.

In in like the Sober House.

You and Judith had such an amazing dynamic.

It's honestly, I laughed and I almost kind of cried. It was like I was, I don't know, I felt, I felt a lot of emotions.

I don't know why. But that was even before that happened. I knew that was going to happen. There was something about there was something about Judith and the way I sort of I don't know how I regarded her, but obviously she felt already like my mother. Yeah, from the I don't know why that was.

I get it.

I do know why. It is because of Judith's presence a lot.

It is his mother, that is jud his mother.

But it was like when I showed up to say O Tours, like we had a lifetime of memories already. I don't know, it was sort of uncanny.

Yeah, it's really magical watching you guys, because it's so funny and it's also so heartbreaking.

Yeah, it's literally.

The same moment. I wonder if you felt that when you were doing the scene.

Absolutely, especially because again talking about taking character from here to there, as you know, getting her at her very bottom, it was sort of you, no, not dissimilar from from Daniel, but for different reasons. You see that the testaments of the writing, you know, those the generations repeating themselves like that and then both being sort of dragged down in this rabbit hole and both of them trying to claw them their way out and sort of mend what was

Every day day to fight and play.

I love this the comedy through tragedy, though, is something that I'm really responding to. I think, like with the Claire and Daniel dynamic, is that like, especially in that episode in particular, of just.

Being like.

It's like it's it's it's really sad, but I'm laughing exactly do you know what I mean?

And and am I should I be?

You know like that, It's it's a very ambivalent feeling, but in a good way as a viewer.

I think.

I think that's the thing that shows don't get tonally. It's so easy for them to slide into Maudlin right as opposed what all of our writers did, which is you know, which felt realistic, if those felt like even though it was stylized, some of the you know, Victor's incredible shots and STYLI yeah, like this is it felt true to life? Like one second you are like you're warning a laugh and then cry and feeling so pulled into the sort of spheres of these their lives.

But I don't think you give yourself enough credit. This is what I'm hearing from you right now, Eric, because I'm saying from day dot from You're saying, well, you know, the pilot whatever from the episode one like episode one, Eric, I saw Daniel's vulnerability, vulnerability, Like I saw Daniels sort of fight, you know, his like fight to sort of be his own man, to sort of recognize that this young girl was something special to Like, I saw so much depth in Daniel.

It was in the writing.

But I think also you bring something to it that like is really just uniquely you.

I'm accepting your comments and compliment, but I'm also trying to draw in to this that every single one of us, that thing that you're talking about was an electric being. Everything one of us had that once you set us an emotion, right, you never knew what you were going to get, but you knew it was going to be amazing.

Things, I'm curious about, you know, if we're talking about this kind of ground bag breaking representation and like, you know, the things that we were able to do culturally at a time that maybe right now, at this juncture, like historically, like you know, people have copied us a lot, you know, or or taken what we did and expanded upon it. But at the time it was very very it was

Latin culture, queer culture, you know, immigration, like we we touched on so much, yes, you know, so many sort of now I guess now would be considered more controversial though than it was then.

Perhaps.

I mean, I don't know, did you know that that was something that you were getting involved to know or did it or did it happen later in hindsight for you?

No, I mean I knew that where I grew up in western Massachusetts, that's that's the environment which I grew up right in Amberst, Massachusetts. That that is the norm. Right by the.

Way, he was born in Philly Harrisburg. All right, we're still claiming, We're still claiming you.

And then went to Sarah Lawrence, a school with three times many women and a very sort of out and proud community. And I was part of the beginning of the L word, which was also so I the environment was certainly comfortable in nothing foreign to me, and I could tell that in the creation of the show they were leaving themselves so many directions to go in and

Do get that Eric maybe is it's yeah, I mean just just because watching it, you know again for the first time, it's it's just kind of I'm almost incredulous watching it when we're talking about the things that we're talking about on the show. Yeah, you know this many years, i mean almost twenty years later, that we're still having these conversations as a nation, right, Like, let's just you know,

I don't know, like we need.

More of the Daniel means because you were so sort of accepting and you did come down to you came to our house all to your point like you would come to the Suarez house. You were sort of so open to that side of life and even the I mean granted you were you know, Daniel was in this sort of fashion world of it all, but still so so speaking of like, what was it like working with

Because I feel like I'm sure we all did, but I felt like I developed a close relationship with everyone that was different, like you know, you and Noah and you and getting to know Mark through with your parents around like you know, and seeing I was sort of envious of you guys because you had your family unit and do your things and I was off doing my stuff and I would be like, oh, we'd be passing one another, so we chance to do scenes together was

Of Oh no, we know. We went ahead and talked about the.

So you hear Richard Shepherd's I'm going to get sore.

We haven't named her lastly come home.

You know you're going to have to hear it. And then you don't. He called her dog, go go, go, say what you're going to say?

Just you know, in each and each iteration Daniel's interaction, there was a there was an on screen relationship being developed in an off screen one. Yeah, so real, it's true and not just our error. I don't think I've ever had a job where I want to hang out with anyone everyone so much because we see each other like sixty hours a week, right, it was a lot.

Yeah, but then we hung out afterwards, like we saw you all the time.

Yeah, all the time. Yeah, I mean Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights.

Yeah, so we've we lived very close to one another, Eric and I and my husband and Noah, my husband, Noah and Eric were very close, and Ivy and I, his wife and I were very close.

And again, like it was the whole.

Baby situation totally. But I guess that, like we have to wrap up in a second.

But but wait wait, I reserved, but I reserve the right.

Eric.

Maybe as to you coming back on the.

Phone, yeah, oh no please, like like this is you have to come back.

We can do this as often as you.

Guys, I love you so much.

Are you coming to La soon?

Uh?

I don't know. I'm supposed to come this fall, but I just I just got another job and I'm leaving.

Them all right.

Well well well.

No, no, I don't mean that like that.

No, I'm kidding. I'm being faccious about to be.

Living there. Really, It's just life has taken me here and I'm not really no.

No, but we've got it.

We have to reserve the right to just you know, have you on as much as we possibly can. I mean, we're you know, we're we're recapping the entire season, so there is far more of Daniel mead that, Like, we have so much more to talk to you.

We haven't even Also, we haven't even gone to the episode where you and I almost hook up, but not quite.

Excuse me, we're not there yet.

I'm excited about it.

I haven't yet quiet down.

We were like, what are we going to do with this? You're like, what are we going to do with this?

Damn? We could have had such a good storyline.

My question, I think that this is a good way to close it out in terms of a question, how did you feel when the show ended?

And what did you take from the set?

Oh?

Yeah, that's good, Okay? How did you feel and what did you take?

How did I feel? I still feel like it's one of the great relationships that ended too, So say that right, Like, it's like a part of my heart was broken and it's still a little bit broken. Right. It heals, but it's still it hurts, Like I remember it the whole move, that's just uprooting our lives and coming into New York and realizing how much better the show was for it. But then to have that sort of ripped away from us, it was, you know, we had I think we had two more good seasons.

Left, I thought, so totally. What did you take from sad?

What did you take Furniture?

I got the l A desk lamps and the New York desk lamps. That's it. Yeah, And because they sold all the stuff to props, Yeah, get on my suits and I have like probably twenty of my suits from the show.

I remember those.

Shoot, I could wear some of the old suits.

No, don't tell them that. Don't tell them.

Quiet down now, maybe Eric, I'll tell them. Okay, yeah, we.

Love you the most, the most.

And this is this is this is not the last that you will be hearing and seeing Eric.

Maybe us on this podcast. By the way, you've got my digits.

Let me know.

I love you so much.

We love you so much.

Maybe it's not.

Come and live in my house. Please, my husband misses you desperately. He needs a friend. No, my husband needs a friend. Please come, please come then hang.

Out with Don't make him sound so desperately that Jesus not sorry.

Yeah I know, but come to town.

I'll ring no up and we'll go see a show exactly.

They both love music like please come home.

And we and we will be texting you voraciously about coming back on.

I love you so much, we love you.

I don't know what vampire blood you're drinking, but keep drinking.

Yeah, yeah, no, keep drinking that children's vampire blood or whatever.

Go into the Base Pizzeria basement and get.

The Bass Pizza Base.

Was saying, there, baby blood.

Yeah with Hillary Clinton.

Love we love you.

We love you, love you. Okay, so before we leave, we're going to answer some of your questions, but we actually today have somebody who's going to help us very special guests, very special guest in the studio, in the studio. And it's also because I don't really know how to read that well, So.

Christopher here, I think Chris Gorham, you should read the first.

Hi, all right, Dante poll emailed.

He said, Hi, Betty, fam, my name is Dante. Ugly Betty meant so much to me growing up. It helped me see myself and my story reflected on TV for the first time. Justin and Hilda's relationship reminded me of my own with my mom, love, her humor and her fierce protectiveness. My question is the storylines in Ugly Betty

Much love, Dante from Cape Town, South Africa.

It's a fantastic question.

Cape Town bring us out, y'all, and.

Also what a what a lovely thoughtful question. I feel I feel that the the ways in which people approached me now are far more impactful than in the the show.

A little little yeah.

Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean, Like where where it's it's I get it now, I suppose.

You know.

I remember a very specific moment. I was in New York.

It was probably it must have been after season two, so we had been on for a minute, and like all the things had happened, you know, America won the Emmy in the Golden Globe, and we were sort of revving up and becoming this thing. And I was in New York walking down the street and I remember, you know, like in New York you always get sort of cat

And one of them was like, my mother is just like you. And one of them was like, I wish my mother was just like you. And then they started.

Talking among themselves about like their mothers and sort of who was supported and who was not, and including me

Like for me, that was a really you know, because it's still it's still stigmatized.

I think being gay or trans or any of the things queer and being Latino is still or Latina or Latine is still there's still a little bit of a lot of a stigma attached to it. So it was nice to have that freedom and these young men doing that with me in that moment, and that's when I knew. I was like, Oh, I'm the cool mom you are.

I mean, I wish that I would have been able to have that experience. I feel like now, like, as you know, as a grown man, I feel like I would be able to have that experience.

Well, we shielded you from a lot.

Yeah, Like I feel like it was always very much like get away from him.

Yeah, we definitely get away from him, even when it.

Was even when it was nice. Yeah, we didn't know, right, so I wasn't around. Okay, we have someone from Italy next.

Okay, Frederico Pedronie. Frederico from Italy here, loving the podcast, Thanks so much for doing it. I have a question for Mark, since you are also Italian, how did you relate to play a Latino question?

It's a great question.

What similarities did you find between the two cultures?

Coo oh c choo.

I think that that at least you know, as an Italian American the I mean, the cultures are very very similar. You know, loud people, food, love, lots of food, but also loud and lots of love. Hot, you know, like like hot, like like boiling up hot, zero, explosive, you know, family, but also sexy, hot and gorgeous. No, I mean, listen, I feel such kinship to so as an Italian, to

Could it's the same. It's the same thing food.

It might be different, it might be it might just be like, you know, a different cuisine, but it's the same disposition.

I mean, it's the same vibe, you know what I mean?

Like everyone is in on your fucking business and.

Never eating enough? And why don't you call me?

Why don't you call me? And why didn't you finish your plate? I'm like, well have you because you put two pounds of pasta on the plate, two.

Pounds of and I can't do another bite. Yeah, I get it, I hear you.

I can't eat two pounds of pasta?

And do you know catch this tea?

When my grandma would do dinner, it was like Sunday dinner, right, Sunday, gravy everything. It was seven of us five pounds of pasta. Well for seven people, it's too much.

And yet if you didn't need it, she was upset.

And I always had the obviously you know, I was teacher's pet. So I was sitting right.

Next to this is why he needs with.

Withovy Mike, thank you, Frederico.

Alright, last one, last one, from Gabriel Jermaine. How do you think Ugly Betty has reshaped TV shows for women?

I think that's a question for you.

I know it changed my life.

Yeah, you know what the question I felt like I as the cis white man in the room answer yeah, you're right, and you know, how has it changed shows for women? I think it's set up a really unhealthy expectation for what your nerdy boyfriend should look like. I don't think that it was, you know, underneath the I think it's it's just.

I think it's a I think it's a lot. I mean, speaking personally, I.

Think you know, you get a struggle, something to aspire to.

Well, that's that's nice.

It's nice to be saying well, yeah, I mean, if you're gonna, if you're gonna like be the nerdy boyfriend, you better take off your shirt and there'd be something underneath.

But let me say but now, to be to be serious for a second, I think it's one of the things that I always loved about our Betty. Yes, was that unlike all the other Betties around the world, which was a story about an ugly duckling, story about you know, and then about the Betty falling in love with the Daniel character and living happily ever after. Our Betty was never about a romance. Our Betty was.

About, you know, a modern woman like growing up to find out who she is on her own. Not that she can't fall in love.

No, but that wasn't the central correct. That's right? Yeah, you get an A plus.

Yeah, And I always love that about this show, even when it meant I had to be written off it.

And on that we leave you all. Thank you for your questions.

Please don't stop, Please keep giving us questions. Hello Instagram at Viva Betty Podcast, email at Viva Betty potat gmail dot com.

Like this is kind of my Italy.

I mean, these are incredible.

This is so much fun for us, and please please keep it going.

Love you so much.

Viva Betty is a production of Propagate Content in partnership with Iheart's Mike Duda Podcast Networks.

We are your hosts on Orties and Market Delacato.

Our executive producers are Terry Weinberg, Lyn Lee, and Diego Fapia.

Our senior producer is Emily Carr, and the show is directed and edited by Mark A.

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