Truth Behind A Viral TV Rumor

Welcome And Quick Introductions

Welcome to Nola Film Scene with TJ Play-Doh.

He's TJ. He's Play-Doh. And she's Ann. Hi.

Hey Ann, how you doing? I'm good.

Anne Mahoney. Welcome back to the show.

Thank you. Thank you for having me back.

Our teacher, our friend, soon-to-be co-star, if we can have anything to say about it. One day.

One day.

I would love that.

Hi, my name's Eileen Gruba. I'm an actress. I'm a writer and producer. I've been in the industry 30 years and I'm excited to have worked with these guys and to be on the NOLA film scene.

Excellent. Welcome back to Noah Film Scene. We are with Grace LaRacca.

Hi, Grace. Hey Grace. How are y'all doing?

Good to see you again.

You two, guys. You two. Thank you very much. I've done the film work a long time.

Because LA is more like the land of perfection. And um, you know, I'm not perfect. I have a rebuild ankle. I walk a little different. But that didn't seem to bother anybody in Atlanta. And it hasn't seemed to be a problem in New Orleans. Even when I worked on Wild Oats with Jessica Lang and Shirley McLean, I was like, I hope they know because they just asked me to like come through a bank and run out into their shot. So I was like, I'm happy to do that. I just hope they know. It's not gonna look like your typical runner. And so I went up and whispered it to the director. I'm like, I'm happy to do whatever you're asking me to do. I just want to make sure you know that I have a ring, so it's gonna look a little different. And he he smiled and he said, I'm fine with that. And that was a beautiful thing because people haven't typically been known to be fine with it. RPG. Right. So when they have been fine with it, I am grateful. And for example, the movie that we did, it just didn't didn't matter at all. And in life, it shouldn't matter at all. I'm more active than every female my age, but I do have that knowing that throughout the years in Atlanta they were always cool about it, even when even when I was going through surgeries and and on crutches and all that, they were always really super cool about it and open. So I miss the Southeast, you know. I feel like I fit in a little easier there.

So you and I met on our friend Olivia's film. That was actually my first feature film. Yeah, my first feature and my first well, I did one thing with speaking lines before that, but that's I count that really as my first thing. Uh-huh. The other was just kind of a web series. I don't really count it.

That counts, that counts with something for sure.

So when I got there, it was kind of intimidating for me. I don't intimidate very easily, but I just I felt and in at my age, it felt like a long time since I was the new guy at anything. And everybody else that was there just seemed so experienced, and everybody was kind, but everybody had been doing it for a while, and I'm like, I hope I don't mess up. I didn't have a lot of lines, but you know, it was a little bit intimidating to be around everybody. Y'all all knew each other, and everybody was like, It's like high school, right?

Like the click, the click in high school with like lunch tables. You have to like find you have to like set up.

But it didn't feel it didn't feel isolating or anything like that. Just, you know, people with experience, and there was me. But yeah, I remember I remember you, you were very kind. And yeah, that was the big scene that we met was the big ending scene where it was uh it was the convention toward the end of the movie, so a a lot of the different actors were there for that one. I know there were some scenes, uh I don't think Tatiana Piper was there.

No, but it was a lot of moving moving pieces and parts of that scene. It was a lot of a lot of different characters in that scene. It was that was such a fun scene. It was such a fun scene. And um, I did play a police officer, a cop, a fun, you know, kind of hopefully I was funny in it, but I thought you were, yeah, yeah. Did it come out funny?

It did. It was it was funny, yeah, for sure it was.

Yeah, no, that was a really fun scene. Um what were your sorry, what were you saying though?

No, just just that that that was where you and I met and worked together was on that film project. And you among others stood out as just being very kind and professional. You know, people just I don't know, between takes people were friendly and it was a lot of fun. It was a fun, big scene, big email.

It it was really fun because uh first of all, like them them directing as like our us, like our people. Like we're you know, I was so proud of her just doing her thing as an actor and also you know, director and and then getting her friends involved with that. So I can't wait to see it. But I was actually I'll tell you a little secret and that. So um she had done we'd done my fittings and or not fittings, but like, you know, to make sure the sizes, and I was nearly pregnant then. So I hadn't told like anyone, anyone at all. And I was like, I told my um, I don't know if you remember Cody, but I was like, my my my tight my pants were tight. I was like, oh lord, my pants are tight. But it was funny. I was very nearly pregnant then, so it was it was that was a really special. I was like, that was her, that was my baby's first um acting gig. She was in my belly and she was acting, actually.

So that was really it doesn't get any any better than that. She's starting from the very, very beginning.

Yes, she is, yes.

Has she done anything? Have you put her in has she done any commercials or anything?

No, yes. She um she actually, I love that um it was, you know, talking about me, but now it's like baby time. Um Sophie, her name's Sophia, she's the most little brightest little star in the world, but she did her first commercial um at three months old. And it was so cute. And she literally like she was like the ending scene of the commercial and she smiled at like three months old. It was really cool. It was her and I so it was really special that she was yeah, it was together. We were mom and baby together. And then she's done a couple other like photo shoots. And um, every time I audition now, she'll like run to it and be like, Audition, and she'll like say her name, she'll slate, like she'll say, I'm Sophia and two. Like, that's what she says. And I'm like, You're so cute. Like, I love that. She she wants to do it with me all the time when I have auditions.

That's great. It's to me, slates are the hardest part, and she's already got it down, so she'll she'll be set.

She's got it down with her twinkle in her eye already with that with slating. Yes.

So we've been planning this since we saw Anne at Nola Comic-Con. Yeah. And we love having her on. We love talking to her, and we had this whole range of topics we were gonna choose from. Until don't die. A new internet rumor started between you and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. To put it dramatically.

Yes. Yes, a new new rumor.

What is that rumor?

So the rumor that was posted along with a little clip from the scene where I slap Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the lines are I I'm trying to remember him. It was like um he calls he says something about you starving. Um, and then he says, he propositions me, basically. He's like, I'm sorry for having been so he says, sorry, he says, um you starving, like as if to say you're you're fat, so you're clearly not starving. And then I cry, and then he says, I'm sorry for having been so rude. If he wouldn't mind, I'd like to screw your brains out, and that's when I slap him, and that's the big the big scene. And the rumor was that one, Jeffrey D. Morgan improvised that scene, two, that he felt so bad about his improvised line that he gave me a bouquet of flowers afterwards, and that three, that I was actually crying because of the improvised line and not really crying as an actress. And um, I usually don't engage with any kind of internet stuff, especially like trolling. But this was just a little bit too enticing for me because one, all of those things are untrue. The script is the the that scene is completely scripted. Exactly what you hear is how it was written. The only difference is that we taped a version where Jeffrey D used the F word a lot and a version where he didn't, because you're only allowed so many F words per season in a show. Um, that's the only difference. All of it was scripted, including saying in the stage notes she cries, right? So um, and Jeffrey D definitely did not give me a bouquet of flowers because there was no need to. We were just doing our jobs. And so, and then what was so funny about it and sad is that that was one thing that the rumors were untrue. But the second part that was like disconcerting, and I definitely engaged with people on was then people felt the need to comment underneath that post and say things like, he should have given her a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates, or she probably ate the flowers too, or should have given her a McBurger, or just cut like a bunch of other fat jokes underneath it, which was like I was I usually don't engage with that kind of stuff, but I was like, ah, I'm feeling I'm feeling sparky tonight. I'm gonna go ahead and write back to these people in a very diplomatic way, like, hi, it's me. I'm real, I'm a real person, human, feelings. Um, not only is this rumor incorrect, but also there are people behind these roles that that are played on television, and we do have feelings. So yeah, there it is.

Yeah, when I when I saw the comments when when you sent us the screenshots, I I was just utterly appalled, is the best way to put it. Did it did it first start out? Did they use AI and recreate the scene with fake dialogue or was it just still shot memes?

No, it was actually the still-shot memes. That was the scene as it was done. Yeah. So that was correct. It was how it was done and how it was scripted. Uh-huh. There was no improvisation. In fact, I don't know. I mean, I worked on three seasons of the show. I'm sure somewhere in there there is some improvisation, but that show in general is very much scripted. We actually start every scene shoot with what we call story time. And everybody gathers around with the script. We talk it through. And if anything's gonna change, it changes at that moment. But there's there's not a lot of improvisation on Walking Dead because we're shooting some pretty complex stuff, and we shoot a lot of it's shot on film, but some is digital, but some is film. So we're trying to get these shots quickly. So there's no like ample time for people to just improvise and make stuff up. It's very much approved by the network and approved by the writers and the producers. So that is completely false.

So I started training and I I went to classes, I took classes in Atlanta, and then I started training at Alliance Theater, and then I learned about the business. And I started doing musicals at my church, and it just went on from there. And when I started having rebuilds on my leg, because you know, jumping around and doing all the things I do when I grew up in a wheelchair caused a lot of issues. So I started having surgeries, and the people in Atlanta were just so wonderfully gracious. And I mean, I was doing musicals even when I couldn't walk up and down the steps. We got so creative with it. Like I remember being in construction boots under a long gown, playing one of the sexy girls in The Beauty and the Beast, and having to saunter up the aisle. And I'm really good at sauntering because I had construction boots on, but the gown hides the stuff. And when I get to the steps to get up the stage, I couldn't go up the steps. So they had this big guy playing Gaston, and he just came down the steps, picked me up by the waist, spun me around, and put me on top of the stage. And so we always had crafty ways to work around whatever I was doing at the time and like doing like, you know, singing on the piano for one number, you know, where I'm live straped across the piano so I don't have to walk. I had so much fun performing in Atlanta. I played Cinderella and the musicals, and all the kids, you know, come up and they're tugging on your dress and they really think you're Cinderella. And I just I loved entertaining people. I really enjoyed it. So that's how it all started. And then at the time, Atlanta didn't have much of a business. I outgrew that business really fast. And I worked in casting while I was there too. Worked for the casting director, Don Slayton, at the time. And I do remember being at Alliance Theater School and having a a wonderful young woman who was my teacher who I went to when I was having a major leg rebuild, and I knew I was gonna be off my feet for quite a while. And I just asked her, I'm making a mistake trying to go into this business because I'm gonna always have some sort of walking challenge. I have a spinal cord injury from this thing, you know? And and she uh I've never forgotten this because it prompted it, you know, it caused what happened next. She said to me, most of my students, I would tell them, no, don't go into this business, but not you. She said, You have to do this. And she encouraged me to keep going. And so I did, even with the the next surgery, I had a cast up to my hip that had a handle on it, and I kept going to my classes and I would, you know, climb up on the stage and get to this, you know, the seat and do my thing. And and I just worked and worked and worked and then ended up moving to New York and doing the best I could with my walk. You know, in New York at the time, I could do all the musical stuff and I could sing any song and I had the best musical coaches, but in those years, they weren't having any of somebody with a walking challenge on the stage. And so, you know, I tried for a few years and then I moved to LA because I could drive instead of walk everywhere. And, you know, the rest is history. I came to LA and and quickly learned that I had to change this entire industry in order to work in it. And that was a sad revelation, but I was in my 20s and I was like, nobody's gonna tell me I'm not good enough to be in this business because I have a different walk. And you know, some people would say it, and I'm like, Well, I got news for you, I'm going to work. I did have one agent say you're never gonna work in this industry because you walk funny. And I just smiled and said, Well, I looked at his wall of headshots and I said, I've already probably worked more than most of your girls, and I've turned down what they aspire to do. So I think I'm gonna be fine. And and that turned out to be pretty true, you know. And after I left his office, I ended up landing a much, much bigger agent. And, you know, I just kept moving and pivoting throughout the whole business. And I ended up becoming an advocate for people with disabilities because I saw how how much worse it was for anybody that had anything at all wrong with them. Speaking of veterans, um, you know, we had a real shift in our movement towards the inclusion of people with disabilities when we started saying, would you hold it against a veteran if they came back missing a limb or walking differently? Or would you keep them out of work? And, you know, when we started saying that, people started realizing, oh, you're a human being too, just like anybody could have a go-to war or get in a car accident and end up with something. You know, we started getting through to their humanity and you know, a battle. It's still a battle out here in LA. And as I told you earlier, I've had people much more open in Atlanta, in New York, in New Orleans, in the southeast than they have been here. But I have a very thick skull and uh had a good handful of friends who said to me, you know, you were born for this battle because I'm a fighter. I've been a fighter all my life. And because I've been in and out of wheelchairs, I can look at both sides of the conversation and try to bring people to the middle and try to help each of them understand each other. And so that's how it all started. I've never given up or quit because incrementally, this business, you know, you build credits, you know, incrementally. So sometimes you just have to break through, get one thing, and then use that to get the next thing and keep going. One of the most wonderful experience of experiences and opportunities of my career was when I auditioned for the actor's studio. And there, they don't care what's going on with you. They just want to know if you're doing the work and if you're good at it. And so it was just sort of a twist of fate that when I was asked to audition there with another girl, she picked the scenes. It had nothing to do with me. She just asked me to play the character who was paralyzed from getting run over by a taxi in New York. And she asked me to play that character, and I'm raging mad and alcoholic and throwing things at her. And I just dug right into that role and threw myself on that stage and dragged myself across it and had the kind of you know emotional release of somebody. Like I thought to myself, if you paralyzed me again, yeah, we're gonna have a rage going on. And so I tried to work with that. So that was my first audition for the actor studio, and it got me all the way to finals, and which is kind of unique because it usually takes a little time for people to get, and they didn't know anything about me, they didn't know I had that life experience. And anyway, once I got into the actor's studio, that was family, and I, you know, I've spent so many years there training. And the beautiful thing about the members of the actors studio is some of them are in their 90s and they're still going regularly, and they're still training other actors. And we have Oscar winners and Emmy winners and people with immense resumes who are there giving their time. It's free. You're not paying for it. And you get the most wonderful training because you've got really accomplished actors guiding you and wanting you to be the best you can be. So that became my family, and it was my fallback through all the years and all the hard work to change the business. But I step back now and I look at it and I'm like, I'm at the other end of the age range now. I've w watched all those years go by where it didn't get in the doors. And I just keep thanking God I'm still alive and I'm still moving and moving better now than before, still working as an actor. And I I do have to smile and look at what we've accomplished, and I'm like, my God, we changed an industry. We did that, you know. It was a hard battle, but people with disabilities are now being included and put on that screen, and you know, veterans are being included and doors are opening, and we still have a long way to go, but we did it, you know. Beautiful.

I've kind of started slowing down on social media, and I put myself on a little bit of a self-imposed time out for a bit there because there's just so much toxicity. I just don't want to see it. Not so much directed at me, but just in general.

Yeah.

And I it makes it even harder when it's one of my friends that is being attacked for no reason.

Right? This is fiction. Um and she's the size that she is. But the funny thing is, is I'm the size of the majority of the average American woman. Right? It's just we've gotten so used to what we see on screen that women are very, very, very, very thin in general, right? That people who are the size of an average American woman suddenly become the butt of the joke. And it's one thing to have it in the script, but it's another thing entirely for people then outside to be like, I'm gonna also go after this character, but it's like there's a person behind that. And would you say that to your I know that somewhere in your family there's someone who's a size 12. You know? Not that it would matter. Like I could be a size 30, same problem, right? So I I I dare you to look at your aunt, your sister, your mom in the face and say we should have gotten her a stairmaster instead. I dare you. Anger.

Yeah. But it it's not only the keyboard warrior mentality of I can say anything and because there's no nobody's gonna get punched in the face because they're on the internet. Yeah. But it's negativity drives likes.

Yes. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Yeah, there's also even for this, I kinda alluded. Go ahead.

No, well I mean also just this this whole idea of like one of the big rumors was you know, Anne Mahoney, the person, was crying because her feelings were hurt. Like, no, Anne Mahoney is an actress and a trained actress for many years. So if the script says cry, I'm going to cry. And I will cry at the exact moment you asked me to in the script, because that's my job. Right? Am I drawing on personal experiences? Of course. All we are is act. We're all drawing on personal experiences because it's who we are. And I happened to start my life as a ballerina before I was an actor. So I definitely dealt with a lot of body shaming in my life. But in that moment, I'm doing my job. If it says cry, I cry.

And what a lot of people tend to forget when they're watching fiction, you know, you talked about actors getting death threats because they killed somebody's favorite character or whatever. They're doing their job, and if they're getting it to that level, they're doing it really well. And I I think people get so wrapped up in the story that they forget that there's a human on the other side of that camera. And from being in the industry, you talk to people, and a lot of times they're complete, especially someone that's a character actor, you're dealing with somebody that's completely different than what you see on screen. Some people are themselves turned up, and other others are completely different. And I think folks lose sight of that, and then time and distance, and like Brian said, keyboard warriors, they there's no consequence when they just clack away on their keyboard and not take people's feelings into consideration.

That's exactly why I decided to engage. I I generally don't. But I decided to engage with these people, and I I didn't call in, I wasn't mean, but I was like, oh, that's an original one, or like, oh wow, it's me, the person you're talking about. I'm right here and I'm a human, right? Because I want you to remember that that's the truth. I mean, to put it on the flip side, like when I was doing, I don't know if you know the musical Sweet Charity, I played charity and sweet charity, and she's this delightful character. She's very funny and lively and kind. And um, this is long, I'm gonna try to make it short. The bathrooms in the dressing room were broken. So I had to use the bathrooms that the audience used, right? And so I was in there using a bathroom at intermission, and I hear these two ladies talking, washing their hands, and they're like, she's just great. I love her. And I bet in real life she's actually a really nice person, too. Right? And I'm like, you don't know. I mean, I am, but like you don't know. So it's so funny the way that people attach qualities about who a person is based on a performance. Like that's our job, right? That's that's just our job to embody the character. So who we are, you don't know. You think you know us because you see us on camera and you see us in in movies and on television, but you don't know.

I thought some of your responses to them were pretty clever. They a couple of them made me laugh out loud. And I I want to address one not of yours, but somebody replied to your comment. This one just totally set me back. They said, in my defense, I didn't know you would read this. Something along with the other thing.

In my defense, you would read this, I'm sure you're a nice lady.

Oh, you're you're gonna read my comment. You're real. My bad.

It was just it was actually delightful. I was like, yeah, I did read your comment. It's me right here, the real person.

Can I have your autograph?

Right.

I'm sure you're nice lady. Can I get free tickets?

Hilarious. Thank you for talking about this because it's just a really hilarious moment.

If you keep doing the hard work and keep being good at what you do and keep putting yourself in that situation, rejection, it's like sucks. I remember when kids always made fun of me when I was young, knocking me over in PE and all those things. And you know what's really funny? Success really evens the play. I can't tell you how many people have reached out and apologized to me from things in our youth, things that I didn't even remember. And I'm like, wow, this is funny. And but they know it, they hold on to, they knew they treated you bad or wrong. And I can't wait till we have a time when any kid, no matter what they've been through, can dream up what their future looks like and go get it, and that our society won't be shutting the door just because they've been through more. Another thing about people with disabilities that I find really interesting, and as I said, I've had in and out of wheelchairs all my life, rebuilds, all the work. I've had multiple years of my career on crutches and back in wheelchairs because of rebuilding things. So I've seen all sides of it. And the spirit that comes with those battles is big. And when I go into a children's cancer hospital, for example, where I used to volunteer in Atlanta at Scottish Right and work with kids with disabilities, no matter how sick they are, you know what you see? You see spirit. You see like this huge spirit coming out of them. And it's the reason they survive and it's the reason they keep going. You know, later in life, you you have people with disabilities who are very spirited, and people are like want to crush them or get them to shut up and hide in a corner. And I'm like, sorry, no, no, you don't understand. You can't crush me. There's only one person who can crush me, and that's me. And I'm not gonna crush me. So, you know, the reason that I have this big spirit is because I've survived a lot, and that's what I try to tell people about these kids. They're gonna come into the world with bang, you know, like so much energy. And I think about some of the kids I've mentored through the years, and they still come in a room and light up the whole place with their eyes, their smile. Doesn't matter what's going on with the rest of them, you know, because their spirit is strong. And I want to get the world to honor that. You know, like I look at you, TJ, and I'm like, I want the world to honor your battles. Respect. Respect is what should be seen, not pity, not looking down, not thinking it's less, because in the end, okay, you're a veteran. So I don't know if that means you went to combat. I don't know what you've been through. But I would think that if I was going to war, I would want to have some good conversations and education from people who've been to war before, right? And everyone at some point in life is gonna go to war for their life. And at that point, you're gonna want to know the ones who know how to live. You're gonna want to know the survivors and the ones who've been through it, the ones who've had the hip surgeries, the ones who've survived so many surgeries. Some of my friends have had literally hundreds of surgeries, and they're fighting out here trying to be actors, and they're always laughing, and they're always you could take the worst situation and they will turn it into some humor that you never thought was right to come out of anyone's mouth, but they can get away with it. Their strength and their spirit and their humors are are just unstoppable, and that's what I hope anyone who's been through hell will realize the gift in what they've been through, and the gift in what you've been through, and the strength that you can bring to the screen, because our career really is all about humanity, and the people who miss that are making work that nobody cares about.

That's a great point. You said something that really resonated. I've had different acting teachers demonstrate different approaches to tapping into emotion and leaning on life experience. I've never heard anyone put it the way you just did, just let the guard down. And that's certainly something I've my guard up and I've had the walls up because of the background, the the veteran background. And I do also want to be clear that I don't for a minute feel like I've lost something or not booked something because of that. I don't think there's a single cast and director that I've auditioned for that was like, oh no, he's there's something I don't feel that that's been the case. A lot of it has been self-limiting, but there's been roles that I've had to say I can't audition for this because of that. But I was also trying to find a way to word it. I've had people discourage me from disclosing my disability and say that it'll hurt you in the long run. Talking with you today, it's given me the courage to not hide that because I it's been hidden. People that are close to me know the stuff that I've been through. And I I don't know, I just I guess I don't want to I don't feel like I need to hide it anymore.

You know, I had to hide it for a lot of years. A lot of years. I I wore long skirts most of the time to hide it. And the reason that I had to was because if they saw it, I wasn't getting a job. And so I was like, fine, I'll hide it, and they won't know about it until I get to wardrobe. You know, so there are some offices and some people that I know are not receptive, so I have to hide it. I literally have in the past lost so many jobs because of it and found out later this was exactly the reason. Like I've had casting directors have shows end and then contact my manager and say, Eileen, hands down, booked that job, but then someone saw her limping, walking to her car. That has happened so many times where I've lost jobs over it, over my medical stuff, which is appalling to me. So I understand the people saying in this business, hide it because of who your audience is, who you're dealing with. Sometimes, I mean, it's hard for me to hide it now because the whole world, you know, I've interviewed so many times and spoken all over stages and fought for the inclusion of people with disabilities in this industry for three decades. So now they all know. And unfortunately, then that often puts me in a category where they'll only bring me in for like disabled roles on certain offices. And I'm like, you know, I'm I'm pretty agile, I'm moving around, you know. And so I understand why they say that, but in but it's like at some point you're like, this is who I am, you know, love it or leave it. And, you know, when it comes to the work, I don't hide it anymore in the work. And I still am aware of the fact that if they see it too much and they're focused on it, they're not focused on what needs to be on the screen, which is your eyes and your soul. And there's so many roles where it just doesn't matter. You know, I've been trying to get this industry to understand that it just doesn't matter. It does not matter. You know, one guy has a beard and glasses, one guy has a bald head, some guy has a big nose, some guy has a big beard belly, somebody has one leg missing, somebody has one arm missing, somebody's blonde, somebody's brunette. It's like, who cares? It's all quality characteristics of characters, you know. So it all adds to the richness of what we're putting on the screen. And and, you know, I worked in casting for a lot of years, and I got to hear all the behind-the-scenes nonsense and the things they worry about. And you know what I do know? Audiences worldwide, they don't really like perfect people. They actually hate them and they enjoy hating them. And so when they think somebody is being presented as perfection, they can't wait to tear them apart and tear them down and be like, well, that's not even real, and blah, blah, blah. They can't wait to attack perfect. So I'm like, so with us, you get a built-in, don't have to worry about attacking us for being perfect. You know, we got other things to bring to the table. So I'm very sensitive to where you're at as an actor because it's been a debate for decades about do we hide it, do we show it, do we hide it, do we show it. There were years where I was like, if I hide it, I get in the door, I'm okay. If I show it, I don't get in the door. Now we got a problem because I can't get on the set to show them what I can do if I can't get past the audition process, right? So I got to the point where I would hide it until I got on set, and then I'd be like, ta-da! Now deal with it. It's enough you get rid of me. You got a problem on your hands. And what I've found is that a lot of producers and creatives, once they get their hands on you, they're like, ooh, I like that. Can we write that in? And so that has happened on multiple shows where they were like, Can we write that in? I'm like, have at it, go for it.

I think that also can come with um for me, I can I can say that with like in-person auditions, like I was saying earlier, like how um, you know, you you have this craft that you've been working on, and then you go to the audition, you're just like, this is what I have. And you're you you kind of like from I guess it's shy or maybe just I don't know, just kind of um nerves. Probably nerves, yeah, nerves. And then and then that's why I'm that's when I'm like when the callback hits, I'm like, let's go, let's roll, because I'm here. I'm I'm here for it. But I'm I think the taping it helps me with auditions because that first tape I can do a couple times, and I'm like, I'm ready.

Audition is knocking on the outside door.

Callback is like, we're let's go, let's go to set. Like, I'm ready. Put your m put my mic on, please.

So with your experience working behind the camera and on the camera for a while now, what's your take on what's going on in the industry with it slowing down? Do you see it picking back up around here? It seems like a lot of stuff has moved to Atlanta and even foreign Canada and Europe.

I a lot of stuff has moved um foreign, but I I feel like with my I mean, my gosh, so many people, so many creatives are having to find jobs outside of the industry, which is heartbreaking because that you know, like people that have been, for instance, um, an art director I know, right? Um, he's still doing some things, but he would be constantly going, going. Now he's trying to have to do other things, like, I mean, having to like figure out some kind of business to do on the side. Or I I feel like it will come back. I've I mean, I know, you know, I've heard, I think I said about six shows coming, possibly to New Orleans. Um, I know Texas is opening up and it's huge, like with Taylor Sheridan stuff is huge. Um, but yeah, I just I I do pray it comes back. I'm not sure if it's gonna be as booming as it was, you know, when when I was, you know, a youngster. But I mean, I feel like, you know, I hope I I do hope it comes back because we we have to do something. We have to create, we have to, you know, we have to make movie magic. And what better place is New Orleans, Louisiana, or you know, just in Louisiana in general to do that. Because we've had it so long. But yeah, I I've heard, I mean, there's work, there's work everywhere, and people do travel. It's like we're kind of the circus in a sense of that you you follow the work and people follow the work, you know, you go where the work goes.

New Mexico was starting to boom for a little bit. I don't know if it still is.

And I mean, for I as actors with the taping, I and that that's one good thing about the taping is because we can audition from your house and you know, wherever and then go fly somewhere to shoot the, you know, as long as their work is local right now, right? You have to like work as a local. But but hopefully that will change and we can actually have the talent and go.

Are you sag?

I'm sag eligible. You know, I I haven't joined SAG because I still do, I don't have enough of the SAG jobs to do SAC. So I still do non-union stuff. And I like it. I dig it actually. I love the the non like the non-union independent stuff. I I did a really awesome role um that I was this, I was like this like sweet girl. And it was a it was called um bru I'm really bad at names lately, not bruiser. I am bad. It was just really the kind of all go. But anyways, I had this role that was like the sweet girl, and then um in my bat and like my purse, and all of a sudden I come out and I'm just like blazing guns. And and that was a non-union role. It was awesome, you know. Like I got paid well, but uh it was it was awesome. Then I wound up like getting murdered and stepped on and stuff and had blood and and glass and stuff. It was awesome.

Nice.

I love the non-union stuff, but I haven't joined, I haven't joined SAG.

If it if it was here, like New York or LA, where everything, including background, is SAG, it would make sense to jump in once you're eligible. Yes. That's that's my next step is I'm I'm trying, and I just want to be eligible to put it on the top of my resume and say eligible. Let's go. I just want to be eligible.

Yeah.

You will. You will be. No won't be. This is the year, 2026. This is the year.

Well, Ann, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.

I feel like it's been like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

No, we like blah blah. That's that way. I don't blah blah. Yeah, the these these podcasts are about the guest, and yeah, you had a lot of really important things to pass on, and I'm I'm grateful. I'm grateful that you came on and cleared some stuff up. I'm sorry that you had to go through uh uh trolls. I hate that we had to address that, but I'm glad we did.

Me too.

So thank you so much for coming on, Ann.

Thank you for having me, TJ and Brian. You're doing really, really important work. This is this is this is the epitome of Louisiana investing in itself right now. Yeah, I know. I got scut. This is Louisiana investing in itself, right?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for that.

Yep.

All right, folks.

I keep telling TJ how important we are, but he doesn't believe. Yeah, yeah.

Well, I appreciate those NOLA film scene, guys. This is awesome. I know y'all had to like twist my arm a bunch of times, even made me come here when I couldn't talk even, but now I'm finally here. So I got sick.

This is the time you were supposed to be here. Yeah, yeah, happens.

You know, I love it, Gabby. Thank y'all so much. I hope I I hope I wasn't.

You were very entertaining and we love name dropping. Yeah, in the sense of the story.

I wasn't really that's just my stories. That's my story, y'all.

That's that's why we're here. We love hearing people's stories, and I mean stories are meant to be told, right? Yep, yeah. That's what we're doing we're storytellers.

And let me tell you, I I met some that let me just real quick, I've met some like of my best friends working in this industry. Like, yeah, just from I mean, really just people that just get it, how my brain works, they just get it. You we just all kind of get it, you know, and like y'all get it. And and I think that's I think that's really cool how how we've all become a family and through this wild, sad, crazy, amazing, terrifying industry.

You find your tribe. Yeah, excellent. Well, Grace, it's been great talking to you. Folks, I love having you. And we will see you next time.

I guess thank you all so much.

This soldier's heart. We both well, I guess all three of us were in it. We didn't get to meet on set because of filming schedules, but it's really cool to count myself in a film that you were in, and I'm grateful that you came on and spoke with us, and I can't wait to look into more of the advocacy that you're doing for the disabled acting community. So thank you so much for joining us.

My pleasure. Great talking with both of you.