On this episode of The Story & Craft Podcast, we sit down for a chat with actor, Fred Melamed. Fred has spent decades in film, TV, stage and in the studio as a voiceover actor. He is one of the most recognizable character actors, with memorable roles in films such as In a World, Hail, Caesar! and The Spy Who Dumped Me. His work on TV includes Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Morning Show, Barry, Wandavision, and Reboot, which is currently airing on Hulu.
We chat about Fred’s story…from growing up in New York, to studying at Yale, to discovering his passion for acting. Fred shares insights from his time on Broadway, as well as his work on screen. We discuss the nuances of creating memorable performances and the impact his roles have had on viewers.
Finally, we touch on Fred's family life, raising twin sons on the autism spectrum, and the challenges of balancing his professional and personal life. Fred reflects on the importance of culture, behavior, and people-pleasing in the world of entertainment. Join us for an engaging and insightful look into the life of a talented actor and voiceover artist.
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
0:09:46 - Lake Bell's Script and Voice Acting (69 Seconds)
0:12:53 - Transitioning to Voice Acting (42 Seconds)
0:19:39 - Generational Differences in Discussing Internal Life (68 Seconds)
0:22:54 - The Evolution of Voice Acting (68 Seconds)
0:32:22 - Choosing Roles Based on Contradictions (114 Seconds)
0:37:01 - Adjusting to Family Changes (79 Seconds)
0:49:20 - Jewish Wit on Identity and People-Pleasing (92 Seconds)
0:54:44 - TV Show With a Great Cast (91 Seconds)
1:09:25 - Advice for 16-Year-Old Self (98 Seconds)
Listen and subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Also, check out the show and sign up for the newsletter at www.storyandcraftpod.com.
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#podcast #interview #FredMelamed #Actor #Reboot #Hulu #Wandavision #Marvel #MarvelUniverse #MarvelStudios #actor #acting #storyandcraft #voiceover #voiceactor #voiceovercoach #volife
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You know, i think there's a lot of vanity
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Fred Melamed: and other foibles that come to my attention
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Fred Melamed: frequently, both my own and other people's,
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Fred Melamed: but I also think that it's beautiful that
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Fred Melamed: people do it, because it's not easy.
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Announcer: Welcome to Story and Craft.
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Announcer: Now here's your host, Marc Preston.
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Marc Preston: Hey, how's it going?
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Marc Preston: I'm Marc Preston back, another episode of
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Marc Preston: Story and Craft And I know, i know, i know
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Marc Preston: it's been a few weeks.
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Marc Preston: You're going, Marc, where have you been?
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Marc Preston: I've been working on some very cool, fun
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Marc Preston: projects but also very time consuming
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Marc Preston: projects, so it's been a moment, but we're
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Marc Preston: back.
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Marc Preston: I've been jazzed, i've been looking forward
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Marc Preston: to it because I know I've got like really
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Marc Preston: cool guests coming up.
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Marc Preston: Kind of like today, actor Fred Melamed
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Marc Preston: Little sit down to talk story with one of
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Marc Preston: the most recognizable character actors out
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Marc Preston: there Men in films, kind of like in a world
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Marc Preston: Hale Caesar, the Coen Brothers movie, the
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Marc Preston: Spy Who Dumped Me.
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Marc Preston: Also TV Brooklyn Nine-Nine The Morning Show,
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Marc Preston: barry WandaVision, his new show on Hulu,
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Marc Preston: super Crazy, funny.
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Marc Preston: It is called Reboot.
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Marc Preston: Got Paul Reiser in that one.
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Marc Preston: Johnny Knoxville Cast is awesome, super
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Marc Preston: funny.
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Marc Preston: Again, reboot the show.
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Marc Preston: We'll be talking about it.
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Marc Preston: And don't forget the website,
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Marc Preston: storyandcraftpod.com.
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Marc Preston: Once again, storyandcraftpod.com.
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Marc Preston: Everything you want to learn about the show,
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Marc Preston: what's going on, past episodes, just head
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Marc Preston: And if you would a little favor, no matter
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Marc Preston: what podcast app you are using, if you
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Marc Preston: would follow the show That way you get that
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Marc Preston: star action.
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Marc Preston: If you're loving what you're hearing, that
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Marc Preston: would be super cool, all right, so let's
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Marc Preston: get after it.
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Marc Preston: Today is Fred Melamed Day, right here on
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Marc Preston: Story and Craft.
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Marc Preston: Thank you so much for taking time out to
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Marc Preston: meet with me today.
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Marc Preston: I so appreciate it.
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Marc Preston: It's my pleasure.
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Marc Preston: Where are you?
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Marc Preston: where are you joining me from?
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Fred Melamed: today I'm in Valley Village, California,
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Fred Melamed: which is in the Valley part of the northern
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Fred Melamed: suburb of Los Angeles.
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Marc Preston: I know you're a New York kid, but are you?
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Marc Preston: is LA your home base now?
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Fred Melamed: It is.
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Fred Melamed: I've lived in LA for about just under 10
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Fred Melamed: years, but you're right that I was born and
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Fred Melamed: spent most of my life in New York.
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Marc Preston: For a New York guy.
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Marc Preston: You had all those great delis.
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Marc Preston: Just a personal question what's it like
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Marc Preston: getting in LA?
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Marc Preston: Where do you like to frequent to grab?
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Marc Preston: is it like Cantors, or is there anywhere
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Marc Preston: else you like to go?
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Fred Melamed: You know Nate Nals was the kind of standard
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Fred Melamed: answer I do like Cantors.
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Fred Melamed: I'm not a huge deli eater actually, but
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Fred Melamed: it's funny.
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Fred Melamed: People often ask me do I miss New York?
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Fred Melamed: And the truth is that New York has changed
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Fred Melamed: so vastly from the time that I lived there
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Fred Melamed: and from the time that I remember growing
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Fred Melamed: up there that there's precious little of it
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Fred Melamed: left to miss anymore.
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Fred Melamed: All the neighborhoods that I was attached
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Fred Melamed: to when I was a kid are gone.
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Fred Melamed: New York has become in many ways like any
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Fred Melamed: other city.
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Fred Melamed: It's just a big homogenous kind of mass.
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Fred Melamed: Also, new York was always expensive, even
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Fred Melamed: when I was a kid, but it was possible for
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Fred Melamed: actors, artists, poets, weirdos of
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Fred Melamed: different stripes to kind of eke out a
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Fred Melamed: living there.
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Fred Melamed: Although it was difficult, they could do it
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Fred Melamed: And that added to the intellectual sort of
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Fred Melamed: muscle of the city and also a lot of its
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Fred Melamed: vitality.
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Fred Melamed: But that's really changed.
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Marc Preston: I was surprised that you're hearing about
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Marc Preston: people on Broadway.
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Marc Preston: I think the perception is, if you're on
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Marc Preston: Broadway, you're doing great.
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Marc Preston: I was speaking with Melissa O'Neill.
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Marc Preston: She's on the show the rookie.
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Marc Preston: I was just talking, she was on Broadway.
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Marc Preston: She's like yeah, she's barely eking it out
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Marc Preston: And so maybe it's kind of a misnomer that
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Marc Preston: Broadway means you've made it financially,
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Marc Preston: you've made it professionally, yeah.
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Fred Melamed: I think it's more of a Marc of recognition
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Fred Melamed: than it is actually unless you're kind of a
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Fred Melamed: name star than an indication of your wealth.
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Fred Melamed: It's funny I remember I have a good friend,
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Fred Melamed: a woman director, writer, actress named
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Fred Melamed: Lake Bell, and some years back she was
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Fred Melamed: offered the chance to do a show on Broadway
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Fred Melamed: And she was wondering whether she should do
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Fred Melamed: that or take a movie that was coming her
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Fred Melamed: way.
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Fred Melamed: And I made the point that even as a
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Fred Melamed: relatively humble star of movies and
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Fred Melamed: television, you can work pretty much when
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Fred Melamed: you want to on Broadway.
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Fred Melamed: The reverse is not true.
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Fred Melamed: The power of media is so vast that if
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Fred Melamed: people know you from television or from
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Fred Melamed: movies, it's a much easier jump for you to
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Fred Melamed: do a show on Broadway than it is if you're
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Fred Melamed: a Broadway regular trying to go the other
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Fred Melamed: way.
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Marc Preston: Speaking with someone.
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Marc Preston: The other day and I have always wanted to
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Marc Preston: have an opportunity to sit down with Sam
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Marc Preston: Rockwell, always just enjoyed his work.
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Marc Preston: I'd spoken with two people and they both
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Marc Preston: said, yeah, we're going to go see him.
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Marc Preston: He's on Broadway.
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Marc Preston: It seems like there is a lot of support
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Marc Preston: from the theater folks or the folks that
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Marc Preston: are in film or whatever that came from
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Marc Preston: theater to kind of support their friends
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Marc Preston: who are in performances and will travel to
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Marc Preston: come see that.
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Marc Preston: So, going back real quick, you mentioned
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Marc Preston: Lake Bell.
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Marc Preston: I got to tell you Sam Soto is a voiceover
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Marc Preston: guy, one of my favorite characters ever in
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Marc Preston: the film.
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Marc Preston: It was so thank you.
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Marc Preston: That was so fun, i guess for people that
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Marc Preston: did, i know you do.
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Marc Preston: Vo is part of your ecosystem, without a
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Marc Preston: doubt, but I love the fact Lake Bell took
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Marc Preston: on the side and showcased the characters
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Marc Preston: and voiceover and that whole idea of the
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Marc Preston: thing, or it's back, the idea that
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Marc Preston: voiceover folks are vastly anonymous but we
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Marc Preston: hear them all the time.
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Marc Preston: How did that role come together for you?
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Marc Preston: You just knew her and you're like, hey, we
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Marc Preston: need my dad in this film.
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Marc Preston: How did that come to be?
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Fred Melamed: No, i didn't know her.
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Fred Melamed: I didn't know her at all.
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Fred Melamed: It was an interesting thing.
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Fred Melamed: I had done a film in 2008.
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Fred Melamed: I made a film with the Coen brothers called
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Fred Melamed: A Serious Man, which kind of put me back
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Fred Melamed: For many years.
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Fred Melamed: I won't bore you with the whole trajectory
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Fred Melamed: of my work as an actor, but for about over
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Fred Melamed: 20 years all I did was voice work.
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Fred Melamed: That was all From the early 80s really,
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Fred Melamed: almost until 2000,.
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Fred Melamed: That was practically all I did.
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Fred Melamed: I would do an occasional movie, but I had a
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Fred Melamed: very, very bad experience on Broadway doing
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Fred Melamed: the original medical production of Amadeus
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Fred Melamed: Horrible, crippling, stage fright,
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Fred Melamed: absolutely awful.
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Fred Melamed: I thought, well, i've made this horrible
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Fred Melamed: mistake.
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Fred Melamed: I went to Yale Drama School, i'll be an
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Fred Melamed: actor, but people said it's so hard and I
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Fred Melamed: said I'll show you.
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Fred Melamed: And then I found I really didn't like
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Fred Melamed: acting on stage.
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Fred Melamed: I felt very humiliated because I had
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Fred Melamed: trained to do that.
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Fred Melamed: About what year is this?
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Fred Melamed: roughly, i got out of Drama School in 1981.
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Fred Melamed: This realization is 1983.
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Fred Melamed: End of 1983, and I finished the run of
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Fred Melamed: Amadeus.
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Fred Melamed: End of 83, beginning of 84.
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Fred Melamed: Anyway, i had an agent, harry Abrams, who
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Fred Melamed: was a prominent in the voiceover world.
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Fred Melamed: So I said I'd like to do voiceovers And
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Fred Melamed: this was when the voiceover world was very
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Fred Melamed: different than it is today.
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Fred Melamed: Oh my God, yeah, it was almost 40 years ago.
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Fred Melamed: There weren't the throngs of people
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Fred Melamed: overpowering the gates.
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Fred Melamed: It was a very small coterie of people who
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Fred Melamed: did 90% of the work.
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Fred Melamed: There were about 150 people who did 90% of
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Fred Melamed: the work And everybody knew everybody.
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Marc Preston: back then Nobody knew who was doing the
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Marc Preston: work.
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Fred Melamed: Well, there were no home studios.
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Fred Melamed: So therefore you'd see people either at ad
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Fred Melamed: agencies or movie studios or recording
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Fred Melamed: studios.
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Fred Melamed: You'd see there was a social element to it
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Fred Melamed: because there was no such thing as
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Fred Melamed: internet-based recording in those days.
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Fred Melamed: Anyway, for about 20 years of my life, that
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Fred Melamed: was all I did, and occasionally I would do
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Fred Melamed: a movie.
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Fred Melamed: Like there were a couple of casting
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Fred Melamed: directors who liked me And they would offer
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Fred Melamed: me stuff.
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Fred Melamed: I wouldn't audition, i would get very
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Fred Melamed: spoiled And I made a great deal of money as
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Fred Melamed: a young single guy without responsibilities
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Fred Melamed: in the voiceover world.
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Fred Melamed: I was the voice of MCI, mercedes-benz, sony,
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Fred Melamed: consumer Products, burger King, lots and
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Fred Melamed: lots of advertising and then lots of promos,
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Fred Melamed: as well USA Network as the voice of CBS
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Fred Melamed: Sports.
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Fred Melamed: For many years, anyway, that was all I did.
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Fred Melamed: And then later I got married, i had
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Fred Melamed: children And when I started having
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Fred Melamed: responsibilities there was a big kind of
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Fred Melamed: sea change in the voiceover world And they
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Fred Melamed: started wanting people with real-sounding
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Fred Melamed: voices rather than dramatic James Earl
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Fred Melamed: Jonesy voices.
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Fred Melamed: And all of a sudden I found myself kind of
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Fred Melamed: non-grata after many years of being quite
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Fred Melamed: prominent in the voiceover world, and by
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Fred Melamed: then it was rough because I had a family
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Fred Melamed: and all that stuff.
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Fred Melamed: So my agent called me one day.
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Fred Melamed: This is after.
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Fred Melamed: A serious man came out and said do you know
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Fred Melamed: who Lake Bell is?
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Fred Melamed: And I said well, i know her name, but I
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Fred Melamed: don't really know who she is.
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Fred Melamed: He said well, she's an actress and she's
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Fred Melamed: left a script here for you.
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Fred Melamed: Now this is when I was living in New York.
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Fred Melamed: Lake was already living out in California,
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Fred Melamed: but she had come to New York.
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Fred Melamed: My agent said she's left the script with a
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Fred Melamed: note for you.
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Fred Melamed: So I went to my agent's office and picked
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Fred Melamed: up the script and read the note And it was
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Fred Melamed: a lovely handwritten letter saying you know,
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Fred Melamed: my name is Lake Bell.
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Fred Melamed: I don't know if you're familiar with me or
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Fred Melamed: not, but I've written this script and I
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Fred Melamed: just have a feeling that you'd be really
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Fred Melamed: good in this role.
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Fred Melamed: Please read it and tell me what you think.
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Fred Melamed: And she didn't know at the time that I had
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Fred Melamed: spent so many years telling those feels,
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Fred Melamed: but she thought that it was plausible that
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Fred Melamed: I would be a voiceover guy.
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Fred Melamed: So I read it and I really liked it.
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Fred Melamed: I really liked the script and I did it.
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Fred Melamed: I came out to California to do it.
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Fred Melamed: This is before I lived in California, but I
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Fred Melamed: wasn't aware at the time that there was
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Fred Melamed: this enormous groundswell of people
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Fred Melamed: yearning to be voice actors.
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Fred Melamed: You know, this was a shock to me And in
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Fred Melamed: fact when we made the movie the movie was
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Fred Melamed: kind of more about the family, this family
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Fred Melamed: that happens to work in this particular you
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Fred Melamed: know kind of small area.
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Fred Melamed: It's funny.
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Fred Melamed: I always thought the voiceover world was
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Fred Melamed: kind of this people acted like they were in
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Fred Melamed: the movie business, who were in it, but it
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Fred Melamed: was really this adjunct, separate thing.
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Fred Melamed: It was a separate movie business but still,
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Fred Melamed: you know, they drove Maserati's big ones
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Fred Melamed: and they read the box office, you know
292
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Fred Melamed: doings of movies and so on.
293
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Fred Melamed: But it was kind of a separate, the separate
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Fred Melamed: little world.
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Fred Melamed: But it was a great, enjoyable experience
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Fred Melamed: for me because the people in it were great
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Fred Melamed: And it was a great character because he was
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Fred Melamed: so obviously so vain and so full of himself
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Fred Melamed: and he at the same time, in his own screwy
300
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Fred Melamed: way, he actually did love his daughters.
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Marc Preston: Oh, i love that There is a piece in there
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00:11:56,985 --> 00:11:58,736
Marc Preston: where you're trying to say basically and I
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Marc Preston: know it's her words that she wrote but
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Marc Preston: you're basically trying to say there is a
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Marc Preston: reality, this is not the easiest business,
306
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Marc Preston: this is you're trying to protect her from
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Marc Preston: herself.
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Marc Preston: I think a lot of people who work in the
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Marc Preston: entertainment industry, if their kids are
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Marc Preston: enthusiastic about it, they're like pump
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Marc Preston: your brakes for a moment.
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Marc Preston: You know you really want to get into this.
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Marc Preston: I love the relationship and just there was
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Marc Preston: that kind of tension there, but you could
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Marc Preston: feel the love.
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Marc Preston: I just love the character.
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Marc Preston: It's, without doubt, my favorite one of the
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Marc Preston: film and actually seeing, like a friend of
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Marc Preston: my, joe Sipriano and the great late, great
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Marc Preston: Marc Elliott.
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Fred Melamed: Oh sure.
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Marc Preston: Marc Elliott, another one of those guys
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Marc Preston: from back in the day, and Marc Grau, who
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Marc Preston: I'm sure you've been in the studio at least
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Marc Preston: a couple of times.
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Fred Melamed: Those guys all became my fast friends Joe
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Fred Melamed: Sipriano, Marc Grau.
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Fred Melamed: We got to know each other well doing that
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Fred Melamed: movie and I've continued to be friends with
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Fred Melamed: them for these many years, which I'm very
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Fred Melamed: happy about.
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Marc Preston: Now I think that one of the things that's
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Marc Preston: funny is you put, you touched on that.
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Marc Preston: I've been God, i've been doing this like 30,
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Marc Preston: 31 years and coaching talent for about 20.
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Marc Preston: And I've noticed people would come like
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Marc Preston: actors.
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Marc Preston: You know, hey, man, i want to.
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Marc Preston: You know, i got the skills.
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Marc Preston: I want to kind of transfer that to VO and
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Marc Preston: I'm like great, i think.
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Marc Preston: When you got in, i think what a lot of
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Marc Preston: people don't understand movie business.
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Marc Preston: You always needed the agent, you know, And
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Marc Preston: now with VO was like that.
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Marc Preston: But now people, internet, home studio, they
347
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Marc Preston: can carve out a career.
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Marc Preston: So it is interesting to see how many people
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Marc Preston: just I think a lot of people view it like a
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Marc Preston: side hustle, you know, and they're quickly
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Marc Preston: educated.
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Fred Melamed: Yeah, it's an utterly different business,
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Fred Melamed: utterly different, i mean it's.
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Fred Melamed: There's no point in belaboring how the
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Fred Melamed: world has changed.
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Fred Melamed: It makes you older than you already are.
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Fred Melamed: But you know, when I was doing a lot of
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Fred Melamed: voiceover work and enjoyed it, it was
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Fred Melamed: entirely different.
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Fred Melamed: First of all, it was all union.
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Fred Melamed: True, there was nobody working on union,
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Fred Melamed: which made an enormous difference I mean, i
363
00:14:02,422 --> 00:14:04,025
Fred Melamed: was a millionaire when I was in my 30s from
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Fred Melamed: doing it.
365
00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:11,529
Fred Melamed: Nowadays there's a lot more work, but it's
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00:14:11,569 --> 00:14:13,613
Fred Melamed: divided up among many, many, many more
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Fred Melamed: people and the rates are dramatically less.
368
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Fred Melamed: And there's thousands of people auditioning
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Fred Melamed: for so many jobs And people, because there
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00:14:22,743 --> 00:14:25,534
Fred Melamed: are no union standards, there's always
371
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Fred Melamed: people fighting to do jobs for less and
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00:14:27,583 --> 00:14:29,323
Fred Melamed: less and less, and that, you know, that
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Fred Melamed: hasn't, from my perspective, that hasn't
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Fred Melamed: been good for the business at all.
375
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Fred Melamed: But you know, time marches on and that's
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Fred Melamed: kind of the way it is.
377
00:14:36,300 --> 00:14:39,647
Fred Melamed: Also, it's also true that I think what
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00:14:39,667 --> 00:14:42,312
Fred Melamed: they're looking for has changed and tastes
379
00:14:42,352 --> 00:14:42,833
Fred Melamed: have changed.
380
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Fred Melamed: So to me to be worth using, i've always
381
00:14:53,556 --> 00:14:55,059
Fred Melamed: asked to have some qualities that are
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Fred Melamed: identifiable and that are compelling.
383
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Fred Melamed: An awful lot of what I hear on television
384
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Fred Melamed: anyway seems to not distinguish itself.
385
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Fred Melamed: It seems like everybody sounds like
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Fred Melamed: everybody else.
387
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Fred Melamed: Look, obviously, some people of whom that
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00:15:13,645 --> 00:15:15,902
Fred Melamed: isn't true, but an awful lot of, it seems
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Fred Melamed: very, very, very homogenized and not as
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Fred Melamed: interesting to me.
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Marc Preston: You know it's funny you say that because I
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00:15:24,711 --> 00:15:26,680
Marc Preston: think that a lot of people do chase after
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00:15:27,061 --> 00:15:28,928
Marc Preston: that the homogenized sound, of which
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00:15:29,591 --> 00:15:31,357
Marc Preston: there's a pendulum that swings between the
395
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Marc Preston: big voices to the unpolished sound, and
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00:15:33,921 --> 00:15:34,303
Marc Preston: it's funny.
397
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Marc Preston: I was speaking with the director, ariel
398
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Marc Preston: Vroman, and he said on film that's one of
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Marc Preston: the first things he pays attention to is
400
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Marc Preston: the voice, the sound of the character.
401
00:15:42,021 --> 00:15:43,407
Marc Preston: He said I don't care how beautiful they are
402
00:15:43,447 --> 00:15:46,520
Marc Preston: if the way they sound doesn't fit the
403
00:15:46,580 --> 00:15:48,526
Marc Preston: character, he doesn't really think they're
404
00:15:48,546 --> 00:15:48,988
Marc Preston: going to fit.
405
00:15:50,141 --> 00:15:52,166
Marc Preston: But I'm curious though you did mention, to
406
00:15:52,547 --> 00:15:54,411
Marc Preston: kind of hit rewind on the origin stories
407
00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:56,024
Marc Preston: you mentioned, you went to Yale.
408
00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,046
Marc Preston: You had a pretty substantial stage bit of
409
00:16:00,087 --> 00:16:00,688
Marc Preston: stage training.
410
00:16:00,728 --> 00:16:02,230
Marc Preston: Am I accurate in saying that?
411
00:16:03,433 --> 00:16:04,194
Fred Melamed: You are absolutely.
412
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Fred Melamed: I'm not sure how much good it did, but I
413
00:16:06,766 --> 00:16:09,160
Fred Melamed: was trained in the theater as people In
414
00:16:09,220 --> 00:16:10,283
Fred Melamed: fact, when I went to Yale.
415
00:16:10,343 --> 00:16:13,050
Fred Melamed: I went to Yale, which is a graduate program,
416
00:16:13,070 --> 00:16:18,169
Fred Melamed: drama program from 1978 to 1981, so I got
417
00:16:18,189 --> 00:16:21,798
Fred Melamed: out in 81, there was absolutely no training
418
00:16:21,958 --> 00:16:24,024
Fred Melamed: offered whatsoever for television or movies
419
00:16:24,185 --> 00:16:25,449
Fred Melamed: as part of your training.
420
00:16:26,060 --> 00:16:28,931
Fred Melamed: The presumption probably arrogant and
421
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Fred Melamed: incorrect presumption was that if you were
422
00:16:30,978 --> 00:16:32,643
Fred Melamed: a competent stage actor you would have no
423
00:16:32,723 --> 00:16:35,691
Fred Melamed: problem transitioning over to other media.
424
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Fred Melamed: But I don't really think that's true.
425
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Marc Preston: Now you mentioned the stage fright thing,
426
00:16:39,561 --> 00:16:41,003
Marc Preston: though How did?
427
00:16:42,065 --> 00:16:45,812
Marc Preston: it seems almost exceptionally ironic that
428
00:16:45,832 --> 00:16:52,192
Marc Preston: you would have this training from a great
429
00:16:52,212 --> 00:16:52,373
Marc Preston: school.
430
00:16:52,393 --> 00:16:53,195
Marc Preston: What kind of fire that up?
431
00:16:53,215 --> 00:16:55,400
Marc Preston: Or in 83, you said gosh, this is just not
432
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Marc Preston: my thing.
433
00:16:56,424 --> 00:16:57,106
Marc Preston: you know the stage.
434
00:16:57,620 --> 00:16:59,968
Fred Melamed: My own neuroses, my own inner conflicts.
435
00:17:00,730 --> 00:17:03,760
Fred Melamed: I think, like many people, i had chosen the
436
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,607
Fred Melamed: profession that I chose with some partially
437
00:17:06,867 --> 00:17:12,180
Fred Melamed: unhealthy pretty unhealthy reasons, and I
438
00:17:12,420 --> 00:17:16,107
Fred Melamed: think that it became clear to me.
439
00:17:17,931 --> 00:17:20,516
Fred Melamed: Well, i'll explain it a little more
440
00:17:20,556 --> 00:17:20,916
Fred Melamed: personally.
441
00:17:22,279 --> 00:17:24,707
Fred Melamed: So I think there are some people who feel
442
00:17:24,868 --> 00:17:27,619
Fred Melamed: innately lovable They have the good fortune
443
00:17:27,639 --> 00:17:28,965
Fred Melamed: of feeling innately lovable And there are
444
00:17:29,005 --> 00:17:31,617
Fred Melamed: other people and I count myself among the
445
00:17:31,657 --> 00:17:34,584
Fred Melamed: secondary camp of people who feel at some
446
00:17:34,644 --> 00:17:37,789
Fred Melamed: level that it always must be earned that
447
00:17:37,830 --> 00:17:43,224
Fred Melamed: they must in some respect be extremely
448
00:17:44,546 --> 00:17:47,511
Fred Melamed: beautiful, extremely intelligent, extremely
449
00:17:47,572 --> 00:17:49,881
Fred Melamed: articulate, extremely talented, extremely
450
00:17:49,941 --> 00:17:51,726
Fred Melamed: charming, extremely compelling in some way.
451
00:17:52,568 --> 00:17:53,812
Fred Melamed: Otherwise they're more or less
452
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Fred Melamed: indispensable.
453
00:17:55,804 --> 00:17:59,913
Fred Melamed: I think that was a kind of a dynamic of my
454
00:18:00,334 --> 00:18:03,761
Fred Melamed: upbringing And I think I chose to be an
455
00:18:03,941 --> 00:18:10,712
Fred Melamed: actor because of that to some measure.
456
00:18:11,453 --> 00:18:12,975
Fred Melamed: I was very close to my father growing up.
457
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Fred Melamed: My father was a lovely guy.
458
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Fred Melamed: He was a producer, early television
459
00:18:15,927 --> 00:18:18,341
Fred Melamed: producer, very sweet, nice man.
460
00:18:19,304 --> 00:18:21,090
Fred Melamed: But there was a quality of depression about
461
00:18:21,131 --> 00:18:23,900
Fred Melamed: him always And I kind of thought that it
462
00:18:23,940 --> 00:18:27,628
Fred Melamed: was my life's work to make life seem like a
463
00:18:27,688 --> 00:18:29,271
Fred Melamed: winnable proposition for him.
464
00:18:29,291 --> 00:18:33,047
Fred Melamed: I thought that's what I'm here on earth for.
465
00:18:33,261 --> 00:18:35,052
Marc Preston: You think the depression, the feeling that
466
00:18:35,092 --> 00:18:36,440
Marc Preston: he had, the way you interpreted it, do you
467
00:18:36,540 --> 00:18:38,907
Marc Preston: think that was because of the success with
468
00:18:38,967 --> 00:18:39,870
Marc Preston: work, wasn't enough?
469
00:18:40,311 --> 00:18:41,802
Marc Preston: It was just this generalized sense.
470
00:18:41,982 --> 00:18:42,766
Marc Preston: That's what you're saying.
471
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,305
Fred Melamed: Yeah, i don't think you.
472
00:18:45,565 --> 00:18:48,391
Fred Melamed: I think people who have not accomplished
473
00:18:48,471 --> 00:18:52,828
Fred Melamed: what they want work-wise tend to assign
474
00:18:53,209 --> 00:18:55,697
Fred Melamed: that threshold as being the thing.
475
00:18:55,937 --> 00:18:57,323
Fred Melamed: There's always a thing that you're going to
476
00:18:57,383 --> 00:18:59,294
Fred Melamed: get, that's going to make you happy, that's
477
00:18:59,314 --> 00:18:59,918
Fred Melamed: going to complete you.
478
00:18:59,938 --> 00:19:01,673
Fred Melamed: I'm going to finally get married, i'm going
479
00:19:01,711 --> 00:19:03,004
Fred Melamed: to finally become a millionaire, i'm going
480
00:19:03,042 --> 00:19:05,149
Fred Melamed: to finally get on Broadway, i'm going to
481
00:19:05,209 --> 00:19:07,799
Fred Melamed: finally admit that I'm gay, i'm going to
482
00:19:07,839 --> 00:19:10,126
Fred Melamed: finally do this or that And then, finally,
483
00:19:10,227 --> 00:19:10,869
Fred Melamed: i will be happy.
484
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,610
Fred Melamed: Well, the truth is that there is no signal
485
00:19:14,650 --> 00:19:15,372
Fred Melamed: point like that.
486
00:19:15,814 --> 00:19:18,317
Fred Melamed: Whatever you achieve, the sense of
487
00:19:18,432 --> 00:19:20,830
Fred Melamed: emptiness that people have most people have
488
00:19:20,946 --> 00:19:22,684
Fred Melamed: doesn't derive from a lack of
489
00:19:22,820 --> 00:19:24,784
Fred Melamed: accomplishment and therefore accomplishing
490
00:19:24,845 --> 00:19:26,709
Fred Melamed: things doesn't actually ameliorate it.
491
00:19:28,573 --> 00:19:31,670
Fred Melamed: It has to do with other things Early
492
00:19:32,271 --> 00:19:34,097
Fred Melamed: psychodynamic forces on you as a child
493
00:19:34,178 --> 00:19:35,863
Fred Melamed: usually, and how they bounce off the way
494
00:19:35,883 --> 00:19:36,645
Fred Melamed: what you're born with.
495
00:19:39,020 --> 00:19:43,169
Fred Melamed: So I don't think his depression, the
496
00:19:43,209 --> 00:19:44,572
Fred Melamed: depressed sort of outlook that he had,
497
00:19:44,632 --> 00:19:45,922
Fred Melamed: derived from the fact that he wasn't
498
00:19:45,942 --> 00:19:46,704
Fred Melamed: successful enough.
499
00:19:48,128 --> 00:19:49,992
Fred Melamed: I think it had to do with deeper things in
500
00:19:51,083 --> 00:19:52,928
Fred Melamed: his upbringing that I can only guess at.
501
00:19:55,723 --> 00:19:57,006
Marc Preston: Well, he's from that generation where he
502
00:19:57,046 --> 00:19:59,792
Marc Preston: probably didn't discuss that stuff too much.
503
00:20:00,321 --> 00:20:02,281
Marc Preston: He didn't really discuss, And he in
504
00:20:02,341 --> 00:20:06,024
Marc Preston: particular, yeah, Yeah, I'll talk with my
505
00:20:06,064 --> 00:20:08,510
Marc Preston: kids and I'll say listen, I'm doing this
506
00:20:08,630 --> 00:20:10,443
Marc Preston: for you, with you, because this is what
507
00:20:10,463 --> 00:20:11,591
Marc Preston: happened when I was a kid and I was like
508
00:20:11,651 --> 00:20:13,221
Marc Preston: that's not going to work really well.
509
00:20:13,662 --> 00:20:15,306
Marc Preston: So when I have kids, I'm not going to do
510
00:20:15,366 --> 00:20:15,566
Marc Preston: that.
511
00:20:16,288 --> 00:20:18,441
Marc Preston: So I try to explain to them some of the you
512
00:20:18,481 --> 00:20:20,365
Marc Preston: know they're mature, they're a couple of
513
00:20:20,386 --> 00:20:23,583
Marc Preston: them are college kids now, But back then
514
00:20:23,944 --> 00:20:25,452
Marc Preston: your father probably I'm assuming the
515
00:20:25,492 --> 00:20:27,060
Marc Preston: generation probably just didn't discuss
516
00:20:27,180 --> 00:20:28,727
Marc Preston: those internal things too much.
517
00:20:29,100 --> 00:20:29,742
Fred Melamed: Well, especially.
518
00:20:29,982 --> 00:20:31,586
Fred Melamed: I mean I think you're right that in general,
519
00:20:31,847 --> 00:20:34,602
Fred Melamed: in his generation you know he was World War
520
00:20:34,622 --> 00:20:38,254
Fred Melamed: II generation such things were not openly
521
00:20:38,696 --> 00:20:41,163
Fred Melamed: discussed, and I think he was particularly
522
00:20:44,051 --> 00:20:45,816
Fred Melamed: elusive, secretive about some of his
523
00:20:46,297 --> 00:20:46,899
Fred Melamed: internal life.
524
00:20:46,919 --> 00:20:55,752
Fred Melamed: I think that was just his nature, anyway,
525
00:20:56,353 --> 00:20:57,335
Fred Melamed: to bring this back around.
526
00:20:57,395 --> 00:20:59,619
Fred Melamed: So I think I took a lot of that into my
527
00:20:59,779 --> 00:21:01,403
Fred Melamed: acting and I thought it's the actor's job
528
00:21:01,443 --> 00:21:02,727
Fred Melamed: to be kind of superhuman.
529
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:10,348
Fred Melamed: And I remember going to the theater and
530
00:21:10,408 --> 00:21:12,451
Fred Melamed: feeling this great weight that I had this
531
00:21:12,511 --> 00:21:16,322
Fred Melamed: responsibility, and I began to resent the
532
00:21:16,423 --> 00:21:18,047
Fred Melamed: audience, which is something you sure don't
533
00:21:18,067 --> 00:21:18,749
Fred Melamed: want to do, right?
534
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:20,846
Fred Melamed: And I felt horrible because I thought you
535
00:21:20,886 --> 00:21:23,920
Fred Melamed: know here, you know I've trained to do this
536
00:21:24,161 --> 00:21:26,192
Fred Melamed: and I said it's what I want to do and
537
00:21:26,272 --> 00:21:27,559
Fred Melamed: people are paying a lot of money for these
538
00:21:27,599 --> 00:21:29,085
Fred Melamed: tickets and it's a great work, it's a great
539
00:21:29,126 --> 00:21:32,139
Fred Melamed: play, and yet all my effort is going to
540
00:21:32,179 --> 00:21:33,826
Fred Melamed: just getting myself through this play
541
00:21:33,866 --> 00:21:36,317
Fred Melamed: instead of being great at it, because it's
542
00:21:36,358 --> 00:21:37,521
Fred Melamed: so hard for me to just do it.
543
00:21:38,563 --> 00:21:40,867
Fred Melamed: And when I finished the run of it, i
544
00:21:40,887 --> 00:21:46,080
Fred Melamed: finished the show and then I thought, well,
545
00:21:46,100 --> 00:21:47,969
Fred Melamed: i don't want to set foot on stage again, i
546
00:21:48,009 --> 00:21:48,451
Fred Melamed: really don't.
547
00:21:48,552 --> 00:21:50,782
Fred Melamed: And I felt extremely defeated by it and
548
00:21:50,822 --> 00:21:51,605
Fred Melamed: very upset by it.
549
00:21:52,548 --> 00:21:55,278
Fred Melamed: But I needed to make a living and so I got
550
00:21:55,338 --> 00:21:56,562
Fred Melamed: lucky in the voice of a world.
551
00:21:57,365 --> 00:21:58,590
Fred Melamed: I got a couple of big accounts.
552
00:21:58,651 --> 00:22:01,000
Fred Melamed: I got Conoco Oil right out of the chute,
553
00:22:01,020 --> 00:22:02,463
Fred Melamed: which at the time was a big oil company,
554
00:22:03,205 --> 00:22:04,949
Fred Melamed: and then I got MCI, which nobody remembers,
555
00:22:04,970 --> 00:22:05,952
Fred Melamed: which was a phone company.
556
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:08,986
Marc Preston: My first big national actually was GTE with
557
00:22:09,326 --> 00:22:12,032
Marc Preston: Patrick Stewart back in 93.
558
00:22:12,513 --> 00:22:13,924
Marc Preston: I say GTE as I could try to explain to my
559
00:22:13,944 --> 00:22:14,125
Marc Preston: kids.
560
00:22:14,366 --> 00:22:16,116
Marc Preston: You had to actually get your own separate
561
00:22:16,337 --> 00:22:18,165
Marc Preston: long distance service and they're like
562
00:22:18,185 --> 00:22:18,888
Marc Preston: what's long distance?
563
00:22:20,735 --> 00:22:22,200
Marc Preston: But yeah, that was a big deal back then to
564
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:23,225
Marc Preston: have that kind of an account.
565
00:22:24,924 --> 00:22:25,667
Fred Melamed: Yeah, no, it was great.
566
00:22:25,867 --> 00:22:28,194
Fred Melamed: I was very lucky and I did very well,
567
00:22:28,656 --> 00:22:30,661
Fred Melamed: especially for a person with no response.
568
00:22:30,701 --> 00:22:33,366
Fred Melamed: I was a single guy, a Dinemini, major
569
00:22:33,687 --> 00:22:37,360
Fred Melamed: financial responsibilities, so it was from
570
00:22:37,380 --> 00:22:38,465
Fred Melamed: that point of view it was great.
571
00:22:39,289 --> 00:22:41,479
Fred Melamed: It was artistically, i was writing and
572
00:22:41,519 --> 00:22:43,244
Fred Melamed: doing some other things which kind of
573
00:22:43,825 --> 00:22:45,088
Fred Melamed: satisfied some of my needs.
574
00:22:45,168 --> 00:22:47,761
Fred Melamed: But I was more concerned that I was making
575
00:22:47,801 --> 00:22:49,585
Fred Melamed: a living and that I was, within that small
576
00:22:50,046 --> 00:22:51,769
Fred Melamed: world, kind of a big player.
577
00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:58,747
Fred Melamed: But then around the early 2000s that
578
00:22:59,147 --> 00:23:00,569
Fred Melamed: suddenly ceased to be.
579
00:23:00,709 --> 00:23:02,632
Fred Melamed: There was this massive change.
580
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:06,425
Fred Melamed: But to go back to what we were saying,
581
00:23:06,746 --> 00:23:10,879
Fred Melamed: talking about Lake and that movie, i really
582
00:23:10,959 --> 00:23:12,964
Fred Melamed: didn't understand when that movie was made
583
00:23:13,084 --> 00:23:17,132
Fred Melamed: quite how much the ranks were swollen with
584
00:23:17,172 --> 00:23:17,993
Fred Melamed: people trying to get in.
585
00:23:18,380 --> 00:23:19,102
Fred Melamed: So I started to do it.
586
00:23:20,505 --> 00:23:21,828
Fred Melamed: Every two or three years there'd be an
587
00:23:21,908 --> 00:23:24,220
Fred Melamed: article in TV Guide that said the
588
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,028
Fred Melamed: millionaire voices you never see, and then
589
00:23:27,088 --> 00:23:28,921
Fred Melamed: for maybe a month there'd be people trying
590
00:23:28,941 --> 00:23:30,626
Fred Melamed: to get into it and then it would quiet down.
591
00:23:32,972 --> 00:23:35,620
Fred Melamed: But it's become this kind of entirely
592
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:36,543
Fred Melamed: different thing now.
593
00:23:37,005 --> 00:23:39,714
Fred Melamed: I often wonder why people are so attracted
594
00:23:39,754 --> 00:23:40,055
Fred Melamed: to it.
595
00:23:40,697 --> 00:23:42,986
Fred Melamed: I think part of it is because there are
596
00:23:43,026 --> 00:23:45,073
Fred Melamed: people who are intimidated by the way that
597
00:23:45,113 --> 00:23:45,595
Fred Melamed: they look.
598
00:23:45,615 --> 00:23:48,750
Fred Melamed: They don't feel very confident about how
599
00:23:48,770 --> 00:23:50,958
Fred Melamed: they look, but they know that they can do
600
00:23:51,018 --> 00:23:52,502
Fred Melamed: different things with their voices And some
601
00:23:52,522 --> 00:23:56,790
Fred Melamed: people, including me, feel freer orally
602
00:23:56,830 --> 00:24:00,244
Fred Melamed: than they do AU orally than they do
603
00:24:00,305 --> 00:24:00,787
Fred Melamed: physically.
604
00:24:00,908 --> 00:24:02,154
Fred Melamed: I think that's also part of it.
605
00:24:02,275 --> 00:24:05,384
Fred Melamed: Also, i think people like the idea this
606
00:24:05,424 --> 00:24:09,452
Fred Melamed: kind of probably incorrect idea that it's
607
00:24:09,492 --> 00:24:10,153
Fred Melamed: not so hard.
608
00:24:10,193 --> 00:24:12,064
Fred Melamed: You know you can be your own boss and wear
609
00:24:12,085 --> 00:24:13,449
Fred Melamed: pajamas and stuff like that.
610
00:24:14,031 --> 00:24:18,885
Fred Melamed: I think any career where you're responsible
611
00:24:19,086 --> 00:24:21,833
Fred Melamed: for being hired by yourself is a lot of
612
00:24:21,893 --> 00:24:24,159
Fred Melamed: work You wind up having to do.
613
00:24:24,179 --> 00:24:26,528
Fred Melamed: You know the job becomes about getting jobs.
614
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:28,164
Marc Preston: Well, what I tell my students and the
615
00:24:28,204 --> 00:24:30,470
Marc Preston: people that approach me on occasion I say,
616
00:24:30,510 --> 00:24:31,421
Marc Preston: listen, there was an.
617
00:24:31,481 --> 00:24:33,266
Marc Preston: I even wrote a little article about it once
618
00:24:33,326 --> 00:24:35,101
Marc Preston: and I said you know, the equipment is so
619
00:24:35,141 --> 00:24:37,955
Marc Preston: much less to buy it The ability to get on
620
00:24:37,975 --> 00:24:40,844
Marc Preston: the internet and find out people to hire
621
00:24:40,864 --> 00:24:40,924
Marc Preston: you.
622
00:24:40,984 --> 00:24:43,489
Marc Preston: You can actually carve a career out without
623
00:24:43,569 --> 00:24:46,361
Marc Preston: having one of the big agents, and I think
624
00:24:46,783 --> 00:24:50,353
Marc Preston: it's just a creative thing that I think
625
00:24:50,975 --> 00:24:53,181
Marc Preston: people perceive as it being within reach.
626
00:24:54,403 --> 00:24:55,927
Marc Preston: You know, especially like you mentioned,
627
00:24:55,967 --> 00:24:58,873
Marc Preston: the nature of the voices that people want,
628
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,166
Marc Preston: and advertising, or in promos or in
629
00:25:01,186 --> 00:25:02,992
Marc Preston: different genres, is different.
630
00:25:03,373 --> 00:25:06,362
Marc Preston: But I don't know where it came from.
631
00:25:06,402 --> 00:25:07,766
Marc Preston: And I tell folks, unless you're really
632
00:25:07,866 --> 00:25:10,252
Marc Preston: willing to commit yourself emotionally,
633
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,625
Marc Preston: artistically and everything and really put
634
00:25:12,645 --> 00:25:15,192
Marc Preston: in the time, sell baskets on Etsy or
635
00:25:15,252 --> 00:25:15,592
Marc Preston: something.
636
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:17,966
Marc Preston: You know this is not a side hustle.
637
00:25:18,607 --> 00:25:19,329
Marc Preston: You know you're going to be very
638
00:25:19,349 --> 00:25:20,392
Marc Preston: discouraged very quickly.
639
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:21,984
Marc Preston: And then there are people out there like
640
00:25:22,164 --> 00:25:24,290
Marc Preston: yourself or Joseph Riano and those guys we
641
00:25:24,310 --> 00:25:26,626
Marc Preston: mentioned, that they're around for decades
642
00:25:26,727 --> 00:25:29,195
Marc Preston: because they adapt and they're.
643
00:25:29,697 --> 00:25:31,904
Marc Preston: You know they got that a special sauce.
644
00:25:32,025 --> 00:25:32,687
Marc Preston: You know if you will.
645
00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:35,828
Fred Melamed: And most of those guys actually are now
646
00:25:35,888 --> 00:25:39,138
Fred Melamed: doing a lot of teaching because even they,
647
00:25:39,780 --> 00:25:41,728
Fred Melamed: even their diet of work, has been much
648
00:25:41,788 --> 00:25:43,616
Fred Melamed: reduced because the work has been so spread
649
00:25:43,716 --> 00:25:46,504
Fred Melamed: out And there are major companies now big
650
00:25:46,544 --> 00:25:48,288
Fred Melamed: major companies that don't want to pay
651
00:25:48,408 --> 00:25:49,009
Fred Melamed: union rates.
652
00:25:50,112 --> 00:25:53,004
Fred Melamed: So therefore they're hiring people, you
653
00:25:53,044 --> 00:25:55,168
Fred Melamed: know, who are working out of a garage
654
00:25:55,208 --> 00:25:55,549
Fred Melamed: somewhere.
655
00:25:56,871 --> 00:26:00,224
Fred Melamed: You know, i don't begrudge people's desire
656
00:26:00,244 --> 00:26:01,868
Fred Melamed: to make a living, however they want to do
657
00:26:01,948 --> 00:26:07,323
Fred Melamed: it, but for me, you know, somebody says,
658
00:26:07,343 --> 00:26:08,873
Fred Melamed: well, i'm a professional voiceover artist.
659
00:26:08,893 --> 00:26:10,321
Fred Melamed: Well, they're telling the truth.
660
00:26:11,103 --> 00:26:12,887
Fred Melamed: But that's like saying I'm a professional
661
00:26:12,907 --> 00:26:15,633
Fred Melamed: musician and I play in a band every night
662
00:26:15,740 --> 00:26:17,645
Fred Melamed: and we play bar mitzvahs or weddings, or,
663
00:26:18,327 --> 00:26:19,350
Fred Melamed: you know, maybe once a while we play in a
664
00:26:19,370 --> 00:26:19,471
Fred Melamed: bar.
665
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:21,184
Fred Melamed: Well, that guy's a professional musician
666
00:26:21,264 --> 00:26:23,191
Fred Melamed: and he can even be a very good musician,
667
00:26:24,736 --> 00:26:27,684
Fred Melamed: but that's a slogging life that I wouldn't
668
00:26:27,724 --> 00:26:27,985
Fred Melamed: want.
669
00:26:29,308 --> 00:26:33,499
Fred Melamed: So, you know, is it better to work in a
670
00:26:33,539 --> 00:26:35,305
Fred Melamed: dentist's office, you know, and make
671
00:26:35,345 --> 00:26:37,572
Fred Melamed: $50,000 a year, $60,000 a year?
672
00:26:37,773 --> 00:26:40,301
Fred Melamed: or is it better to be a voiceover artist
673
00:26:40,361 --> 00:26:40,702
Fred Melamed: and do that?
674
00:26:40,762 --> 00:26:41,083
Fred Melamed: I don't know.
675
00:26:42,206 --> 00:26:47,019
Fred Melamed: It's, you know, but for me, i always I
676
00:26:47,059 --> 00:26:49,626
Fred Melamed: don't think I would feel satisfied unless I
677
00:26:49,686 --> 00:26:52,312
Fred Melamed: had the larger stage to work on.
678
00:26:52,500 --> 00:26:53,665
Marc Preston: Yeah, yeah, it was funny.
679
00:26:53,685 --> 00:26:55,753
Marc Preston: I think I started in voiceover roughly
680
00:26:55,813 --> 00:26:59,027
Marc Preston: about $92, $93, somewhere in there, and my
681
00:26:59,087 --> 00:27:00,795
Marc Preston: mentor, a gentleman at Dallas University at
682
00:27:00,815 --> 00:27:02,381
Marc Preston: the time, was a voice of American Airlines.
683
00:27:02,421 --> 00:27:04,286
Marc Preston: Back then you could just do regional work
684
00:27:04,366 --> 00:27:06,881
Marc Preston: or even in a big metropolitan area you can
685
00:27:06,901 --> 00:27:07,944
Marc Preston: carve out an amazing career.
686
00:27:09,067 --> 00:27:12,357
Marc Preston: He I remember he was just talking about how
687
00:27:12,517 --> 00:27:16,086
Marc Preston: in the 80s it was money hand over fist And
688
00:27:16,427 --> 00:27:17,710
Marc Preston: we're talking about early 90s, which was
689
00:27:17,730 --> 00:27:20,162
Marc Preston: still going pretty well back then.
690
00:27:20,603 --> 00:27:22,748
Marc Preston: But that's really interesting to have a
691
00:27:22,788 --> 00:27:25,161
Marc Preston: chance to speak with someone who did have a
692
00:27:25,201 --> 00:27:27,969
Marc Preston: chance to enjoy a career early on doing
693
00:27:28,050 --> 00:27:29,474
Marc Preston: just voiceover.
694
00:27:29,514 --> 00:27:32,462
Marc Preston: But you're to say it's a success story.
695
00:27:32,482 --> 00:27:34,707
Marc Preston: It's a grotesque understatement, but you've
696
00:27:34,767 --> 00:27:37,413
Marc Preston: had equal success, i feel, on camera.
697
00:27:37,500 --> 00:27:38,667
Marc Preston: I mean, anytime you show up.
698
00:27:38,868 --> 00:27:40,396
Marc Preston: This is not meant to stroke you at all, but
699
00:27:40,436 --> 00:27:44,107
Marc Preston: anytime you show up in something, i'm like,
700
00:27:44,227 --> 00:27:45,369
Marc Preston: oh, okay, it's going to get good.
701
00:27:45,610 --> 00:27:47,093
Marc Preston: Just in some way, one division.
702
00:27:47,180 --> 00:27:48,785
Marc Preston: I had no idea you were on the show, my son,
703
00:27:49,166 --> 00:27:50,490
Marc Preston: he's getting me all schooled up on the
704
00:27:50,550 --> 00:27:52,911
Marc Preston: Marvel universe And I was like, wait,
705
00:27:52,931 --> 00:27:53,575
Marc Preston: there's Fred right.
706
00:27:53,595 --> 00:27:54,942
Marc Preston: I was like, okay, this is going to get good,
707
00:27:54,962 --> 00:27:56,388
Marc Preston: this is going to get interesting, you know,
708
00:27:56,549 --> 00:27:59,301
Marc Preston: or you know you're, oh gosh, the spy who
709
00:27:59,381 --> 00:27:59,802
Marc Preston: dumped me.
710
00:27:59,863 --> 00:28:01,788
Marc Preston: You being a bad guy is like, yes, okay,
711
00:28:01,828 --> 00:28:03,212
Marc Preston: more of this, it's, it's.
712
00:28:03,901 --> 00:28:05,426
Marc Preston: I do adore seeing you show up, because
713
00:28:05,446 --> 00:28:07,150
Marc Preston: there's always going to be a leveling up in
714
00:28:07,170 --> 00:28:08,923
Marc Preston: that moment, i think And again, i'm not
715
00:28:08,963 --> 00:28:10,468
Marc Preston: trying to stroke you, i'm just, like always,
716
00:28:10,488 --> 00:28:11,972
Marc Preston: happy to see you arrive on screen.
717
00:28:12,100 --> 00:28:13,944
Fred Melamed: Well, i appreciate you saying that.
718
00:28:14,065 --> 00:28:20,499
Fred Melamed: I mean, my whole thing is I want people, i
719
00:28:20,559 --> 00:28:22,784
Fred Melamed: want, i want to be, i want people to be
720
00:28:22,825 --> 00:28:24,228
Fred Melamed: entertained by what I do.
721
00:28:24,308 --> 00:28:25,831
Fred Melamed: I want I want it to be enjoyable.
722
00:28:27,182 --> 00:28:30,213
Fred Melamed: Now, what constitutes entertainment is, you
723
00:28:30,534 --> 00:28:31,798
Fred Melamed: know, different for different people.
724
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,052
Fred Melamed: I'm on a show now called Barry I'm, i'm, we
725
00:28:35,092 --> 00:28:36,257
Fred Melamed: just started working this week on the
726
00:28:36,297 --> 00:28:38,306
Fred Melamed: second, my second season, therefore, season,
727
00:28:38,326 --> 00:28:40,696
Fred Melamed: but my second season on it, and that's a
728
00:28:40,756 --> 00:28:44,025
Fred Melamed: show It's on HBO or HBO Max, for those
729
00:28:44,045 --> 00:28:49,014
Fred Melamed: people that have streaming where it veers
730
00:28:49,495 --> 00:28:52,748
Fred Melamed: wildly between funny and harrowing.
731
00:28:53,858 --> 00:28:57,408
Fred Melamed: Yes, it's, you know, but but, but Bill
732
00:28:57,448 --> 00:28:59,132
Fred Melamed: Hader, the guy who is the lead and also the
733
00:28:59,192 --> 00:29:03,767
Fred Melamed: writer, director of it, is able to walk
734
00:29:03,807 --> 00:29:06,952
Fred Melamed: that line with, to me, unbelievable skill.
735
00:29:07,673 --> 00:29:11,686
Fred Melamed: So I always, you know, i to me, i, i, i,
736
00:29:11,787 --> 00:29:14,352
Fred Melamed: it's important to to that I be entertained
737
00:29:14,372 --> 00:29:15,260
Fred Melamed: when I watch something.
738
00:29:15,601 --> 00:29:17,726
Fred Melamed: So I'm always, i'm always, i'm always
739
00:29:17,746 --> 00:29:20,452
Fred Melamed: hoping to sort of haunt the audience.
740
00:29:20,552 --> 00:29:21,994
Fred Melamed: That's, you know, when something's really
741
00:29:22,074 --> 00:29:24,736
Fred Melamed: good, when I see a movie or a TV show or
742
00:29:24,816 --> 00:29:27,026
Fred Melamed: play or even read a book even read a book,
743
00:29:27,789 --> 00:29:28,572
Fred Melamed: that's really good.
744
00:29:29,615 --> 00:29:31,703
Fred Melamed: It keeps replaying through my head, i keep
745
00:29:31,743 --> 00:29:32,365
Fred Melamed: thinking about it.
746
00:29:32,385 --> 00:29:33,509
Fred Melamed: That's how I know that it's good.
747
00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:33,860
Fred Melamed: Yeah.
748
00:29:33,901 --> 00:29:34,863
Marc Preston: I'm the exact same way.
749
00:29:35,064 --> 00:29:36,728
Marc Preston: If I see a movie that affects me some way,
750
00:29:36,748 --> 00:29:38,522
Marc Preston: the whole next day it just pops into my
751
00:29:38,602 --> 00:29:38,883
Marc Preston: mind.
752
00:29:38,983 --> 00:29:40,447
Marc Preston: There's something about it, a performance
753
00:29:40,528 --> 00:29:41,841
Marc Preston: or a line or something like that.
754
00:29:41,861 --> 00:29:42,283
Marc Preston: That's funny.
755
00:29:42,303 --> 00:29:43,900
Marc Preston: I'm the same way as you, Yeah.
756
00:29:43,940 --> 00:29:46,609
Fred Melamed: And for me characters are the whole, are
757
00:29:46,689 --> 00:29:50,261
Fred Melamed: really the most interesting thing For me.
758
00:29:50,482 --> 00:29:51,766
Fred Melamed: The characters are what really
759
00:29:51,827 --> 00:29:55,279
Fred Melamed: distinguishes something Like you know I've
760
00:29:55,319 --> 00:29:58,086
Fred Melamed: seen The Godfather God A Zillion Times.
761
00:29:58,106 --> 00:29:59,670
Fred Melamed: You know I that's one of those movies where,
762
00:29:59,750 --> 00:30:01,565
Fred Melamed: even if it just happens to come on
763
00:30:01,605 --> 00:30:03,255
Fred Melamed: television, you know I'll just watch it.
764
00:30:03,296 --> 00:30:04,601
Fred Melamed: I'll just stop whatever I'm doing and just
765
00:30:04,641 --> 00:30:06,646
Fred Melamed: watch it, even though I've seen it so many
766
00:30:06,706 --> 00:30:06,947
Fred Melamed: times.
767
00:30:08,109 --> 00:30:10,722
Fred Melamed: But if you ask me to tell you the plot of
768
00:30:10,742 --> 00:30:13,008
Fred Melamed: The Godfather, i could only give you kind
769
00:30:13,028 --> 00:30:15,542
Fred Melamed: of a very general idea of the plot, of what
770
00:30:15,582 --> 00:30:16,283
Fred Melamed: actually happens.
771
00:30:16,664 --> 00:30:21,933
Fred Melamed: But there are so many things, moments of
772
00:30:21,973 --> 00:30:23,682
Fred Melamed: characters, things that happen that I
773
00:30:23,722 --> 00:30:25,887
Fred Melamed: remember so vividly, and that's the
774
00:30:25,927 --> 00:30:26,449
Fred Melamed: characters.
775
00:30:26,489 --> 00:30:30,627
Fred Melamed: So for me the story, the plot is kind of
776
00:30:30,687 --> 00:30:33,435
Fred Melamed: like this clothesline on which the
777
00:30:33,475 --> 00:30:35,280
Fred Melamed: characters are hung, But it's the
778
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,065
Fred Melamed: characters that make that bring me back to
779
00:30:37,125 --> 00:30:37,506
Fred Melamed: things.
780
00:30:37,586 --> 00:30:37,887
Fred Melamed: You know.
781
00:30:38,468 --> 00:30:40,112
Fred Melamed: It's the kind of human element of things.
782
00:30:40,682 --> 00:30:41,807
Marc Preston: Yeah, It's being a character.
783
00:30:41,827 --> 00:30:43,897
Marc Preston: I mean I, I have only gotten through one
784
00:30:43,937 --> 00:30:45,964
Marc Preston: season of Barry so far, but Henry Winkler,
785
00:30:46,505 --> 00:30:48,410
Marc Preston: it is so nice to see him be an unpleasant
786
00:30:48,450 --> 00:30:49,292
Marc Preston: person for once.
787
00:30:50,764 --> 00:30:51,948
Fred Melamed: It's so interesting, isn't it?
788
00:30:52,481 --> 00:30:52,862
Marc Preston: Yeah, it's.
789
00:30:53,042 --> 00:30:54,507
Marc Preston: It's like wait, that's not, that's not the
790
00:30:54,547 --> 00:30:55,128
Marc Preston: Henry Winkler.
791
00:30:55,148 --> 00:30:57,704
Marc Preston: But you know it's almost for him to pull
792
00:30:57,745 --> 00:30:59,429
Marc Preston: that off and everybody knows he's a mens.
793
00:30:59,610 --> 00:31:01,807
Marc Preston: You know is, is is a trick, but that's,
794
00:31:01,867 --> 00:31:02,610
Marc Preston: that's a great show.
795
00:31:03,023 --> 00:31:05,442
Fred Melamed: Yeah, i play his agent Did you come in at
796
00:31:05,784 --> 00:31:09,105
Fred Melamed: season three or, yes, this past season, the
797
00:31:09,125 --> 00:31:09,305
Fred Melamed: season.
798
00:31:09,405 --> 00:31:11,490
Fred Melamed: That's the latest season and we just
799
00:31:11,510 --> 00:31:13,033
Fred Melamed: started the next season, just began it.
800
00:31:14,461 --> 00:31:16,126
Fred Melamed: I knew Henry from before because we had
801
00:31:16,166 --> 00:31:17,369
Fred Melamed: done a show together called Children's
802
00:31:17,430 --> 00:31:17,871
Fred Melamed: Hospital.
803
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,267
Fred Melamed: And there was another man, alec Berg, that
804
00:31:21,287 --> 00:31:23,112
Fred Melamed: was one of the creators of Barry.
805
00:31:24,300 --> 00:31:25,804
Fred Melamed: That I also knew because I had worked with
806
00:31:25,824 --> 00:31:28,209
Fred Melamed: him on Caribbean enthusiasm and some of the
807
00:31:28,530 --> 00:31:29,773
Fred Melamed: Sacha Baronan con films.
808
00:31:30,542 --> 00:31:33,829
Fred Melamed: So it was very wonderful for me because I
809
00:31:33,869 --> 00:31:35,292
Fred Melamed: already knew a bunch of the people and it
810
00:31:35,332 --> 00:31:35,713
Fred Melamed: was great.
811
00:31:36,561 --> 00:31:41,321
Fred Melamed: You're right that Henry is known you know
812
00:31:41,722 --> 00:31:43,968
Fred Melamed: aptly for being one of the sweetest, nicest
813
00:31:44,008 --> 00:31:46,253
Fred Melamed: people you'll ever encounter anywhere.
814
00:31:47,401 --> 00:31:49,347
Fred Melamed: But it is great to see him play this kind
815
00:31:49,387 --> 00:31:52,723
Fred Melamed: of demi-jerk acting teacher with all of his
816
00:31:52,784 --> 00:31:53,666
Fred Melamed: selfishness and all that.
817
00:31:53,786 --> 00:31:55,350
Fred Melamed: And I don't want to ruin it for people that
818
00:31:55,370 --> 00:31:56,092
Fred Melamed: may not have seen it.
819
00:31:56,621 --> 00:31:58,326
Fred Melamed: But some other people who start off very
820
00:31:58,426 --> 00:32:00,953
Fred Melamed: nice or you might think they're very nice,
821
00:32:02,981 --> 00:32:05,142
Fred Melamed: notably Sally.
822
00:32:05,322 --> 00:32:07,970
Fred Melamed: The character of Sally has a big.
823
00:32:08,090 --> 00:32:11,023
Fred Melamed: As you go on she changes and one of the
824
00:32:11,043 --> 00:32:12,507
Fred Melamed: things that the writers of that show love
825
00:32:12,527 --> 00:32:14,872
Fred Melamed: to do is to confound the audience's
826
00:32:14,932 --> 00:32:17,426
Fred Melamed: expectations, but in a ways that actually
827
00:32:17,466 --> 00:32:18,069
Fred Melamed: makes sense.
828
00:32:20,009 --> 00:32:21,316
Fred Melamed: So I have high praise for that show.
829
00:32:21,336 --> 00:32:22,040
Fred Melamed: I really love that show.
830
00:32:22,401 --> 00:32:23,824
Marc Preston: You always seem to get on really
831
00:32:23,984 --> 00:32:25,066
Marc Preston: interesting ensembles.
832
00:32:25,126 --> 00:32:27,752
Marc Preston: I mean part of the story of your career
833
00:32:27,772 --> 00:32:29,922
Marc Preston: that I enjoy so much is where you find you
834
00:32:29,943 --> 00:32:31,346
Marc Preston: know you've had a chance to work with Woody
835
00:32:31,427 --> 00:32:34,702
Marc Preston: Allen more than once, the Coen Brothers Do
836
00:32:34,742 --> 00:32:37,191
Marc Preston: you make decisions on projects based upon
837
00:32:38,081 --> 00:32:38,603
Marc Preston: What do you?
838
00:32:38,864 --> 00:32:40,649
Marc Preston: what is your criteria when you're looking
839
00:32:40,669 --> 00:32:41,331
Marc Preston: to take a role?
840
00:32:42,221 --> 00:32:43,627
Marc Preston: What are the criteria you look at before
841
00:32:43,667 --> 00:32:44,189
Marc Preston: you say yes?
842
00:32:45,141 --> 00:32:46,647
Fred Melamed: Well, there are a few different criteria.
843
00:32:48,304 --> 00:32:50,970
Fred Melamed: One thing that's important to me is the
844
00:32:51,010 --> 00:32:54,364
Fred Melamed: people that I'm working with, so it was an
845
00:32:54,424 --> 00:32:56,611
Fred Melamed: opportunity to work with the Coens again,
846
00:32:57,754 --> 00:33:03,063
Fred Melamed: or somebody like Bill Hader or Paul Thomas
847
00:33:03,124 --> 00:33:05,775
Fred Melamed: Anderson, for example, who I love Now his
848
00:33:05,835 --> 00:33:06,960
Fred Melamed: father was a big VO guy.
849
00:33:07,702 --> 00:33:08,423
Marc Preston: He was indeed.
850
00:33:08,704 --> 00:33:11,490
Marc Preston: Ernie Anderson has a great for people that
851
00:33:11,510 --> 00:33:12,291
Marc Preston: haven't had chance to listen.
852
00:33:12,552 --> 00:33:15,305
Marc Preston: The Outtake Real Ernie Anderson's Outtake
853
00:33:15,365 --> 00:33:18,567
Marc Preston: Real is so satisfying to listen to,
854
00:33:18,768 --> 00:33:20,172
Marc Preston: especially her voice over the talent.
855
00:33:20,702 --> 00:33:23,271
Marc Preston: It's just like oh, yes, yes, you know that
856
00:33:23,291 --> 00:33:24,636
Marc Preston: anyway, ernie Anderson was.
857
00:33:24,937 --> 00:33:25,920
Marc Preston: But yeah, i didn't mean to wrap you, i'm
858
00:33:25,940 --> 00:33:27,424
Marc Preston: sorry, but you said Paul Thomas Anderson.
859
00:33:27,444 --> 00:33:29,309
Marc Preston: I'm thinking you know what a, what a nice
860
00:33:29,329 --> 00:33:30,292
Marc Preston: dad I'd like to grow up with Ernie.
861
00:33:31,701 --> 00:33:33,464
Marc Preston: So your decision is who you get to work
862
00:33:33,484 --> 00:33:33,945
Marc Preston: with.
863
00:33:34,006 --> 00:33:34,847
Fred Melamed: That's one thing.
864
00:33:35,248 --> 00:33:39,761
Fred Melamed: Then there is the character, and in
865
00:33:39,842 --> 00:33:41,967
Fred Melamed: characters I'm always interested in people
866
00:33:42,227 --> 00:33:42,608
Fred Melamed: that are.
867
00:33:42,929 --> 00:33:44,432
Fred Melamed: I'm interested in the opposites within
868
00:33:44,472 --> 00:33:44,773
Fred Melamed: people.
869
00:33:45,362 --> 00:33:47,006
Fred Melamed: I'm interested in people who are, who have
870
00:33:47,046 --> 00:33:49,032
Fred Melamed: contradictory things within them.
871
00:33:50,102 --> 00:33:53,544
Fred Melamed: To give you an example the guy that you
872
00:33:53,584 --> 00:33:56,242
Fred Melamed: mentioned, sam Soto like Bill's character's
873
00:33:56,383 --> 00:34:00,110
Fred Melamed: father in In a World, is obviously, you
874
00:34:00,150 --> 00:34:03,144
Fred Melamed: know, vain and kind of narcissistic, but
875
00:34:03,205 --> 00:34:05,501
Fred Melamed: his feet are so clearly made of clay, he's
876
00:34:05,562 --> 00:34:07,450
Fred Melamed: so threatened that he can't even compete
877
00:34:07,471 --> 00:34:09,319
Fred Melamed: with his own daughter and he loves his
878
00:34:09,359 --> 00:34:09,540
Fred Melamed: daughter.
879
00:34:10,102 --> 00:34:12,208
Fred Melamed: So it's interesting to me when people have
880
00:34:12,308 --> 00:34:14,275
Fred Melamed: inconsistencies, that's always a great
881
00:34:14,335 --> 00:34:15,980
Fred Melamed: thing to play a character that like that.
882
00:34:16,681 --> 00:34:18,164
Fred Melamed: And then there's money to be considered.
883
00:34:18,765 --> 00:34:21,611
Fred Melamed: Now I have two no longer teenage 20 year
884
00:34:21,671 --> 00:34:25,284
Fred Melamed: old boys, twins and college and all that is
885
00:34:25,344 --> 00:34:27,650
Fred Melamed: going on, and I just got divorced about a
886
00:34:27,751 --> 00:34:28,332
Fred Melamed: year ago.
887
00:34:29,122 --> 00:34:31,530
Fred Melamed: So money is not to be sneered at either.
888
00:34:33,842 --> 00:34:34,747
Marc Preston: Sorry, i don't mean to laugh.
889
00:34:34,847 --> 00:34:36,395
Marc Preston: I'm kind of like the been there done that
890
00:34:36,455 --> 00:34:36,898
Marc Preston: thing Yeah.
891
00:34:37,199 --> 00:34:37,320
Fred Melamed: Yeah.
892
00:34:38,423 --> 00:34:41,071
Fred Melamed: So there's different piles and most actors
893
00:34:42,001 --> 00:34:44,330
Fred Melamed: have a pile of stuff that they do because
894
00:34:44,370 --> 00:34:45,454
Fred Melamed: they want to do it, because there's
895
00:34:45,474 --> 00:34:46,658
Fred Melamed: somebody they want to work with or it's a
896
00:34:46,698 --> 00:34:48,347
Fred Melamed: great script, and they have a pile of
897
00:34:48,488 --> 00:34:49,716
Fred Melamed: things that they do because they need to
898
00:34:49,777 --> 00:34:52,224
Fred Melamed: make some money And, if you're really lucky,
899
00:34:52,665 --> 00:34:54,489
Fred Melamed: you get a kind of a confluence between them
900
00:34:54,529 --> 00:34:56,553
Fred Melamed: and there's some projects that cover more
901
00:34:56,573 --> 00:34:57,214
Fred Melamed: than one base.
902
00:34:58,041 --> 00:34:59,445
Fred Melamed: But I think most people are not aware of
903
00:34:59,485 --> 00:35:02,704
Fred Melamed: the fact that in movies, for example, you
904
00:35:02,744 --> 00:35:04,597
Fred Melamed: do a lot of a lot of people do a lot of
905
00:35:04,658 --> 00:35:07,890
Fred Melamed: movies for very little money, even very big
906
00:35:07,950 --> 00:35:11,960
Fred Melamed: stars, because the movies just can't afford.
907
00:35:12,703 --> 00:35:13,907
Fred Melamed: I'm not talking about, you know, marvel
908
00:35:13,968 --> 00:35:16,563
Fred Melamed: movies, but I'm talking about movies that
909
00:35:16,983 --> 00:35:21,232
Fred Melamed: appeal to a more kind of artsy side of
910
00:35:22,113 --> 00:35:23,035
Fred Melamed: those artists.
911
00:35:25,123 --> 00:35:26,427
Fred Melamed: They do them because they want to do them
912
00:35:26,527 --> 00:35:28,272
Fred Melamed: and they can't support big salaries.
913
00:35:29,146 --> 00:35:30,637
Fred Melamed: And then they do other movies on which they
914
00:35:30,657 --> 00:35:31,060
Fred Melamed: get a big payday.
915
00:35:31,060 --> 00:35:33,211
Fred Melamed: But even really big, famous actors do a lot
916
00:35:33,292 --> 00:35:34,338
Fred Melamed: of stuff for very little.
917
00:35:34,419 --> 00:35:36,419
Fred Melamed: Also, you're speaking of those life changes.
918
00:35:38,331 --> 00:35:39,317
Marc Preston: That's got to be an interesting time in
919
00:35:39,338 --> 00:35:39,740
Marc Preston: your life right now.
920
00:35:41,206 --> 00:35:42,853
Marc Preston: And I've got two kids at Loyola in New
921
00:35:42,934 --> 00:35:44,340
Marc Preston: Orleans and she's 19.
922
00:35:44,380 --> 00:35:46,488
Marc Preston: My son's turning 18 shortly I'm going God,
923
00:35:46,508 --> 00:35:47,319
Marc Preston: they're going to be 20.
924
00:35:47,461 --> 00:35:49,133
Marc Preston: And my youngest is still 16, so I still got
925
00:35:49,153 --> 00:35:49,697
Marc Preston: a little bit of time.
926
00:35:52,067 --> 00:35:53,675
Marc Preston: And of course, i have a divorce and I know
927
00:35:53,715 --> 00:35:54,218
Marc Preston: that's not where you are.
928
00:35:54,238 --> 00:35:54,560
Marc Preston: That's not easy.
929
00:35:56,046 --> 00:35:57,632
Fred Melamed: Now, when you say, of course I have a
930
00:35:57,672 --> 00:35:58,656
Fred Melamed: divorce, why do you say of course you have
931
00:35:58,676 --> 00:35:58,917
Fred Melamed: a divorce?
932
00:35:58,977 --> 00:35:59,861
Fred Melamed: I mean, of course you have a divorce, you
933
00:35:59,881 --> 00:36:00,506
Fred Melamed: have to be divorced.
934
00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:02,763
Marc Preston: Of course, with your divorce added into the
935
00:36:02,823 --> 00:36:04,206
Marc Preston: equation.
936
00:36:04,427 --> 00:36:05,048
Fred Melamed: My divorce.
937
00:36:05,068 --> 00:36:06,010
Fred Melamed: Oh yeah, yeah, I thought you were saying
938
00:36:06,030 --> 00:36:06,572
Fred Melamed: your divorce?
939
00:36:06,692 --> 00:36:08,604
Marc Preston: Oh yeah, that too, but but no, i know that
940
00:36:08,644 --> 00:36:10,370
Marc Preston: it's of course that's never easy.
941
00:36:10,460 --> 00:36:12,508
Marc Preston: I'm sorry I probably did not enunciate
942
00:36:12,548 --> 00:36:14,546
Marc Preston: properly, but the thing is you have all
943
00:36:14,566 --> 00:36:16,624
Marc Preston: these life changes, so that's kind of a
944
00:36:16,745 --> 00:36:18,550
Marc Preston: probably in a growth spot for you a little
945
00:36:18,610 --> 00:36:18,771
Marc Preston: bit.
946
00:36:18,820 --> 00:36:20,407
Marc Preston: You know things are a little different.
947
00:36:20,701 --> 00:36:22,368
Marc Preston: Are you looking at anything differently now?
948
00:36:22,500 --> 00:36:25,006
Marc Preston: Is it what kind of projects or experiences
949
00:36:25,067 --> 00:36:26,310
Marc Preston: you want to be having right now in your
950
00:36:26,330 --> 00:36:27,192
Marc Preston: career or personally?
951
00:36:27,721 --> 00:36:28,062
Marc Preston: Sure?
952
00:36:28,644 --> 00:36:30,891
Fred Melamed: I'm looking at several things different.
953
00:36:31,201 --> 00:36:33,028
Fred Melamed: I'm looking at women differently, certainly
954
00:36:33,221 --> 00:36:37,882
Fred Melamed: Now that I'm unattached ogling might be the
955
00:36:37,922 --> 00:36:41,652
Fred Melamed: right, wrong word, but certainly a
956
00:36:41,692 --> 00:36:42,053
Fred Melamed: different.
957
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:43,262
Fred Melamed: Yeah, and I have a.
958
00:36:43,562 --> 00:36:47,389
Fred Melamed: You know I have some interest in particular.
959
00:36:47,610 --> 00:36:52,183
Fred Melamed: you know one, but I won't bore the audience
960
00:36:52,203 --> 00:36:52,544
Fred Melamed: with that.
961
00:36:53,567 --> 00:36:55,200
Fred Melamed: Yes, so that has changed.
962
00:36:56,287 --> 00:36:57,656
Fred Melamed: Of course divorces change things,
963
00:36:57,676 --> 00:36:58,949
Fred Melamed: financially certainly, and emotionally,
964
00:36:58,969 --> 00:36:59,820
Fred Melamed: there's no doubt about it.
965
00:37:00,542 --> 00:37:07,884
Fred Melamed: You know I I'm a person who had certain
966
00:37:08,125 --> 00:37:10,411
Fred Melamed: problems, deficits in my early
967
00:37:10,431 --> 00:37:12,709
Fred Melamed: relationships with my parents, some
968
00:37:12,729 --> 00:37:14,985
Fred Melamed: problems in there, and I kind of thought
969
00:37:15,547 --> 00:37:19,207
Fred Melamed: when I'd have my own family I would strive,
970
00:37:19,649 --> 00:37:21,759
Fred Melamed: do my best to remedy those things and not,
971
00:37:21,779 --> 00:37:25,148
Fred Melamed: you know, and I felt like for a while I was
972
00:37:25,549 --> 00:37:27,634
Fred Melamed: successful at that and I was very gratified
973
00:37:27,674 --> 00:37:33,640
Fred Melamed: by it, and then it fell apart.
974
00:37:34,788 --> 00:37:36,097
Fred Melamed: So it's a big adjustment to, you know, have
975
00:37:36,118 --> 00:37:36,460
Fred Melamed: to deal with it.
976
00:37:36,864 --> 00:37:38,097
Fred Melamed: I mean, obviously my children are still my
977
00:37:38,117 --> 00:37:42,767
Fred Melamed: children, my ex-wife is still around, but
978
00:37:42,888 --> 00:37:44,476
Fred Melamed: we were a happy family for a long time and
979
00:37:44,496 --> 00:37:46,846
Fred Melamed: it's quite an adjustment to have to have to
980
00:37:46,867 --> 00:37:49,960
Fred Melamed: have that, see that kind of fall away.
981
00:37:51,206 --> 00:37:52,915
Fred Melamed: And you know we're still a family of sorts
982
00:37:52,995 --> 00:37:53,940
Fred Melamed: but we're much more dislocated than we were.
983
00:37:56,770 --> 00:37:59,019
Fred Melamed: And you know I'm 66 years old and you know
984
00:37:59,039 --> 00:38:02,808
Fred Melamed: I didn't the idea of dragging my 66 year
985
00:38:02,868 --> 00:38:04,552
Fred Melamed: old ass out into the cold winds of the
986
00:38:04,612 --> 00:38:07,358
Fred Melamed: dating world did not particularly welcome
987
00:38:07,398 --> 00:38:07,519
Fred Melamed: me.
988
00:38:07,559 --> 00:38:10,007
Marc Preston: No laughing, believe me, i am, i'm here,
989
00:38:10,047 --> 00:38:11,573
Marc Preston: with you speaking with a good friend who
990
00:38:11,593 --> 00:38:14,808
Marc Preston: was going through the exact same thing And
991
00:38:14,829 --> 00:38:16,178
Marc Preston: I said it's like getting back to a place
992
00:38:16,198 --> 00:38:19,216
Marc Preston: you've never been And it's ironic because
993
00:38:19,236 --> 00:38:19,940
Marc Preston: you're still a family of sorts.
994
00:38:19,940 --> 00:38:20,421
Marc Preston: You're single.
995
00:38:20,461 --> 00:38:22,367
Marc Preston: You've been single before you've, but now
996
00:38:22,407 --> 00:38:23,991
Marc Preston: you have kids, you have life experiences,
997
00:38:24,020 --> 00:38:25,466
Marc Preston: so there's no, like I say, you can never go
998
00:38:25,546 --> 00:38:25,767
Marc Preston: home.
999
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,167
Marc Preston: I think that the concept of being single
00:38:28,729 --> 00:38:29,411
Marc Preston: does change.
00:38:30,081 --> 00:38:31,565
Marc Preston: I was reading an article yesterday about
00:38:31,585 --> 00:38:33,309
Marc Preston: people doing online dating and how that's
00:38:33,389 --> 00:38:35,341
Marc Preston: changed the paradigm, and they said that
00:38:35,362 --> 00:38:38,690
Marc Preston: there are more single guys now because more
00:38:38,750 --> 00:38:40,421
Marc Preston: relationship, more people are seeking
00:38:40,501 --> 00:38:42,205
Marc Preston: healthier relationships and they're a
00:38:42,246 --> 00:38:44,872
Marc Preston: longer term or something to that effect.
00:38:45,300 --> 00:38:47,228
Marc Preston: You know you just it's Carpe Diem.
00:38:47,340 --> 00:38:48,727
Fred Melamed: You still have to enjoy the day in some
00:38:48,748 --> 00:38:50,779
Fred Melamed: shape, former fashion and well, certainly,
00:38:50,879 --> 00:38:52,764
Fred Melamed: but I do think that I think that the
00:38:52,804 --> 00:38:55,690
Fred Melamed: challenges of the last few years have not
00:38:55,751 --> 00:38:57,904
Fred Melamed: been good for the marriage Marcet.
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,886
Fred Melamed: When I had to at the end of the beginning
00:39:01,906 --> 00:39:05,934
Fred Melamed: of 2021, i had to find a divorce attorney,
00:39:06,060 --> 00:39:08,006
Fred Melamed: so I got myself a very good woman divorce
00:39:08,046 --> 00:39:12,026
Fred Melamed: attorney And when I first decided to hire
00:39:12,066 --> 00:39:14,271
Fred Melamed: her, she said just so, you know, you're our
00:39:14,331 --> 00:39:14,953
Fred Melamed: last case.
00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:17,007
Fred Melamed: We have books full for like five years
00:39:17,047 --> 00:39:17,248
Fred Melamed: ahead.
00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:20,632
Fred Melamed: There have been so many divorces since the
00:39:20,692 --> 00:39:22,520
Fred Melamed: lock the COVID lockdown that we literally
00:39:22,660 --> 00:39:23,986
Fred Melamed: can't take any more people.
00:39:24,580 --> 00:39:27,329
Marc Preston: That is, you know, but I feel for you, you
00:39:27,349 --> 00:39:28,753
Marc Preston: know, much love too, because I know that,
00:39:28,773 --> 00:39:30,486
Marc Preston: no matter how you carve it up, it's, it's
00:39:30,526 --> 00:39:31,781
Marc Preston: an odyssey, but you know you come.
00:39:31,801 --> 00:39:33,546
Marc Preston: you always come out on the back end
00:39:34,228 --> 00:39:35,741
Marc Preston: learning more about yourself, and I think
00:39:35,761 --> 00:39:37,190
Marc Preston: that's that's the way I've tried to look at
00:39:37,230 --> 00:39:37,552
Marc Preston: things.
00:39:37,652 --> 00:39:39,341
Marc Preston: you know, you know that's actually a
00:39:39,381 --> 00:39:39,802
Marc Preston: question.
00:39:39,842 --> 00:39:42,809
Marc Preston: you were, you know you had a family, i
00:39:42,870 --> 00:39:43,170
Marc Preston: believe.
00:39:43,230 --> 00:39:45,002
Marc Preston: if I read something, or maybe you heard you
00:39:45,023 --> 00:39:46,988
Marc Preston: at one point in time, your sons, they were
00:39:47,249 --> 00:39:48,051
Marc Preston: on the spectrum.
00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:49,406
Marc Preston: Am I, am I correct in saying that?
00:39:49,460 --> 00:39:50,924
Marc Preston: And you've been a big advocate for that?
00:39:50,944 --> 00:39:54,584
Fred Melamed: Yes, Yes, that's a that was a big, big part
00:39:54,604 --> 00:39:56,690
Fred Melamed: of of my life and our lives together.
00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,427
Fred Melamed: I have twin sons that are will be 20 this
00:39:59,488 --> 00:40:02,788
Fred Melamed: year, one of whom has quite severe autism.
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:06,887
Fred Melamed: The other was was diagnosed with autism
00:40:06,947 --> 00:40:09,292
Fred Melamed: when he was younger, when he was quite
00:40:09,352 --> 00:40:11,665
Fred Melamed: young, but functionally it hardly affects
00:40:11,705 --> 00:40:13,931
Fred Melamed: him at all in any discernible way anymore
00:40:13,940 --> 00:40:17,168
Fred Melamed: And he's very, very high achiever and also
00:40:17,228 --> 00:40:18,692
Fred Melamed: very personable, very smart.
00:40:18,732 --> 00:40:20,205
Fred Melamed: You know he really is doing great.
00:40:20,900 --> 00:40:23,727
Fred Melamed: So we had both ends of the spectrum in our
00:40:23,948 --> 00:40:24,630
Fred Melamed: in our family.
00:40:25,460 --> 00:40:26,783
Fred Melamed: So that's, you know, that was a major
00:40:27,865 --> 00:40:31,312
Fred Melamed: factor in my, in me and my wife's life and
00:40:31,633 --> 00:40:33,285
Fred Melamed: decisions about where to live and all that
00:40:33,345 --> 00:40:35,222
Fred Melamed: stuff, and so we.
00:40:35,402 --> 00:40:36,745
Marc Preston: so you were living somewhere where you had
00:40:36,986 --> 00:40:39,892
Marc Preston: great resources for the, for the, for your,
00:40:39,932 --> 00:40:40,092
Marc Preston: son?
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:42,407
Fred Melamed: No, as a matter of no, we did not.
00:40:42,540 --> 00:40:44,104
Fred Melamed: What happened was we were living in
00:40:44,124 --> 00:40:46,210
Fred Melamed: Manhattan, in New York city, and we had a
00:40:46,310 --> 00:40:46,912
Fred Melamed: country house.
00:40:47,060 --> 00:40:49,506
Fred Melamed: This is in the in the glory days of my my
00:40:49,566 --> 00:40:51,900
Fred Melamed: glory days of voiceover business, when I
00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:53,163
Fred Melamed: was the voice of CBS Sports.
00:40:53,203 --> 00:40:56,290
Fred Melamed: I was the person who said the NFL on CBS,
00:40:56,430 --> 00:40:57,092
Fred Melamed: that guy.
00:40:57,620 --> 00:40:59,525
Fred Melamed: So I had that job, that unbelievably good
00:40:59,565 --> 00:41:03,882
Fred Melamed: job, for about seven years I think, and I
00:41:03,943 --> 00:41:06,088
Fred Melamed: bought a house, a really nice house, out in
00:41:06,148 --> 00:41:08,101
Fred Melamed: Montauk, in the Hamptons, in the east end
00:41:08,121 --> 00:41:10,620
Fred Melamed: of on the east end of Long Island, and we
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:12,465
Fred Melamed: had that as a country house and we had our,
00:41:12,785 --> 00:41:14,770
Fred Melamed: our, our apartment in Manhattan.
00:41:14,790 --> 00:41:16,643
Fred Melamed: We'd go back and forth And I built a little.
00:41:16,783 --> 00:41:18,569
Fred Melamed: By this time people were building home
00:41:18,609 --> 00:41:20,145
Fred Melamed: studios, so I built a little studio into
00:41:20,165 --> 00:41:20,506
Fred Melamed: the house.
00:41:20,980 --> 00:41:22,584
Fred Melamed: I had a studio both in New York and in the
00:41:22,624 --> 00:41:26,442
Fred Melamed: house in in Hamptons, and when our kids
00:41:26,482 --> 00:41:28,507
Fred Melamed: were diagnosed which was 2000, the
00:41:29,449 --> 00:41:34,360
Fred Melamed: beginning of 2004, there was such an
00:41:34,621 --> 00:41:36,526
Fred Melamed: avalanche of cases of autism in New York
00:41:36,566 --> 00:41:39,172
Fred Melamed: city that even though we were entitled to
00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:41,326
Fred Melamed: be able to get services for them, you
00:41:41,366 --> 00:41:42,008
Fred Melamed: couldn't get them.
00:41:42,529 --> 00:41:42,770
Marc Preston: Really.
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:44,865
Fred Melamed: Um, there were just not enough people, Yeah,
00:41:45,900 --> 00:41:47,985
Fred Melamed: So, uh, we couldn't.
00:41:48,065 --> 00:41:50,029
Fred Melamed: we were told to get one particular form of
00:41:50,070 --> 00:41:52,223
Fred Melamed: therapy called ABA therapy, a behaviorally
00:41:52,283 --> 00:41:52,986
Fred Melamed: oriented therapy.
00:41:53,488 --> 00:41:55,517
Fred Melamed: that was the only one that was shown to
00:41:55,577 --> 00:41:58,506
Fred Melamed: really have, you know, significant positive
00:41:58,707 --> 00:41:59,108
Fred Melamed: effects.
00:42:00,060 --> 00:42:02,132
Fred Melamed: But there weren't therapists available
00:42:02,249 --> 00:42:04,370
Fred Melamed: because in New York there were so many
00:42:04,487 --> 00:42:05,463
Fred Melamed: cases of autism.
00:42:05,463 --> 00:42:06,747
Marc Preston: I'd be so frustrating where you're, you're,
00:42:07,168 --> 00:42:07,930
Marc Preston: you know you're sitting there.
00:42:07,970 --> 00:42:08,743
Marc Preston: You know I'm an actor.
00:42:08,803 --> 00:42:09,166
Marc Preston: What am I?
00:42:09,186 --> 00:42:09,649
Marc Preston: you know you're?
00:42:10,071 --> 00:42:11,560
Marc Preston: you want somebody's professional to be able
00:42:11,620 --> 00:42:12,885
Marc Preston: to guide you on what to do.
00:42:13,647 --> 00:42:15,106
Fred Melamed: Right, and also for them to have a certain
00:42:15,126 --> 00:42:16,374
Fred Melamed: number of hours of therapy.
00:42:16,414 --> 00:42:18,002
Fred Melamed: because we were told, you must get this and
00:42:18,042 --> 00:42:20,228
Fred Melamed: it's absolutely of of of prime importance
00:42:20,248 --> 00:42:21,010
Fred Melamed: that you get it quickly.
00:42:22,100 --> 00:42:23,985
Fred Melamed: So we had this other house out on Long
00:42:24,105 --> 00:42:26,331
Fred Melamed: Island and there, in that county, which was
00:42:26,371 --> 00:42:29,206
Fred Melamed: a different county, suffolk County uh, the
00:42:29,246 --> 00:42:30,309
Fred Melamed: services were available.
00:42:31,460 --> 00:42:34,389
Fred Melamed: So we moved full time out to that other
00:42:34,449 --> 00:42:37,839
Fred Melamed: house and raised our children there, uh,
00:42:37,940 --> 00:42:39,707
Fred Melamed: for the first 10 years of their lives.
00:42:40,330 --> 00:42:42,218
Fred Melamed: um, precisely because we found a school out
00:42:42,238 --> 00:42:45,061
Fred Melamed: there that was great for both of them, uh,
00:42:45,202 --> 00:42:47,347
Fred Melamed: it, it served both kids that had
00:42:47,467 --> 00:42:49,031
Fred Melamed: developmental disabilities and also kids
00:42:49,051 --> 00:42:51,165
Fred Melamed: that were on the sort of genius scale.
00:42:51,820 --> 00:42:54,126
Fred Melamed: So both of our, both of our ends, were
00:42:54,166 --> 00:42:55,350
Fred Melamed: covered by that school and they did
00:42:55,390 --> 00:42:56,882
Fred Melamed: wonderfully well there, but it only went,
00:42:57,544 --> 00:43:00,603
Fred Melamed: uh, as far as fifth grade, so, which
00:43:00,664 --> 00:43:01,780
Fred Melamed: prompted our move to California.
00:43:02,241 --> 00:43:03,485
Marc Preston: I had a good friend who, who?
00:43:03,625 --> 00:43:05,089
Marc Preston: or I have a good friend whose uh son of
00:43:05,109 --> 00:43:08,149
Marc Preston: guy's son's almost 30 now, uh, but when he
00:43:08,209 --> 00:43:09,877
Marc Preston: was younger, one of the things that I
00:43:09,917 --> 00:43:11,783
Marc Preston: remember her telling me that they wanted uh
00:43:11,843 --> 00:43:13,628
Marc Preston: the people in the know had her do was have
00:43:13,668 --> 00:43:17,166
Marc Preston: him watch older, uh, sit family, sit comp
00:43:17,186 --> 00:43:17,648
Marc Preston: family.
00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:20,066
Marc Preston: I don't know where you could see families
00:43:20,146 --> 00:43:21,370
Marc Preston: modeling behavior.
00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:23,585
Marc Preston: So that was a big thing for the, for the
00:43:23,625 --> 00:43:25,910
Marc Preston: children, for him, for him to see is what
00:43:25,930 --> 00:43:27,273
Marc Preston: are kind of a traditional family.
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:29,725
Marc Preston: You know it's uh, it's it's different
00:43:29,745 --> 00:43:32,972
Marc Preston: challenges, but you know it's um, you know
00:43:33,012 --> 00:43:33,781
Marc Preston: I know different people.
00:43:33,821 --> 00:43:35,067
Marc Preston: As they say it's it's a spectrum.
00:43:35,220 --> 00:43:37,088
Marc Preston: So people like even in your own home you
00:43:37,128 --> 00:43:39,338
Marc Preston: had a spectrum of experiences, most
00:43:39,378 --> 00:43:40,983
Marc Preston: certainly is, but are some of it?
00:43:41,003 --> 00:43:42,487
Marc Preston: you said they're doing the college thing or
00:43:42,507 --> 00:43:44,292
Marc Preston: are they going for advanced education right
00:43:44,312 --> 00:43:44,432
Marc Preston: now?
00:43:44,660 --> 00:43:46,605
Fred Melamed: Well, one of them, uh, goes to Chapman
00:43:46,685 --> 00:43:48,549
Fred Melamed: University here in California and he's
00:43:48,590 --> 00:43:51,707
Fred Melamed: studying psychology, uh and and acting both.
00:43:51,820 --> 00:43:52,582
Fred Melamed: He's been in a couple of movies.
00:43:52,602 --> 00:43:54,107
Fred Melamed: He's quite a good actor, but he decided he
00:43:54,147 --> 00:43:55,210
Fred Melamed: wants to be a psychologist.
00:43:55,962 --> 00:43:57,147
Marc Preston: He'll be working with some actors.
00:43:58,901 --> 00:44:00,343
Fred Melamed: I think he wanted to work with mentally ill
00:44:00,363 --> 00:44:01,324
Fred Melamed: people because it was a healthier
00:44:01,364 --> 00:44:01,965
Fred Melamed: population.
00:44:11,661 --> 00:44:13,385
Fred Melamed: He's doing great and my other son the one
00:44:13,425 --> 00:44:15,410
Fred Melamed: who has autism is you know as much more
00:44:15,490 --> 00:44:18,781
Fred Melamed: serious goes to a special school strictly
00:44:18,841 --> 00:44:21,410
Fred Melamed: four people with autism and he graduated
00:44:21,430 --> 00:44:22,813
Fred Melamed: high school but now he's in kind of like
00:44:23,535 --> 00:44:26,141
Fred Melamed: post high school kind of vocational
00:44:26,181 --> 00:44:27,633
Fred Melamed: training, although he doesn't actually get
00:44:27,774 --> 00:44:31,067
Fred Melamed: too much vocation job preparation because I
00:44:31,107 --> 00:44:32,571
Fred Melamed: don't, he probably will not be able to
00:44:32,672 --> 00:44:35,758
Fred Melamed: handle a regular job, but he gets schooling
00:44:35,979 --> 00:44:38,311
Fred Melamed: in life skills, self-help, that kind of
00:44:38,331 --> 00:44:40,798
Fred Melamed: stuff, and he can continue there, i think,
00:44:40,838 --> 00:44:41,661
Fred Melamed: until he's 22.
00:44:41,991 --> 00:44:43,756
Marc Preston: You have a family member who went through
00:44:43,796 --> 00:44:44,558
Marc Preston: something like that.
00:44:46,010 --> 00:44:47,755
Marc Preston: They've learned, you know the skills just
00:44:48,056 --> 00:44:49,901
Marc Preston: interpersonal skills and like things like
00:44:49,941 --> 00:44:51,875
Marc Preston: that and I know those programs really can
00:44:51,895 --> 00:44:53,620
Marc Preston: work wonders because she feels great
00:44:53,660 --> 00:44:55,153
Marc Preston: satisfaction with what she does.
00:44:57,130 --> 00:44:57,913
Marc Preston: Just a real quick question.
00:44:58,033 --> 00:44:59,558
Marc Preston: One last question about kind of the origin
00:44:59,578 --> 00:44:59,779
Marc Preston: stories.
00:45:00,050 --> 00:45:02,299
Marc Preston: So now you grew up, is your family more on
00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:02,400
Marc Preston: the?
00:45:02,862 --> 00:45:05,312
Marc Preston: were they more orthodox maybe to the reform
00:45:05,372 --> 00:45:05,914
Marc Preston: side of things?
00:45:05,954 --> 00:45:06,435
Marc Preston: growing up in New?
00:45:06,455 --> 00:45:06,977
Fred Melamed: York City.
00:45:08,472 --> 00:45:09,858
Fred Melamed: They completely made fun of it.
00:45:09,930 --> 00:45:11,154
Fred Melamed: They thought it was a lot of hooey.
00:45:13,510 --> 00:45:16,876
Fred Melamed: My parents were old enough to have grown up
00:45:16,896 --> 00:45:20,864
Fred Melamed: in the Depression and they were, you know,
00:45:21,030 --> 00:45:23,477
Fred Melamed: lefties from the Depression era and then
00:45:24,099 --> 00:45:25,302
Fred Melamed: grownups in World War II.
00:45:26,826 --> 00:45:30,819
Fred Melamed: So they were quite skeptical about religion.
00:45:31,692 --> 00:45:33,898
Fred Melamed: Maybe I'm overstating it, but I mean I had
00:45:33,959 --> 00:45:34,721
Fred Melamed: no religious training.
00:45:35,071 --> 00:45:38,004
Fred Melamed: I was at the age of 11, which is when you
00:45:38,025 --> 00:45:39,210
Fred Melamed: have to start Hebrew school if you're going
00:45:39,230 --> 00:45:40,052
Fred Melamed: to get Bar Mitzvah.
00:45:40,272 --> 00:45:44,500
Fred Melamed: Usually I was asked do I want to have
00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:46,264
Fred Melamed: another day of school a week?
00:45:46,410 --> 00:45:49,419
Fred Melamed: and Jesus five was more than I could handle
00:45:49,459 --> 00:45:49,720
Fred Melamed: anyway.
00:45:50,210 --> 00:45:51,175
Fred Melamed: So I said no, i didn't.
00:45:51,290 --> 00:45:52,673
Fred Melamed: So I was never Bar Mitzvah, never had any
00:45:52,754 --> 00:45:54,458
Fred Melamed: religious education at all.
00:45:56,290 --> 00:46:01,400
Fred Melamed: And I remember once asking my mother is God
00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:01,741
Fred Melamed: real?
00:46:03,250 --> 00:46:05,817
Fred Melamed: And she said if you think God is real, then
00:46:05,877 --> 00:46:06,499
Fred Melamed: God is real.
00:46:07,450 --> 00:46:09,237
Fred Melamed: If you don't think God is real, then God is
00:46:09,277 --> 00:46:09,538
Fred Melamed: not real.
00:46:09,890 --> 00:46:12,178
Fred Melamed: At the time I think I misunderstood.
00:46:12,310 --> 00:46:14,018
Fred Melamed: I think I thought I thought what she meant
00:46:14,079 --> 00:46:16,169
Fred Melamed: then was that God is just something in
00:46:16,209 --> 00:46:16,912
Fred Melamed: people's heads.
00:46:18,110 --> 00:46:21,537
Fred Melamed: But what I later came to feel about it was
00:46:22,299 --> 00:46:24,664
Fred Melamed: what she was saying was it doesn't matter
00:46:25,211 --> 00:46:27,777
Fred Melamed: if God actually is real, if there is a kind
00:46:27,817 --> 00:46:30,023
Fred Melamed: of God, if you don't think there is a kind
00:46:30,090 --> 00:46:31,656
Fred Melamed: of God, then God's existence won't matter
00:46:31,737 --> 00:46:32,018
Fred Melamed: anyway.
00:46:32,813 --> 00:46:33,396
Marc Preston: Yeah, it's so funny.
00:46:33,470 --> 00:46:35,957
Marc Preston: I look at it as more of a cultural thing
00:46:35,997 --> 00:46:36,659
Marc Preston: for my family.
00:46:36,719 --> 00:46:38,291
Marc Preston: Even my great-grandfather came over from
00:46:38,632 --> 00:46:39,416
Marc Preston: Odessa, ukraine.
00:46:40,131 --> 00:46:41,857
Marc Preston: A lot of the people there were very learned,
00:46:41,917 --> 00:46:42,659
Marc Preston: very intelligent.
00:46:42,830 --> 00:46:44,437
Marc Preston: They were not skeptical.
00:46:44,570 --> 00:46:46,679
Marc Preston: They knew the Torah backwards and forwards
00:46:46,739 --> 00:46:49,129
Marc Preston: and everything, but they looked at it as
00:46:49,230 --> 00:46:50,173
Marc Preston: it's their culture.
00:46:50,254 --> 00:46:51,257
Marc Preston: That's why they're learning it.
00:46:51,510 --> 00:46:52,893
Marc Preston: It's not that they're taking you to some
00:46:53,735 --> 00:46:56,401
Marc Preston: you have to do this thing, but they were
00:46:56,461 --> 00:46:56,742
Marc Preston: very.
00:46:57,230 --> 00:46:59,295
Marc Preston: A lot of them were more surprisingly, more
00:46:59,355 --> 00:47:01,621
Marc Preston: even than the agnostic realm, if you will.
00:47:02,511 --> 00:47:04,938
Marc Preston: But the culture, of course, it was there.
00:47:04,978 --> 00:47:05,360
Marc Preston: The food.
00:47:05,730 --> 00:47:06,152
Fred Melamed: The culture.
00:47:06,192 --> 00:47:08,092
Fred Melamed: I was well-uncoocated with The culture.
00:47:08,452 --> 00:47:09,775
Fred Melamed: I don't mean the religious elements of the
00:47:09,815 --> 00:47:13,610
Fred Melamed: culture, but Yiddishism's in my behavior, a
00:47:13,650 --> 00:47:14,313
Fred Melamed: kind of Jewish.
00:47:15,690 --> 00:47:18,477
Fred Melamed: I was once asked what to you is Jewish?
00:47:20,690 --> 00:47:25,882
Fred Melamed: The way I answered that was that to me, not
00:47:25,942 --> 00:47:28,288
Fred Melamed: being able to be quiet about everything in
00:47:28,350 --> 00:47:33,302
Fred Melamed: life that's ridiculous or unfair is Jewish.
00:47:33,570 --> 00:47:35,315
Fred Melamed: Not being able to keep your mouth shut is
00:47:35,355 --> 00:47:36,438
Fred Melamed: what I think of as Jewish.
00:47:36,579 --> 00:47:38,613
Fred Melamed: And having to react to all that is unfair,
00:47:38,993 --> 00:47:42,341
Fred Melamed: difficult, painful in life vociferously,
00:47:43,130 --> 00:47:44,134
Fred Melamed: that seems Jewish to me.
00:47:44,435 --> 00:47:47,400
Marc Preston: Yeah, one thing I miss about being my age
00:47:47,421 --> 00:47:47,642
Marc Preston: is all the.
00:47:47,662 --> 00:47:49,230
Marc Preston: I mean, most of the elder folks are passing
00:47:49,250 --> 00:47:51,602
Marc Preston: on or have passed on and I used to love as
00:47:51,698 --> 00:47:54,253
Marc Preston: a kid being at a bar mitzvah or a wedding
00:47:54,273 --> 00:47:55,879
Marc Preston: or something and some of the old guys be
00:47:55,919 --> 00:47:58,789
Marc Preston: sitting around just chewing the fat with
00:47:58,850 --> 00:48:00,717
Marc Preston: each other and just listening to, like my
00:48:00,737 --> 00:48:04,090
Marc Preston: people, my grandfather's age that anything
00:48:04,110 --> 00:48:05,856
Marc Preston: that lacked common sense drove them nuts.
00:48:06,970 --> 00:48:08,175
Marc Preston: They kind of tore into each other.
00:48:08,830 --> 00:48:10,360
Marc Preston: I remember one thing my grandfather liked
00:48:10,381 --> 00:48:11,810
Marc Preston: the real close shave and I remember his
00:48:11,890 --> 00:48:14,076
Marc Preston: friends, somebody in famous like Harry.
00:48:14,116 --> 00:48:15,741
Marc Preston: But how long does a close shave last?
00:48:16,090 --> 00:48:17,756
Marc Preston: Why are you so worried about a close shave
00:48:17,776 --> 00:48:18,077
Marc Preston: at last?
00:48:18,490 --> 00:48:20,034
Marc Preston: Because the arguments these older Jewish
00:48:20,075 --> 00:48:22,161
Marc Preston: guys would have warmed my heart.
00:48:22,430 --> 00:48:23,550
Marc Preston: That's all I'm saying In tech.
00:48:23,570 --> 00:48:25,877
Marc Preston: My family immigrated through Galveston,
00:48:25,917 --> 00:48:26,318
Marc Preston: texas.
00:48:26,639 --> 00:48:27,221
Marc Preston: A lot of people did.
00:48:27,610 --> 00:48:28,272
Marc Preston: They come along the coast.
00:48:28,292 --> 00:48:31,575
Marc Preston: Galveston, new Orleans, you know, so you
00:48:31,596 --> 00:48:33,605
Marc Preston: run up in New York had to be readily
00:48:33,665 --> 00:48:34,810
Marc Preston: available bagels.
00:48:35,091 --> 00:48:37,096
Marc Preston: It had to have been really nice, you know.
00:48:37,677 --> 00:48:39,891
Fred Melamed: Yes, there was all that stuff There was.
00:48:40,672 --> 00:48:42,977
Fred Melamed: I grew up thinking most people must be
00:48:43,017 --> 00:48:44,721
Fred Melamed: Jewish, because most people that I knew
00:48:44,761 --> 00:48:47,556
Fred Melamed: were Jewish, so I assumed that was the case.
00:48:48,990 --> 00:48:50,115
Fred Melamed: I went to a special school.
00:48:50,170 --> 00:48:52,381
Fred Melamed: I went to a sort of genius school called
00:48:52,401 --> 00:48:54,089
Fred Melamed: Hunter College Elementary School a model
00:48:54,129 --> 00:48:56,732
Fred Melamed: school for gifted children, and two-thirds
00:48:56,752 --> 00:48:57,736
Fred Melamed: of the people there were Jewish.
00:48:58,250 --> 00:49:00,636
Fred Melamed: So I said, well, most people must be Jewish.
00:49:03,471 --> 00:49:06,076
Fred Melamed: I learned, i think, in my second year of
00:49:06,116 --> 00:49:08,682
Fred Melamed: college, that no, it didn't take me that
00:49:08,722 --> 00:49:10,514
Fred Melamed: long that most people were not Jewish.
00:49:12,153 --> 00:49:14,979
Fred Melamed: But I, you know, strong feelings is what I
00:49:15,019 --> 00:49:15,761
Fred Melamed: think about Judaism.
00:49:16,610 --> 00:49:17,655
Fred Melamed: That's my real association with it.
00:49:17,810 --> 00:49:19,033
Marc Preston: That's a wonderful articulation.
00:49:19,073 --> 00:49:19,876
Marc Preston: I think that's perfect.
00:49:20,056 --> 00:49:20,778
Fred Melamed: Yeah, Who was it?
00:49:22,993 --> 00:49:24,458
Fred Melamed: Oh God, what's her name?
00:49:25,370 --> 00:49:27,577
Fred Melamed: She was a famous wit from the Algonquin
00:49:27,918 --> 00:49:28,499
Fred Melamed: Roundtable.
00:49:29,110 --> 00:49:29,914
Fred Melamed: I can't think of her name.
00:49:30,450 --> 00:49:31,896
Fred Melamed: One of your listeners will know, Oh God.
00:49:33,774 --> 00:49:35,531
Fred Melamed: Anyway, she was half Jewish And this was in
00:49:35,551 --> 00:49:37,956
Fred Melamed: the 20s, when the Jews were a relatively
00:49:37,976 --> 00:49:43,315
Fred Melamed: smaller part of the Jewish community, The
00:49:43,376 --> 00:49:45,220
Fred Melamed: makeup of the New York intelligentsia.
00:49:46,690 --> 00:49:49,839
Fred Melamed: And she was asked what are Jews actually
00:49:49,919 --> 00:49:50,140
Fred Melamed: like?
00:49:50,610 --> 00:49:52,496
Fred Melamed: And she said Jews are just like everybody
00:49:52,576 --> 00:49:53,639
Fred Melamed: else, only more so.
00:49:57,699 --> 00:49:58,862
Marc Preston: That's exactly the truth.
00:49:59,130 --> 00:50:00,272
Marc Preston: You know, whenever that phrase people use
00:50:00,332 --> 00:50:02,596
Marc Preston: now the kids use a lot, now going oh, she's
00:50:02,716 --> 00:50:03,217
Marc Preston: a lot.
00:50:03,537 --> 00:50:04,739
Marc Preston: You know that phrase is like what I was
00:50:04,759 --> 00:50:06,141
Marc Preston: like yeah, that's my phrase, or extra.
00:50:06,382 --> 00:50:06,882
Announcer: She's extra.
00:50:07,123 --> 00:50:07,604
Marc Preston: That's what it is.
00:50:08,630 --> 00:50:09,755
Marc Preston: That's my family right there.
00:50:09,775 --> 00:50:10,638
Marc Preston: There's a whole lot of extra.
00:50:10,910 --> 00:50:12,835
Marc Preston: There is a recovery time I need after any
00:50:12,875 --> 00:50:16,192
Marc Preston: kind of family get together, But that you
00:50:16,212 --> 00:50:17,055
Marc Preston: know to go back.
00:50:17,115 --> 00:50:18,438
Marc Preston: You're mentioning something in the way you
00:50:18,458 --> 00:50:20,391
Marc Preston: grew up, Do you think?
00:50:21,173 --> 00:50:23,760
Marc Preston: I think we maybe had similarities in the
00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:24,972
Marc Preston: way we grew up And I think it kind of
00:50:25,012 --> 00:50:27,660
Marc Preston: breeds a people pleaser muscle.
00:50:27,890 --> 00:50:30,510
Marc Preston: It gets, start, starts building in you, And
00:50:30,570 --> 00:50:32,556
Marc Preston: I find that all the actors I know, the ones
00:50:32,596 --> 00:50:35,250
Marc Preston: I speak with, the ones I chat with here I
00:50:35,310 --> 00:50:36,914
Marc Preston: think that a lot of people go into
00:50:36,954 --> 00:50:39,039
Marc Preston: entertainment have that people pleaser
00:50:39,279 --> 00:50:41,832
Marc Preston: muscle pretty well developed And I don't
00:50:41,872 --> 00:50:43,658
Marc Preston: know what came first chicken or the egg, I
00:50:43,698 --> 00:50:45,213
Marc Preston: don't know But there are a lot of people in
00:50:45,233 --> 00:50:49,247
Marc Preston: this business that do put, sometimes
00:50:49,327 --> 00:50:50,813
Marc Preston: inordinately so, a lot of stock in what
00:50:51,013 --> 00:50:51,716
Marc Preston: other people think.
00:50:52,130 --> 00:50:53,676
Marc Preston: Do you notice that as well, or do you
00:50:53,716 --> 00:50:53,937
Marc Preston: concur?
00:50:54,791 --> 00:50:56,476
Fred Melamed: Yes, I do think that's endemic to our
00:50:56,516 --> 00:50:56,978
Fred Melamed: profession.
00:50:57,038 --> 00:50:57,780
Fred Melamed: I mean, think about it.
00:50:58,050 --> 00:50:59,494
Fred Melamed: You have to have people, strangers make you
00:50:59,535 --> 00:51:00,297
Fred Melamed: feel that you're okay.
00:51:01,119 --> 00:51:02,534
Fred Melamed: Right, they're all strangers in the
00:51:02,574 --> 00:51:02,815
Fred Melamed: audience.
00:51:03,510 --> 00:51:05,314
Fred Melamed: I mean, i don't think everybody has that,
00:51:05,355 --> 00:51:08,562
Fred Melamed: but I do think it's a common trait among
00:51:08,582 --> 00:51:10,015
Fred Melamed: people that are drawn to this profession.
00:51:10,570 --> 00:51:12,296
Fred Melamed: I also think that it's a noble profession.
00:51:13,350 --> 00:51:18,082
Fred Melamed: I think examining life in an artistic
00:51:18,503 --> 00:51:21,029
Fred Melamed: milieu is a worthwhile pursuit and it's not
00:51:21,090 --> 00:51:22,294
Fred Melamed: easy as well, you know.
00:51:23,050 --> 00:51:24,734
Fred Melamed: So I think both, in some ways it's very
00:51:24,814 --> 00:51:28,362
Fred Melamed: silly, and I think there's a lot of vanity
00:51:28,422 --> 00:51:31,916
Fred Melamed: and other foibles that come to my attention
00:51:31,997 --> 00:51:34,703
Fred Melamed: frequently, both my own and other people's.
00:51:35,050 --> 00:51:36,895
Fred Melamed: But I also think that it's beautiful that
00:51:36,935 --> 00:51:38,861
Fred Melamed: people do it, because it's not easy and
00:51:38,921 --> 00:51:39,021
Fred Melamed: it's.
00:51:39,511 --> 00:51:42,780
Fred Melamed: You know, when you see a great work of art
00:51:43,121 --> 00:51:46,730
Fred Melamed: of any kind, you go yeah, that's so true
00:51:48,113 --> 00:51:50,279
Fred Melamed: about something or other in life.
00:51:53,514 --> 00:51:56,302
Fred Melamed: To me there's a test, a three-prong test,
00:51:56,583 --> 00:51:59,070
Fred Melamed: to establish whether there's greatness in a
00:51:59,091 --> 00:51:59,572
Fred Melamed: work of art.
00:52:01,090 --> 00:52:02,937
Fred Melamed: Thing one is that it has to be true.
00:52:03,050 --> 00:52:04,314
Fred Melamed: You have to look at it and go, oh, that's
00:52:04,435 --> 00:52:04,936
Fred Melamed: really true.
00:52:06,010 --> 00:52:08,137
Fred Melamed: Thing two is it has to be surprising.
00:52:09,170 --> 00:52:10,113
Fred Melamed: Even though it's true, it has to be
00:52:10,153 --> 00:52:11,898
Fred Melamed: something that you haven't really thought
00:52:11,958 --> 00:52:14,095
Fred Melamed: of or seen in that way before.
00:52:15,010 --> 00:52:16,513
Fred Melamed: And thing three is that even though it
00:52:16,533 --> 00:52:19,079
Fred Melamed: surprises you, it has to have its own
00:52:19,179 --> 00:52:20,102
Fred Melamed: internal logic.
00:52:20,830 --> 00:52:22,897
Fred Melamed: It can't be quirky for the sake of being
00:52:22,938 --> 00:52:23,319
Fred Melamed: quirky.
00:52:23,410 --> 00:52:23,931
Fred Melamed: It has to have.
00:52:24,392 --> 00:52:26,938
Fred Melamed: There has to be something innately right
00:52:26,978 --> 00:52:28,542
Fred Melamed: about it, even though it has surprised you.
00:52:29,431 --> 00:52:32,517
Fred Melamed: So any great work to me has those kind of
00:52:32,577 --> 00:52:35,222
Fred Melamed: three simultaneous qualities.
00:52:35,402 --> 00:52:35,863
Fred Melamed: I love that.
00:52:36,913 --> 00:52:38,621
Marc Preston: That kind of leads to why something may
00:52:38,682 --> 00:52:39,908
Marc Preston: stick with you when you watch a great
00:52:39,928 --> 00:52:40,330
Marc Preston: performance.
00:52:40,430 --> 00:52:41,674
Marc Preston: And my daughter and I were watching.
00:52:42,055 --> 00:52:43,338
Marc Preston: Going back to Sam Rockwell, there was a
00:52:43,398 --> 00:52:46,387
Marc Preston: film he was in Steve Carell was in it as
00:52:46,407 --> 00:52:48,952
Marc Preston: well The Way, Way Back, And basically it's
00:52:49,053 --> 00:52:51,137
Marc Preston: really about a kid whose mother is dating
00:52:51,658 --> 00:52:52,340
Marc Preston: Steve Carell.
00:52:53,970 --> 00:52:55,456
Marc Preston: It's kind of a coming of age kind of a
00:52:55,536 --> 00:52:57,277
Marc Preston: thing And I looked at it as like and one
00:52:57,297 --> 00:52:59,289
Marc Preston: thing I loved is any kid that grows up and
00:52:59,309 --> 00:53:00,834
Marc Preston: things are a little tumultuous at that age.
00:53:00,854 --> 00:53:02,317
Marc Preston: You're kind of looking for a mentor or
00:53:02,378 --> 00:53:06,054
Marc Preston: someone that is quirky and off-center, as
00:53:06,094 --> 00:53:06,835
Marc Preston: they happen to be.
00:53:07,457 --> 00:53:11,712
Marc Preston: They kind of give you kind of a beacon or a
00:53:11,833 --> 00:53:13,694
Marc Preston: north star to follow, And he was this
00:53:14,098 --> 00:53:15,410
Marc Preston: really great character.
00:53:15,570 --> 00:53:17,156
Marc Preston: It kind of invigorated this kid, got the
00:53:17,196 --> 00:53:18,179
Marc Preston: kid come out of his shell.
00:53:18,290 --> 00:53:20,490
Marc Preston: I'm going that's the character he played.
00:53:20,490 --> 00:53:22,656
Marc Preston: I was like that's when I was that age who I
00:53:22,817 --> 00:53:24,281
Marc Preston: wish I would have met somebody with that.
00:53:24,410 --> 00:53:28,688
Marc Preston: So the truth in that, I think that's the
00:53:28,728 --> 00:53:29,070
Marc Preston: other side.
00:53:29,130 --> 00:53:31,492
Marc Preston: I think great performance It resonates with
00:53:31,512 --> 00:53:33,670
Marc Preston: different people in different ways, But
00:53:33,690 --> 00:53:35,177
Marc Preston: they all love it for a different thing.
00:53:35,290 --> 00:53:37,951
Marc Preston: Like you said, the Godfather, Some people
00:53:38,051 --> 00:53:40,538
Marc Preston: are just like the aesthetic of it or just
00:53:40,839 --> 00:53:42,331
Marc Preston: the way you feel watching it, And some
00:53:42,351 --> 00:53:43,895
Marc Preston: people are really into the dialogue, but
00:53:43,915 --> 00:53:45,439
Marc Preston: they all you know, you all appreciate it.
00:53:46,310 --> 00:53:47,874
Marc Preston: Talking about the quirkiness of the people
00:53:48,014 --> 00:53:50,660
Marc Preston: in our industry and going, excuse me, into
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:51,202
Marc Preston: reboot.
00:53:51,910 --> 00:53:54,235
Marc Preston: I know the general premise of it, but could
00:53:54,295 --> 00:53:58,043
Marc Preston: you explain what is reboot exactly?
00:53:58,170 --> 00:53:59,654
Marc Preston: Because this has a great cast and I kind of
00:53:59,674 --> 00:54:02,691
Marc Preston: want to know what we're going to expect and
00:54:02,731 --> 00:54:03,334
Marc Preston: checking it out.
00:54:03,890 --> 00:54:08,700
Fred Melamed: The idea is that there was a show that was
00:54:08,760 --> 00:54:12,328
Fred Melamed: popular in the early aughts kind of a la
00:54:12,969 --> 00:54:14,734
Fred Melamed: friends kind of show that you know, a show
00:54:14,754 --> 00:54:20,177
Fred Melamed: with a large cast And it's successful for
00:54:20,217 --> 00:54:21,400
Fred Melamed: quite a long time and then it goes off the
00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:24,755
Fred Melamed: air And then Hulu tries to get all these
00:54:24,815 --> 00:54:28,103
Fred Melamed: people back together to relaunch the show
00:54:28,210 --> 00:54:29,775
Fred Melamed: And of course, many years have elapsed and
00:54:30,176 --> 00:54:31,640
Fred Melamed: some of them had affairs with each other,
00:54:31,770 --> 00:54:33,095
Fred Melamed: some of them can't stand each other.
00:54:34,330 --> 00:54:36,561
Fred Melamed: You know there's all these different forces
00:54:36,622 --> 00:54:38,250
Fred Melamed: at work with these people that have known
00:54:38,371 --> 00:54:39,475
Fred Melamed: each other for this length of time.
00:54:39,810 --> 00:54:41,336
Fred Melamed: So they try and remount the show.
00:54:41,630 --> 00:54:42,774
Fred Melamed: That's what that show is all about.
00:54:44,490 --> 00:54:46,654
Fred Melamed: It has a wonderful cast.
00:54:47,736 --> 00:54:50,321
Fred Melamed: Paul Reiser is in it, judy Greer, rachel
00:54:50,362 --> 00:54:53,814
Fred Melamed: Bloom, keegan-michael Key lots of really
00:54:53,854 --> 00:54:58,263
Fred Melamed: good people, rose Abdu many, many friends
00:54:58,303 --> 00:54:58,704
Fred Melamed: of mine.
00:54:59,090 --> 00:55:00,053
Marc Preston: And Paul Reiser, by the way.
00:55:00,113 --> 00:55:02,940
Marc Preston: what a great guy to see showing up more and
00:55:02,960 --> 00:55:03,100
Marc Preston: more.
00:55:04,712 --> 00:55:06,355
Marc Preston: God, he was on something I think it was
00:55:06,375 --> 00:55:06,977
Marc Preston: called Red.
00:55:07,297 --> 00:55:09,842
Marc Preston: it was an, i think an Amazon show Red Oaks
00:55:09,903 --> 00:55:10,484
Marc Preston: or something.
00:55:10,570 --> 00:55:12,336
Marc Preston: Oh God, i should have looked this up, but
00:55:12,777 --> 00:55:13,519
Marc Preston: Oh, i know what you mean.
00:55:13,740 --> 00:55:15,907
Fred Melamed: Oh, gosh, jennifer Gray was on it.
00:55:16,532 --> 00:55:17,557
Marc Preston: I can't remember the name of it, but I know.
00:55:17,791 --> 00:55:18,936
Fred Melamed: Yes, i know the show you're talking about.
00:55:19,271 --> 00:55:20,435
Fred Melamed: I can't remember the name of it, but yes,
00:55:20,957 --> 00:55:21,779
Fred Melamed: he does a lot of stuff.
00:55:21,819 --> 00:55:23,274
Fred Melamed: Now I've known him for a while.
00:55:23,314 --> 00:55:24,037
Fred Melamed: He's a great guy.
00:55:24,057 --> 00:55:24,779
Fred Melamed: I really enjoy him.
00:55:25,330 --> 00:55:26,233
Fred Melamed: He plays on the show.
00:55:27,470 --> 00:55:30,276
Fred Melamed: One of the conceits of the show is that
00:55:30,657 --> 00:55:32,862
Fred Melamed: they hire two generations of writers.
00:55:33,830 --> 00:55:36,861
Fred Melamed: There's an older generation, and I'm one of
00:55:36,901 --> 00:55:38,407
Fred Melamed: those older generation of writers And then
00:55:38,447 --> 00:55:39,290
Fred Melamed: there's a younger generation.
00:55:39,330 --> 00:55:41,616
Fred Melamed: They hire three very young writers, kind of
00:55:41,676 --> 00:55:44,312
Fred Melamed: just out of school writers, and we don't.
00:55:44,754 --> 00:55:47,164
Fred Melamed: We come from entirely different realities
00:55:47,626 --> 00:55:48,991
Fred Melamed: and kind of don't understand each other at
00:55:49,031 --> 00:55:49,151
Fred Melamed: all.
00:55:49,171 --> 00:55:50,534
Fred Melamed: But the network wants to keep the show
00:55:51,898 --> 00:55:54,632
Fred Melamed: current, even though it features a somewhat
00:55:54,693 --> 00:55:55,315
Fred Melamed: older cast.
00:55:56,130 --> 00:56:01,269
Fred Melamed: So Paul Reiser plays the sort of head of
00:56:01,289 --> 00:56:05,063
Fred Melamed: the older writers And so I get to do a lot
00:56:05,083 --> 00:56:05,244
Fred Melamed: with him.
00:56:05,506 --> 00:56:07,914
Fred Melamed: So you know, for me that was I've known him
00:56:07,934 --> 00:56:09,610
Fred Melamed: for a while Very enjoyable for me to work
00:56:09,630 --> 00:56:09,891
Fred Melamed: with him.
00:56:10,305 --> 00:56:11,950
Marc Preston: I mean the cast, i mean it looks like so
00:56:11,991 --> 00:56:13,114
Marc Preston: much fun to watch.
00:56:13,627 --> 00:56:15,983
Marc Preston: And I know again WandaVision for my son.
00:56:16,023 --> 00:56:18,431
Marc Preston: We had such One thing I loved about that
00:56:18,511 --> 00:56:18,812
Marc Preston: show.
00:56:19,795 --> 00:56:22,492
Marc Preston: It was I don't have any real background
00:56:22,532 --> 00:56:23,215
Marc Preston: with the Marvel thing.
00:56:23,345 --> 00:56:24,991
Marc Preston: I had zero idea where that show was going,
00:56:25,151 --> 00:56:25,894
Marc Preston: none whatsoever.
00:56:26,325 --> 00:56:28,871
Marc Preston: So having It was kind of nice to see,
00:56:29,593 --> 00:56:33,553
Marc Preston: almost in a Kind of like you know, i love
00:56:33,594 --> 00:56:36,148
Marc Preston: Lucy-ish kind of that era of TV And have
00:56:36,188 --> 00:56:37,132
Marc Preston: you show up black and white.
00:56:37,526 --> 00:56:38,850
Marc Preston: It's like this is I just want to keep
00:56:38,890 --> 00:56:39,171
Marc Preston: watching.
00:56:39,191 --> 00:56:40,235
Marc Preston: This is so cool, you know.
00:56:41,168 --> 00:56:42,974
Marc Preston: And then the show evolved into what it was.
00:56:43,325 --> 00:56:45,412
Marc Preston: But it's, i know that whole Marvel Universe
00:56:45,472 --> 00:56:46,134
Marc Preston: thing is a.
00:56:47,012 --> 00:56:48,305
Marc Preston: You know, you've now got your stripes.
00:56:48,949 --> 00:56:50,560
Marc Preston: You're officially in the Marvel Universe.
00:56:50,641 --> 00:56:54,554
Fred Melamed: Yes, And I have to say I admire Kevin Feige.
00:56:55,968 --> 00:56:57,032
Fred Melamed: You know that was a risky.
00:56:58,168 --> 00:57:02,144
Fred Melamed: You know Marvel has its own very loyal fan
00:57:02,164 --> 00:57:05,273
Fred Melamed: base And to do something kind of that kind
00:57:05,314 --> 00:57:10,554
Fred Melamed: of way out, so risky for that fan base, i
00:57:10,594 --> 00:57:12,181
Fred Melamed: admire him doing that And I think My
00:57:12,241 --> 00:57:13,305
Fred Melamed: impression was that he succeeded at it.
00:57:13,687 --> 00:57:16,144
Fred Melamed: You know, i think he did a really good job
00:57:16,164 --> 00:57:18,392
Fred Melamed: with it And you know I'm proud of that show
00:57:18,412 --> 00:57:19,114
Fred Melamed: and I like that show.
00:57:19,526 --> 00:57:21,011
Marc Preston: Again, i really appreciate you spending
00:57:21,071 --> 00:57:22,034
Marc Preston: time with me here.
00:57:22,425 --> 00:57:24,271
Marc Preston: I always wrap up all interviews.
00:57:24,411 --> 00:57:25,815
Marc Preston: I call my seven questions Just a quick
00:57:25,855 --> 00:57:26,136
Marc Preston: seven.
00:57:26,566 --> 00:57:28,052
Marc Preston: Kind of It's a little fun to get to know
00:57:28,072 --> 00:57:29,931
Marc Preston: you, kind of in addition to what we've been
00:57:29,972 --> 00:57:30,213
Marc Preston: doing.
00:57:30,305 --> 00:57:32,253
Marc Preston: But I always ask the first question in.
00:57:32,666 --> 00:57:34,526
Marc Preston: I'm a food guy so I always ask it is what
00:57:34,646 --> 00:57:37,193
Marc Preston: is your favorite comfort food?
00:57:37,454 --> 00:57:39,510
Marc Preston: That thing that just You maybe had a bad
00:57:39,530 --> 00:57:40,293
Marc Preston: day or an amazing day.
00:57:40,345 --> 00:57:41,630
Marc Preston: You've got to sit down and have some of it.
00:57:42,325 --> 00:57:42,907
Fred Melamed: I'll tell you the truth.
00:57:42,968 --> 00:57:44,012
Fred Melamed: You know I have a.
00:57:44,807 --> 00:57:46,616
Fred Melamed: I've been eating too much and had a problem
00:57:46,737 --> 00:57:48,245
Fred Melamed: controlling my weight for many, many years,
00:57:48,746 --> 00:57:51,014
Fred Melamed: and for the last two and a half years or so,
00:57:51,810 --> 00:57:53,042
Fred Melamed: i've been doing not keto but something
00:57:53,063 --> 00:57:53,305
Fred Melamed: close to it.
00:57:53,948 --> 00:57:57,285
Fred Melamed: So I don't eat bread, potatoes, pasta.
00:57:58,174 --> 00:58:01,094
Fred Melamed: I haven't eaten sugar in 17 years, so a lot
00:58:01,114 --> 00:58:02,581
Fred Melamed: of the things that I would say are my real
00:58:02,662 --> 00:58:05,092
Fred Melamed: comfort favorite foods I have no longer eat.
00:58:06,370 --> 00:58:12,361
Fred Melamed: But yeah, but in a perfect world, in a
00:58:12,381 --> 00:58:14,368
Fred Melamed: world where I didn't have to worry Meaning
00:58:14,408 --> 00:58:16,374
Fred Melamed: I didn't have to worry about how fat I was.
00:58:18,598 --> 00:58:19,143
Fred Melamed: I like crap.
00:58:20,629 --> 00:58:21,051
Announcer: I like to eat.
00:58:21,091 --> 00:58:22,455
Fred Melamed: Doritos with dip.
00:58:24,649 --> 00:58:26,153
Fred Melamed: No, i like you know some people like real
00:58:26,213 --> 00:58:27,036
Fred Melamed: food, i like junk.
00:58:27,648 --> 00:58:29,063
Fred Melamed: I like to eat Doritos with dip.
00:58:30,315 --> 00:58:31,224
Fred Melamed: I love brownies.
00:58:32,194 --> 00:58:33,143
Fred Melamed: I love Rocky Road ice cream.
00:58:35,054 --> 00:58:36,983
Fred Melamed: I'd say my most delightful thing that I
00:58:37,024 --> 00:58:38,855
Fred Melamed: could eat, that I can imagine eating, is
00:58:39,681 --> 00:58:42,733
Fred Melamed: Rocky Road ice cream with bananas and hot
00:58:42,793 --> 00:58:43,295
Fred Melamed: fudge in it.
00:58:44,251 --> 00:58:46,285
Marc Preston: Oh my God that does sound good.
00:58:46,871 --> 00:58:48,063
Marc Preston: Now I'm curious what's your favorite deli
00:58:48,083 --> 00:58:48,305
Marc Preston: item, though?
00:58:48,988 --> 00:58:50,426
Marc Preston: Because I got to ask because you know Well,
00:58:50,849 --> 00:58:51,996
Marc Preston: do you mean strictly deli?
00:58:52,278 --> 00:58:53,305
Marc Preston: Oh like, if you're going to go into deli,
00:58:53,345 --> 00:58:54,550
Marc Preston: let's say you're only going to Katz's in
00:58:54,610 --> 00:58:57,707
Marc Preston: New York, at Cantor's on Fairfax, what are
00:58:57,727 --> 00:58:58,751
Marc Preston: you ordering there?
00:58:59,305 --> 00:59:00,548
Marc Preston: Let's say that somebody's given you a pass,
00:59:00,888 --> 00:59:01,931
Marc Preston: a massive cheat day.
00:59:01,991 --> 00:59:02,412
Fred Melamed: What would you get?
00:59:02,432 --> 00:59:03,815
Fred Melamed: Well, because, okay, that's important,
00:59:05,526 --> 00:59:06,891
Fred Melamed: because I can't eat rye bread anymore.
00:59:07,305 --> 00:59:08,812
Marc Preston: So without rye bread, delis, are you know?
00:59:09,546 --> 00:59:11,112
Marc Preston: Yeah, I feel for you on that.
00:59:11,325 --> 00:59:14,175
Fred Melamed: So let's say that I don't know.
00:59:15,409 --> 00:59:17,094
Fred Melamed: There's an asteroid heading for planet
00:59:17,134 --> 00:59:17,275
Fred Melamed: Earth.
00:59:19,331 --> 00:59:20,855
Marc Preston: You would dark on that but okay, if I get
00:59:20,875 --> 00:59:22,509
Marc Preston: your deli, then we're going to do that,
00:59:22,529 --> 00:59:22,690
Marc Preston: yeah.
00:59:24,807 --> 00:59:26,974
Fred Melamed: So in that case, not only are we all going
00:59:26,994 --> 00:59:27,988
Fred Melamed: to die, but I could probably get what I
00:59:28,048 --> 00:59:29,032
Fred Melamed: wanted in the deli for free.
00:59:29,454 --> 00:59:37,809
Fred Melamed: Okay, so I would order a sandwich that is
00:59:38,331 --> 00:59:43,706
Fred Melamed: part pastrami, part corned beef, with
00:59:45,209 --> 00:59:50,470
Fred Melamed: coleslaw on it, grilled Grilled, failing
00:59:50,510 --> 00:59:53,446
Fred Melamed: that, something that's not so deli, but I
00:59:53,526 --> 00:59:55,174
Fred Melamed: love grilled cheese with bacon.
00:59:55,275 --> 00:59:56,601
Fred Melamed: Also not whole foods food, but I really
00:59:56,622 --> 00:59:57,285
Fred Melamed: like grilled cheese with bacon.
00:59:57,526 --> 00:59:58,731
Marc Preston: Yeah, i'd say I've.
00:59:59,827 --> 01:00:02,589
Marc Preston: I'm just like I need My daughters my
01:00:02,629 --> 01:00:03,793
Marc Preston: youngest is just like me We're not.
01:00:04,325 --> 01:00:06,466
Marc Preston: Pasta shows up on our menu occasionally but
01:00:06,506 --> 01:00:08,520
Marc Preston: it's like, yeah, pastas, breads, trying to
01:00:08,540 --> 01:00:09,305
Marc Preston: get away from all that.
01:00:09,507 --> 01:00:11,907
Marc Preston: But when I am at Cantor's I'm always.
01:00:11,927 --> 01:00:13,826
Marc Preston: They got that mishmash, matzbal soup,
01:00:13,866 --> 01:00:15,250
Marc Preston: krapeluch and all that kind of stuff.
01:00:15,490 --> 01:00:16,673
Marc Preston: Oh, yes, and I always get the.
01:00:17,195 --> 01:00:21,591
Marc Preston: Nobody ever gets The harder salami sandwich,
01:00:21,631 --> 01:00:22,973
Marc Preston: the lobster On rye.
01:00:23,194 --> 01:00:23,534
Fred Melamed: I'm sorry.
01:00:23,815 --> 01:00:25,538
Fred Melamed: Oh yes, that's good, That's very good.
01:00:26,305 --> 01:00:27,127
Fred Melamed: I think I see nobody ever orders the
01:00:27,167 --> 01:00:28,170
Fred Melamed: lobster at Cantor's.
01:00:28,230 --> 01:00:28,932
Marc Preston: They have lobster.
01:00:28,952 --> 01:00:30,054
Marc Preston: Yes, that's.
01:00:31,767 --> 01:00:33,091
Fred Melamed: Dead at the end of the menu.
01:00:33,352 --> 01:00:34,034
Fred Melamed: Nobody orders it.
01:00:34,386 --> 01:00:36,103
Marc Preston: Same lobsters in there for 20 years from
01:00:36,123 --> 01:00:36,285
Marc Preston: the tank.
01:00:36,385 --> 01:00:39,830
Marc Preston: It's got great hair now, yeah, But yeah,
01:00:39,991 --> 01:00:40,693
Marc Preston: that's now.
01:00:40,713 --> 01:00:42,770
Marc Preston: I'm hungry Now, if you're going to sit down,
01:00:42,790 --> 01:00:43,894
Marc Preston: next question Oh, let me.
01:00:44,586 --> 01:00:46,213
Fred Melamed: No, i'm sorry to make my answers so long.
01:00:46,486 --> 01:00:48,292
Fred Melamed: So, given my current thing, the way they
01:00:48,352 --> 01:00:49,154
Fred Melamed: actually do eat.
01:00:49,305 --> 01:00:51,250
Fred Melamed: My favorite food to eat is Greek salad.
01:00:51,491 --> 01:00:52,795
Marc Preston: I love Greek salad Yeah, i like that too.
01:00:52,835 --> 01:00:53,457
Marc Preston: We do a.
01:00:53,657 --> 01:00:54,239
Marc Preston: Well, you can't do it.
01:00:54,279 --> 01:00:56,305
Marc Preston: We do something with like a orzo pasta.
01:00:56,445 --> 01:00:58,646
Marc Preston: We make a Greek salad like that, but yeah,
01:00:58,666 --> 01:01:00,012
Marc Preston: again, it's pasta, so you can't do that.
01:01:01,230 --> 01:01:02,596
Marc Preston: Now, if you are going to, let's say, go to
01:01:02,737 --> 01:01:03,742
Marc Preston: your favorite coffee place, you're going to
01:01:03,762 --> 01:01:05,513
Marc Preston: sit down with three people, living or not,
01:01:05,533 --> 01:01:07,184
Marc Preston: and you're going to talk story for a few
01:01:07,204 --> 01:01:07,305
Marc Preston: hours.
01:01:08,174 --> 01:01:09,285
Marc Preston: Who would you like to sit down with?
01:01:09,948 --> 01:01:10,531
Marc Preston: Three people?
01:01:11,114 --> 01:01:12,159
Marc Preston: just for great conversation.
01:01:12,179 --> 01:01:13,204
Marc Preston: Now, when you say talk story.
01:01:13,972 --> 01:01:16,110
Fred Melamed: Are we living in our conversation to
01:01:16,171 --> 01:01:17,560
Fred Melamed: strictly things about story?
01:01:17,681 --> 01:01:18,265
Marc Preston: Oh, no, no, no, no.
01:01:18,666 --> 01:01:19,728
Marc Preston: I mean kind of like you're just talking
01:01:19,749 --> 01:01:20,250
Marc Preston: about life.
01:01:20,310 --> 01:01:21,272
Marc Preston: You're talking about what?
01:01:21,333 --> 01:01:22,696
Marc Preston: Anybody I could meet Yeah anybody you could
01:01:22,716 --> 01:01:23,197
Marc Preston: sit down with.
01:01:23,305 --> 01:01:25,399
Marc Preston: You feel like it would be just a great
01:01:25,862 --> 01:01:26,224
Marc Preston: conversation.
01:01:26,305 --> 01:01:28,143
Marc Preston: Three people maybe there's the chemistry of
01:01:28,164 --> 01:01:30,470
Marc Preston: those everybody being together you think
01:01:30,651 --> 01:01:32,415
Marc Preston: would be educational and fun.
01:01:32,576 --> 01:01:35,214
Fred Melamed: Well can they be If they can be disparate.
01:01:35,275 --> 01:01:36,461
Fred Melamed: entirely different people.
01:01:36,903 --> 01:01:37,305
Marc Preston: Oh yeah.
01:01:37,770 --> 01:01:40,875
Fred Melamed: I would say from the modern world, my three
01:01:40,956 --> 01:01:42,063
Fred Melamed: favorite people that are the most
01:01:42,084 --> 01:01:44,171
Fred Melamed: interesting and have affected my life the
01:01:44,231 --> 01:01:44,532
Fred Melamed: most.
01:01:45,990 --> 01:01:48,265
Fred Melamed: One is an author called Patrick O'Brien.
01:01:49,292 --> 01:01:50,721
Fred Melamed: Wrote a series of books about the
01:01:50,741 --> 01:01:53,204
Fred Melamed: Napoleonic Wars, my favorite author of all
01:01:53,224 --> 01:01:55,204
Fred Melamed: time, my favorite artist of any kind of all
01:01:55,224 --> 01:01:55,305
Fred Melamed: time.
01:01:55,727 --> 01:01:56,811
Fred Melamed: Patrick O'Brien was one.
01:01:57,687 --> 01:01:59,727
Fred Melamed: The other would be Donald Fagan, who I've
01:01:59,787 --> 01:02:01,807
Fred Melamed: actually met, of Steely Dan, my favorite
01:02:02,429 --> 01:02:05,891
Fred Melamed: producer and composer and producer of music.
01:02:06,706 --> 01:02:09,134
Fred Melamed: And the third would probably be Steve Jobs,
01:02:10,029 --> 01:02:11,737
Fred Melamed: who fascinates me as an individual and
01:02:11,757 --> 01:02:12,642
Fred Melamed: because of his accomplishments.
01:02:12,702 --> 01:02:13,305
Fred Melamed: Now, none of these people.
01:02:14,130 --> 01:02:17,009
Fred Melamed: These are all sticky individuals that are
01:02:17,109 --> 01:02:20,024
Fred Melamed: not warm and fuzzy or fun to be with for a
01:02:20,044 --> 01:02:21,932
Fred Melamed: lot of people, but they're all fascinating
01:02:21,972 --> 01:02:22,172
Fred Melamed: to me.
01:02:22,807 --> 01:02:24,332
Fred Melamed: If we're allowed to go back further,
01:02:28,415 --> 01:02:31,165
Fred Melamed: einstein fascinates me, although I don't
01:02:31,185 --> 01:02:31,265
Fred Melamed: know.
01:02:32,168 --> 01:02:33,412
Fred Melamed: I wouldn't be able to understand him.
01:02:35,930 --> 01:02:46,169
Fred Melamed: Let's see Aristotle, einstein and I don't
01:02:46,209 --> 01:02:47,255
Fred Melamed: know who the third one would be.
01:02:47,275 --> 01:02:48,400
Fred Melamed: I have to think about it more.
01:02:48,561 --> 01:02:48,903
Marc Preston: I like that.
01:02:48,963 --> 01:02:51,070
Marc Preston: Aristotle, a Warner Earhart from Est.
01:02:51,190 --> 01:02:51,752
Marc Preston: There we go.
01:02:52,394 --> 01:02:52,655
Marc Preston: Who again?
01:02:52,675 --> 01:02:52,995
Marc Preston: I'm sorry.
01:02:54,389 --> 01:02:56,275
Fred Melamed: Warner Earhart, the guy who invented Est.
01:02:56,476 --> 01:02:57,840
Marc Preston: Okay, yeah, you know it's funny.
01:02:57,860 --> 01:02:59,285
Marc Preston: When you said Aristotle, i started thinking
01:02:59,466 --> 01:03:00,992
Marc Preston: I was talking with my daughter.
01:03:01,305 --> 01:03:04,428
Marc Preston: We were in line getting a coffee and I said
01:03:05,732 --> 01:03:07,887
Marc Preston: something about a nickname that somebody
01:03:07,947 --> 01:03:09,732
Marc Preston: used to call me, marcus Aurelius kind of
01:03:09,772 --> 01:03:11,296
Marc Preston: joking, because she thought it'd be funny
01:03:12,088 --> 01:03:13,706
Marc Preston: if I was at the drive-through at the coffee
01:03:13,746 --> 01:03:13,926
Marc Preston: place.
01:03:13,946 --> 01:03:16,490
Marc Preston: That said Marco, and then she said maybe
01:03:16,510 --> 01:03:17,251
Marc Preston: they'll say Polo.
01:03:17,411 --> 01:03:18,673
Marc Preston: And I was like what's your name, should we
01:03:18,693 --> 01:03:19,314
Marc Preston: put on the coffee?
01:03:19,354 --> 01:03:20,716
Marc Preston: And I'm like I said let me tell you the
01:03:20,756 --> 01:03:22,238
Marc Preston: nicknames, we're just talking about it.
01:03:22,258 --> 01:03:23,740
Marc Preston: And she said who's Marcus Aurelius?
01:03:24,505 --> 01:03:26,247
Marc Preston: I said you've taken philosophy at the
01:03:26,287 --> 01:03:27,909
Marc Preston: college level and you don't know who that
01:03:27,930 --> 01:03:27,970
Marc Preston: is.
01:03:28,030 --> 01:03:28,851
Marc Preston: And she said you know, i'm not a coffee
01:03:28,871 --> 01:03:29,692
Marc Preston: maker, you can't be, so I'm just giving her
01:03:29,712 --> 01:03:29,992
Marc Preston: a hard time.
01:03:30,052 --> 01:03:32,235
Marc Preston: So it's like my college kids are going to
01:03:32,255 --> 01:03:33,817
Marc Preston: be smarter, that like more educated than me
01:03:33,837 --> 01:03:34,458
Marc Preston: very shortly.
01:03:34,498 --> 01:03:36,080
Marc Preston: So it's like I'm like, oh, i know something
01:03:36,100 --> 01:03:38,262
Marc Preston: they don't Just to backtrack for a second.
01:03:38,322 --> 01:03:39,864
Fred Melamed: So when I go to the coffee place they ask
01:03:39,884 --> 01:03:40,305
Fred Melamed: for your name.
01:03:40,425 --> 01:03:44,556
Fred Melamed: You know you go to the famous coffee place
01:03:44,596 --> 01:03:45,137
Fred Melamed: which I won't mention.
01:03:45,746 --> 01:03:47,190
Fred Melamed: So I always say my name is Hansen and they
01:03:47,230 --> 01:03:48,354
Fred Melamed: go, hansen, and everybody turns around.
01:03:50,537 --> 01:03:53,092
Marc Preston: I'm going to do that Because my youngest
01:03:53,830 --> 01:03:56,537
Marc Preston: she it's like this battle, like I don't try
01:03:56,578 --> 01:03:58,871
Marc Preston: to humiliate her ever, but I try to be like
01:03:59,092 --> 01:04:00,409
Marc Preston: you know, do something goofy where she just
01:04:00,469 --> 01:04:01,011
Marc Preston: rolls her eyes.
01:04:01,051 --> 01:04:03,067
Marc Preston: If she rolls her eyes, it's like a mission
01:04:03,087 --> 01:04:03,990
Marc Preston: accomplished for me.
01:04:04,351 --> 01:04:04,832
Announcer: You win.
01:04:05,153 --> 01:04:05,835
Fred Melamed: Exactly.
01:04:06,325 --> 01:04:07,952
Marc Preston: Now, if now let's go back when you were
01:04:08,012 --> 01:04:10,285
Marc Preston: younger, who was your first celebrity crush?
01:04:10,667 --> 01:04:11,230
Marc Preston: You know someone.
01:04:11,250 --> 01:04:12,838
Marc Preston: You just were like Haley.
01:04:12,858 --> 01:04:16,083
Fred Melamed: Mills No Love Haley Mills.
01:04:17,332 --> 01:04:18,882
Marc Preston: She's on a top three next to Olivia
01:04:18,902 --> 01:04:21,727
Marc Preston: Newton-John, who just my heart breaks, and
01:04:22,128 --> 01:04:22,911
Marc Preston: I tell my daughters.
01:04:22,972 --> 01:04:24,962
Marc Preston: I said Haley and Olivia were on the list
01:04:24,982 --> 01:04:25,305
Marc Preston: for girls' names.
01:04:25,807 --> 01:04:28,901
Marc Preston: I went with Lily and Emma, but Haley Mills
01:04:28,921 --> 01:04:29,285
Marc Preston: oh my God.
01:04:29,887 --> 01:04:32,494
Fred Melamed: Haley Mills and Haley Mills and Maureen
01:04:33,345 --> 01:04:35,976
Fred Melamed: Maureen O'Sullivan from the early Tarzan
01:04:35,996 --> 01:04:36,257
Fred Melamed: movies.
01:04:36,277 --> 01:04:37,622
Fred Melamed: I used to watch Tarzan.
01:04:37,883 --> 01:04:39,558
Marc Preston: She played Jane No but what was your
01:04:39,578 --> 01:04:39,739
Marc Preston: favorite?
01:04:39,760 --> 01:04:40,265
Fred Melamed: Haley Mills movie though.
01:04:41,214 --> 01:04:43,332
Marc Preston: I think that's kind of like what phase was
01:04:43,352 --> 01:04:45,184
Marc Preston: she like a parent trap, or was it a parent
01:04:45,204 --> 01:04:45,285
Marc Preston: trap?
01:04:46,614 --> 01:04:47,057
Marc Preston: I got you.
01:04:47,661 --> 01:04:49,453
Marc Preston: I've never heard somebody say yay, you're
01:04:49,473 --> 01:04:51,043
Marc Preston: my mishpocha, i like that.
01:04:51,446 --> 01:04:53,580
Marc Preston: So now, if you're going to be going on an
01:04:53,641 --> 01:04:56,171
Marc Preston: exotic island for a year, it's somewhere
01:04:56,191 --> 01:04:57,054
Marc Preston: you're going to enjoy being.
01:04:57,305 --> 01:04:58,589
Marc Preston: But you're there for a year no streaming,
01:04:58,649 --> 01:05:00,906
Marc Preston: no ability to watch anything but you can
01:05:00,926 --> 01:05:07,174
Marc Preston: bring a DVD of a movie, cd of an album, and
01:05:07,194 --> 01:05:09,050
Marc Preston: some people I speak with they don't really
01:05:09,110 --> 01:05:10,862
Marc Preston: watch movies that much, ironically, but
01:05:10,882 --> 01:05:11,305
Marc Preston: they read a lot.
01:05:11,666 --> 01:05:14,426
Marc Preston: So if you'd prefer a book, go for it, but
01:05:14,446 --> 01:05:16,204
Marc Preston: basically an album and a movie or a book
01:05:17,416 --> 01:05:18,305
Marc Preston: that you would like to bring with you.
01:05:19,048 --> 01:05:20,406
Fred Melamed: Well, i would bring I'm cheating, but I
01:05:20,426 --> 01:05:21,941
Fred Melamed: would bring the collected works of Patrick
01:05:22,002 --> 01:05:25,478
Fred Melamed: O'Brien, which is 21 novels which I have
01:05:25,518 --> 01:05:26,703
Fred Melamed: been reading and listening to.
01:05:28,088 --> 01:05:29,534
Fred Melamed: I've listened to the recorded versions of
01:05:29,554 --> 01:05:31,301
Fred Melamed: them since 1990.
01:05:31,321 --> 01:05:32,305
Fred Melamed: So what is that now?
01:05:32,990 --> 01:05:35,305
Fred Melamed: Whatever that is, since 19, that's 32 years.
01:05:36,493 --> 01:05:38,305
Fred Melamed: I've listened to them all and read them all
01:05:38,871 --> 01:05:39,901
Fred Melamed: at least a dozen times each one.
01:05:39,921 --> 01:05:41,795
Fred Melamed: but they're so rich, they're so full of
01:05:41,835 --> 01:05:43,305
Fred Melamed: great stuff that I never tire of them.
01:05:44,448 --> 01:05:48,077
Fred Melamed: So that would be my literary pick for music.
01:05:50,189 --> 01:05:51,733
Fred Melamed: I would pick either.
01:05:51,833 --> 01:05:53,837
Fred Melamed: I would probably pick.
01:05:57,044 --> 01:05:57,265
Fred Melamed: It's tough.
01:05:57,526 --> 01:06:00,175
Fred Melamed: I would either say Blue by Joni Mitchell,
01:06:00,568 --> 01:06:02,103
Fred Melamed: which to me is probably one of the greatest
01:06:02,123 --> 01:06:08,598
Fred Melamed: albums I've ever recorded, or I guess Asia
01:06:08,861 --> 01:06:09,224
Fred Melamed: by Steely Dan.
01:06:09,929 --> 01:06:11,359
Marc Preston: I was gonna say Steely Dan has to be in
01:06:11,379 --> 01:06:12,305
Marc Preston: there somewhere, like you mentioned.
01:06:12,687 --> 01:06:15,682
Fred Melamed: My favorite movie of all time is an obscure
01:06:15,722 --> 01:06:16,285
Fred Melamed: movie to most people.
01:06:17,093 --> 01:06:18,305
Fred Melamed: It's a movie called Great Expectations,
01:06:18,669 --> 01:06:20,305
Fred Melamed: made by David Lean in 1946.
01:06:21,453 --> 01:06:22,520
Fred Melamed: Absolutely the greatest movie I've ever
01:06:22,560 --> 01:06:23,305
Fred Melamed: made to me, really.
01:06:24,093 --> 01:06:25,305
Marc Preston: I love when people answer these questions
01:06:25,305 --> 01:06:27,164
Marc Preston: because it gives me things to go watch and
01:06:27,184 --> 01:06:29,298
Marc Preston: stream or things to cook.
01:06:29,520 --> 01:06:31,820
Marc Preston: Also, sometimes people would be able to
01:06:31,861 --> 01:06:33,194
Marc Preston: favorite comfort food is that thing?
01:06:33,457 --> 01:06:35,315
Marc Preston: speaking with someone the other day that it
01:06:35,356 --> 01:06:36,305
Marc Preston: was a thing when they were a poor actor
01:06:37,090 --> 01:06:39,023
Marc Preston: off-Broadway, and it was that thing that
01:06:39,043 --> 01:06:40,719
Marc Preston: they made with very little money, but they
01:06:40,760 --> 01:06:42,751
Marc Preston: still love eating, i was like I need to
01:06:42,791 --> 01:06:45,285
Marc Preston: make that, so I get educated here as well.
01:06:45,951 --> 01:06:47,184
Marc Preston: You get some ramen and you put some ketchup
01:06:47,204 --> 01:06:47,305
Marc Preston: in it.
01:06:48,416 --> 01:06:49,103
Marc Preston: Oh, he was like exotic.
01:06:50,734 --> 01:06:52,245
Marc Preston: It was cheap though, but he threw beans in
01:06:52,265 --> 01:06:55,976
Marc Preston: it and it turned into just something that
01:06:56,057 --> 01:06:57,305
Marc Preston: my inner college kid was down with it.
01:06:59,077 --> 01:07:00,830
Marc Preston: Now next question if you're gonna be From
01:07:00,850 --> 01:07:02,204
Marc Preston: the time you get up to the time you get to
01:07:02,224 --> 01:07:04,204
Marc Preston: bed, if you're gonna say this is a perfect
01:07:04,224 --> 01:07:07,501
Marc Preston: day, what component parts of that day would
01:07:07,521 --> 01:07:08,225
Marc Preston: you like to see occur?
01:07:09,815 --> 01:07:11,285
Marc Preston: What's part of a perfect day for you?
01:07:12,795 --> 01:07:14,305
Fred Melamed: Well, first of all, it can't be summertime.
01:07:15,032 --> 01:07:17,128
Marc Preston: I hate the summer it's too hot Really, even
01:07:17,168 --> 01:07:18,152
Marc Preston: where you live, where it's not.
01:07:18,646 --> 01:07:18,988
Fred Melamed: Really.
01:07:19,128 --> 01:07:22,709
Marc Preston: No, okay, okay, Where I live is a hot hell.
01:07:22,729 --> 01:07:24,224
Fred Melamed: I live in the San Fernando Valley.
01:07:24,951 --> 01:07:26,164
Fred Melamed: It's 104 years away.
01:07:27,088 --> 01:07:28,253
Fred Melamed: 104 is awful.
01:07:29,795 --> 01:07:36,305
Fred Melamed: Okay, get up, have a wonderful breakfast,
01:07:36,325 --> 01:07:41,690
Fred Melamed: not too heavy though lightish breakfast.
01:07:42,887 --> 01:07:46,530
Fred Melamed: Do my 10 miles on my bike, which I do most
01:07:46,590 --> 01:07:46,891
Fred Melamed: days.
01:07:47,385 --> 01:07:48,509
Fred Melamed: I don't exercise bike, i do 10 miles.
01:07:48,529 --> 01:07:50,608
Marc Preston: Well, a stationary bike, or you actually
01:07:50,628 --> 01:07:52,204
Marc Preston: get up right around the neighborhood.
01:07:53,308 --> 01:07:55,295
Fred Melamed: I do not get out when it's 104.
01:07:55,325 --> 01:07:57,707
Fred Melamed: Okay, yeah, true, true, i'm going a little
01:07:57,727 --> 01:07:59,807
Fred Melamed: stationary bike in my and looking at movies
01:07:59,827 --> 01:08:00,590
Fred Melamed: or television shows.
01:08:01,466 --> 01:08:02,470
Fred Melamed: I do that exercising.
01:08:03,305 --> 01:08:05,827
Fred Melamed: Then, if it were perfect day, I would be
01:08:05,887 --> 01:08:09,412
Fred Melamed: with my kids and I would drive them to a.
01:08:10,526 --> 01:08:11,891
Fred Melamed: I would drive them to where there's water.
01:08:12,305 --> 01:08:13,911
Fred Melamed: Either there's a beautiful lake by where we
01:08:13,972 --> 01:08:16,132
Fred Melamed: live, or maybe we go to the beach somewhere.
01:08:16,506 --> 01:08:18,686
Fred Melamed: We'd like to go to Malibu, if it's not hot,
01:08:18,707 --> 01:08:19,249
Fred Melamed: hang out there.
01:08:21,993 --> 01:08:24,305
Fred Melamed: Or sometimes we go to museums.
01:08:24,445 --> 01:08:25,851
Fred Melamed: I love to go to museums too.
01:08:27,389 --> 01:08:30,328
Fred Melamed: Part of my family is English the cousin
01:08:30,348 --> 01:08:32,807
Fred Melamed: who's a countess, who lives in England, and
01:08:32,867 --> 01:08:34,233
Fred Melamed: we love to visit her also.
01:08:34,345 --> 01:08:36,150
Fred Melamed: So maybe we would spend a day in England
01:08:37,213 --> 01:08:37,574
Fred Melamed: with her.
01:08:40,791 --> 01:08:43,037
Fred Melamed: I love to be in nature for part of the time.
01:08:44,087 --> 01:08:46,715
Fred Melamed: And then what would we do?
01:08:47,305 --> 01:08:50,849
Fred Melamed: We would come back, we would have a
01:08:50,970 --> 01:08:55,858
Fred Melamed: sumptuous dinner with good wine, and then I
01:08:55,898 --> 01:08:57,305
Fred Melamed: would play some video games with my kids,
01:08:57,747 --> 01:08:59,766
Fred Melamed: which I enjoy tremendously, and then we'd
01:08:59,786 --> 01:09:04,569
Fred Melamed: end off watching a great movie, maybe the
01:09:04,790 --> 01:09:09,702
Fred Melamed: movie that I mentioned to you, and then my
01:09:09,742 --> 01:09:14,216
Fred Melamed: kids would go off to sleep and I would
01:09:14,657 --> 01:09:17,406
Fred Melamed: retire to the bedroom with my beautiful and
01:09:17,426 --> 01:09:19,244
Fred Melamed: accommodating girlfriend.
01:09:19,728 --> 01:09:20,976
Fred Melamed: That sounds absolutely.
01:09:21,345 --> 01:09:23,258
Fred Melamed: That sounds more than delightful.
01:09:23,278 --> 01:09:24,305
Marc Preston: I'm very much the same way.
01:09:25,392 --> 01:09:26,238
Marc Preston: Now the last question I got.
01:09:26,258 --> 01:09:28,591
Marc Preston: Let's say you've got a DeLorean, you can go
01:09:28,612 --> 01:09:30,199
Marc Preston: back in time 16-year-old you, you're gonna
01:09:30,380 --> 01:09:32,993
Marc Preston: go back for a few minutes and have a little
01:09:33,013 --> 01:09:35,813
Marc Preston: chat with 16-year-old What piece of advice
01:09:35,893 --> 01:09:38,506
Marc Preston: or wisdom or knowledge or guidance would
01:09:38,567 --> 01:09:39,654
Marc Preston: you give yourself at 16?
01:09:41,392 --> 01:09:45,741
Fred Melamed: Gosh, i think I would say the same thing
01:09:45,761 --> 01:09:47,855
Fred Melamed: that everybody else says, or most other
01:09:47,936 --> 01:09:49,305
Fred Melamed: people say, which is have faith in yourself,
01:09:49,305 --> 01:09:49,808
Fred Melamed: you're gonna be okay.
01:09:52,486 --> 01:09:56,377
Fred Melamed: You're headed for good things.
01:09:58,547 --> 01:10:03,715
Fred Melamed: Trust your own instincts about things And
01:10:04,859 --> 01:10:05,642
Fred Melamed: try and be kind.
01:10:07,209 --> 01:10:08,074
Fred Melamed: Try and be kind.
01:10:09,670 --> 01:10:12,361
Fred Melamed: The world is full of people striving with
01:10:12,381 --> 01:10:13,185
Fred Melamed: all kinds of problems.
01:10:15,335 --> 01:10:17,044
Fred Melamed: And be kind to yourself and be kind to
01:10:17,064 --> 01:10:19,318
Fred Melamed: other people Might get your business to be
01:10:19,359 --> 01:10:19,540
Fred Melamed: kind.
01:10:19,580 --> 01:10:20,285
Fred Melamed: That's what I would tell myself.
01:10:20,747 --> 01:10:21,853
Fred Melamed: And you're gonna be okay.
01:10:22,174 --> 01:10:22,596
Fred Melamed: That's wonderful.
01:10:24,048 --> 01:10:25,915
Fred Melamed: I've heard many people say that.
01:10:25,935 --> 01:10:28,064
Marc Preston: Another thing I love is people say don't
01:10:28,084 --> 01:10:28,285
Marc Preston: wait, do it.
01:10:29,654 --> 01:10:31,546
Marc Preston: You know you're gonna be okay, do it That
01:10:31,606 --> 01:10:32,349
Marc Preston: thing you wanna do.
01:10:33,385 --> 01:10:35,011
Marc Preston: But kindness is something I've really tried
01:10:35,031 --> 01:10:35,954
Marc Preston: to instill in my kids.
01:10:36,626 --> 01:10:39,269
Marc Preston: You really just don't know, and I think
01:10:39,309 --> 01:10:42,562
Marc Preston: that, being a little older and you speak to
01:10:42,582 --> 01:10:43,827
Marc Preston: those people in high school, they thought,
01:10:43,867 --> 01:10:45,432
Marc Preston: oh, they had a perfect life, everything was
01:10:45,492 --> 01:10:47,815
Marc Preston: great, Everything was on paper.
01:10:48,305 --> 01:10:48,827
Fred Melamed: You go to high school.
01:10:48,847 --> 01:10:49,389
Fred Melamed: You're just a net.
01:10:50,827 --> 01:10:53,114
Fred Melamed: The people, yeah, The guys who go to high
01:10:53,134 --> 01:10:53,255
Fred Melamed: school.
01:10:53,305 --> 01:10:54,529
Fred Melamed: You're just a guy that owns a dodge
01:10:54,549 --> 01:10:57,211
Fred Melamed: dealership in town, All the people you
01:10:57,231 --> 01:10:59,245
Fred Melamed: think are gonna be the big successes.
01:10:59,385 --> 01:11:01,092
Fred Melamed: and never, it's never that way.
01:11:01,588 --> 01:11:03,305
Marc Preston: It's a strange peculiarity of life.
01:11:03,867 --> 01:11:06,237
Marc Preston: Again, i sincerely appreciate you, such a
01:11:06,297 --> 01:11:07,602
Marc Preston: mensch, by sharing your time with me.
01:11:07,622 --> 01:11:09,052
Marc Preston: I've wanted to chat for some time and I'm
01:11:09,093 --> 01:11:11,169
Marc Preston: so glad you have a new project coming out I
01:11:11,189 --> 01:11:11,893
Marc Preston: can talk about.
01:11:12,737 --> 01:11:14,808
Marc Preston: Have really a wonderful weekend And I look
01:11:14,828 --> 01:11:16,741
Marc Preston: forward to hopefully catching up down the
01:11:16,761 --> 01:11:18,849
Marc Preston: line with you, me too, and thanks for all
01:11:18,889 --> 01:11:19,490
Marc Preston: your kind words.
01:11:21,596 --> 01:11:23,578
Marc Preston: Well, there you go, fred Melamed.
01:11:23,719 --> 01:11:24,285
Marc Preston: What a great chat.
01:11:24,567 --> 01:11:26,862
Marc Preston: Really enjoyed the opportunity to connect
01:11:26,943 --> 01:11:29,042
Marc Preston: with a real mensch, as my people say, a
01:11:29,063 --> 01:11:29,285
Marc Preston: mensch.
01:11:29,787 --> 01:11:31,516
Marc Preston: Besides being a mensch, he's also a very
01:11:31,576 --> 01:11:32,541
Marc Preston: talented actor.
01:11:32,682 --> 01:11:35,692
Marc Preston: You can check him out Again on Reboot it is
01:11:35,852 --> 01:11:37,176
Marc Preston: on Hulu right now.
01:11:37,517 --> 01:11:39,262
Marc Preston: Really funny show, really enjoyed it.
01:11:39,523 --> 01:11:41,147
Marc Preston: And tell you, don't forget, everything's
01:11:41,208 --> 01:11:45,299
Marc Preston: story and craft is at storyandcraftpod.com.
01:11:45,319 --> 01:11:48,634
Marc Preston: All right, pop on over, find out whatever
01:11:48,654 --> 01:11:49,781
Marc Preston: you want to find out about the show.
01:11:49,842 --> 01:11:51,795
Marc Preston: Past episodes, learn a little bit more
01:11:51,835 --> 01:11:54,875
Marc Preston: about me if you want to do that, and don't
01:11:54,896 --> 01:11:55,117
Marc Preston: forget.
01:11:55,177 --> 01:11:56,669
Marc Preston: Next week, another great episode, the next
01:11:56,689 --> 01:11:58,184
Marc Preston: few weeks I mean, i know who's coming.
01:11:59,433 --> 01:12:00,540
Marc Preston: You're really going to enjoy it.
01:12:00,560 --> 01:12:01,245
Marc Preston: All right, that's it for me.
01:12:01,947 --> 01:12:04,534
Marc Preston: I'm going to go run, as always, to go grab
01:12:04,574 --> 01:12:06,133
Marc Preston: a bite to eat, because you know with me
01:12:06,194 --> 01:12:08,433
Marc Preston: it's always some shape, form or fashion
01:12:08,473 --> 01:12:09,036
Marc Preston: about food.
01:12:09,057 --> 01:12:10,245
Marc Preston: All right, there you go.
01:12:11,047 --> 01:12:13,556
Marc Preston: I want you to have a killer rest of your
01:12:13,616 --> 01:12:15,081
Marc Preston: week or weekend or whenever you're
01:12:15,101 --> 01:12:15,422
Marc Preston: listening.
01:12:15,823 --> 01:12:16,285
Marc Preston: Be safe, please.
01:12:16,606 --> 01:12:18,290
Marc Preston: I want to see you next go around for
01:12:18,430 --> 01:12:21,057
Marc Preston: another episode of Story and Craft.
01:12:21,345 --> 01:12:23,184
Announcer: That's it for this episode of Story and
01:12:23,204 --> 01:12:23,305
Announcer: Craft.
01:12:24,108 --> 01:12:26,498
Announcer: Join Marc next week for more conversation
01:12:26,799 --> 01:12:28,305
Announcer: right here on Story and Craft.
01:12:28,926 --> 01:12:31,373
Announcer: Story and Craft is a presentation of Marc
01:12:31,393 --> 01:12:32,896
Announcer: Preston Productions LLC.
01:12:33,767 --> 01:12:36,034
Announcer: Executive producer is Marc Preston.
01:12:36,546 --> 01:12:38,813
Announcer: Associate producer is Zachary Holden.
01:12:39,345 --> 01:12:41,641
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Announcer: Apple Podcasts.
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Announcer: I'm Emma Dylan.
01:12:58,583 --> 01:13:01,169
Announcer: See you next time And remember, keep
01:13:01,209 --> 01:13:02,371
Announcer: telling your story.
Actor
Fred Melamed was born and raised in New York City. He has won both critical and popular acclaim. Recently, he was named by New York Magazine's survey of distinguished critics and film professionals as one of The 32 Greatest Character Actors Living Today. A Yale Drama School graduate, he has won both the Independent Spirit and Voice Lifetime Achievement acting awards, and was short-listed for an Oscar for his performance in the Coen Brothers’ classic, A Serious Man. For that performance, Melamed was listed by Harry Domenico Rossi as one of The 25 Greatest Screen Villains of All Time. He has hundreds of film and television credits, and literally thousands of commercials and promos on the air as a voice actor, notably as the signature voice of Mercedes Benz, CBS Sports, Boar’s Head, Burger King, USA Network, The Olympics, and The Superbowl. On television, Melamed currently stars in the Ryan Murphy hit series American Crime Story: Impeachment, the popular HBO/MAX comedy, Barry, the Marvel/Disney juggernaut, WandaVision, and the upcoming Hulu blockbuster, Reboot. In the past, he has starred on Curb Your Enthusiasm, New Girl, Brooklyn 99 and Lady Dynamite, to name but a few. His slate of films includes the breakout hit Shiva Baby, Cat Person, Hail, Caesar!, In a World…, and 7 collaborations with Woody Allen, more than any other actor besides Mia Farrow and Allen, himself. He has taught at Yale University, The University of Minnesota and New York University.