Necar Zadegan | From “The Rookie” to CBS’s “CIA” | A Journey Without a Formula

00:00 Necar Zadegan joins Story & Craft

00:00 Necar Zadegan: There's so many Robin Williams quotes I could bring up, but I'm thinking of another one when he said something about if you get to a certain age and you have no regrets, you're just stupid.

00:11 Announcer: Welcome to Story and Craft. Now, here's your host, Marc Preston.

00:15 Marc Preston: All right, here we go. Back again. It is another episode of Story and Craft.

00:20 Marc Preston: Welcome back. Uh, hey, if this is your first episode, thank you for stopping in to check out the fun mischief and mayhem that is Story and Craft. It is great to have you. Uh, today is a, uh, great chat with a talented actor, Necar Zadegan. You know her from shows like 24, uh, The Rookie, NCIS New Orleans, Mayor of Kingstown.

00:42 Marc Preston: Now she's on CIA on CBS, and, uh, she was charming, a, a lot of fun to talk to. A great, uh, kind of a, a cool career arc, which includes acting on Broadway with the late great Robin Williams. Uh, she was a lot of fun. I think you'll really enjoy the chat. And also do me a small favor, if you don't mind. Head to your podcast app and make sure to follow Story and Craft.

01:03 Marc Preston: That way you get a notification every time a new episode comes out. Also, like the show, leave some stars, a review. It does help people to find Story and Craft, and doggone it, I appreciate it. And also storyandcraftpod.com, the website. Past guests, past episodes, it's all right there. You can also send me an email, drop me a note.

01:23 Marc Preston: I do appreciate that. Always, always cool to hear from you, uh, hear what's going on in your world and where you're checking out Story and Craft. Okay, so let's go ahead and jump right into it because today is Necar Zadegan Day right here on Story and Craft. How are you?

01:40 Necar Zadegan: I'm so well. How are you?

01:41 Marc Preston: Fantastic.

01:42 Marc Preston: Are you, uh, are you in LA?

01:44 Necar Zadegan: No, I'm not. I'm in New York right now.

01:46 Marc Preston: Is New York home base for you?

01:48 Necar Zadegan: No, it's not. I'm from California and, um, my family is in California, so I do like to be based out of California when I can.

01:55 Marc Preston: Uh, now where does, where does your show shoot?

01:58 Necar Zadegan: We shoot, um, CIA in New York and we were shooting Mayor of Kingstown in Pittsburgh, which is not too far away.

02:04 Necar Zadegan: But so I've been a, a East Coast, you know, based kind of. Oh, where are you? Are you in Los Angeles? No,

02:10 Marc Preston: no, I'm in, uh, I'm, I'm, uh, in Texas. I'm on a little island on the very south Texas coast. It is called South Padre.

02:17 Necar Zadegan: Oh, wow. There's an island off the coast of Te-

02:19 Marc Preston: Oh, yeah, yeah

02:20 Necar Zadegan: I didn't know that. Are you on the Gulf

02:21 Marc Preston: side?

02:21 Marc Preston: It is, if, if you, if you imagine the map of Texas at the very tip, that's where the island is. This is, if you hear about, uh, the SpaceX sending out- Oh ... their star ship rockets, it's like six miles from me here.

02:32 Necar Zadegan: Oh, wow.

02:33 Marc Preston: So that, uh, yeah, one of my, uh, one of my youngest went off to college. I was like, "Okay, do I go back home?"

02:38 Marc Preston: I'm from Dallas originally. Uh, and I was living in New Orleans for 20 years.

02:42 Necar Zadegan: Oh, I love New Orleans so much.

02:44 Marc Preston: Yeah. Well, you know, after 20 years, I think I'd done my tour of duty. I was ready, you know, youngest went off to college. I was like, "Okay, do I wanna go back to the..." Uh, 'cause I spent some time in Southern California.

02:53 Marc Preston: Uh, and do I wanna go there? I'm like, "Nah." You know what? I'm doing my tropical Mayberry thing here, you know? It's, it's a s- it's a smaller community, uh, but it's, it's a big vacation destination, so. Mm. It's, it's, uh, you know, got a little airport down the way if I gotta get anywhere, but I'm kind of at that stage in my life where I kind of peace and chill, walks on the beach kind of a thing, you know?

03:11 Necar Zadegan: You love it.

03:12 Marc Preston: Absolutely, yeah. Now, you're, you grew up in, in California?

03:16 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, I did. I grew up in northern California, which is a beautiful place to grow up because of all the wonderful natural beauty of that part of the state. And, um, San Francisco is an exceptionally, um, you know, kind of mindful city, especially in those years when I was growing up, and, uh, the West Coast is very chill.

03:39 Necar Zadegan: And yeah, I really, I really enjoyed it. I had a beautiful childhood and upbringing.

03:44 Marc Preston: I used to live in, uh, Encinitas, north coast of San Diego, and, uh... or North County San Diego, that is.

03:50 Necar Zadegan: Oh, yeah, I know it. Mm-hmm. Well- Yeah, that is North County ...

03:51 Marc Preston: uh, or, or as, uh, yeah, the news today, apparently that's okay to be, LA and San Diego to be bombed apparently.

03:57 Marc Preston: I don't know if you caught the-

03:59 Necar Zadegan: That was so stupid

04:00 Marc Preston: I was like-

04:01 Necar Zadegan: That was so stupid I was like- I don't know what was stupider, him saying that or all the people applauding. It was so stupid. I was like, "Is this AI? What the he- That's so stupid."

04:11 Marc Preston: You know, sometimes you watch, sometimes you watch things go- It was so

04:13 Necar Zadegan: surreal

04:13 Marc Preston: I, I'm all about differing opinions, but I'm just like, oh, the silliness, the silliness, I tell you. It's, it's like-

04:19 Necar Zadegan: No, it's ab- it's worse than silly. It's just stupid.

04:22 Marc Preston: Do you have, uh, not a, well, a preference? Do you enjoy being closer to home? Uh, you know, 'cause when you're younger, you know, you don't mind bouncing around everywhere, but do you kinda like, like shooting around LA, or do you enjoy getting back out to, uh, New York?

04:36 Necar Zadegan: Younger than who, my dear? Younger than me? How's that possible?

04:39 Marc Preston: Oh, I'm saying, I'm saying like, you know, like- '

04:41 Necar Zadegan: Cause I am so very young.

04:42 Marc Preston: Oh, oh, I mean like- No, I know what you're saying ... younger than 25 when you have no responsibilities and you can just bounce around every, you know.

04:48 Necar Zadegan: You mean like my age? Yeah.

04:49 Necar Zadegan: No, I'm just kidding. Um, no, I know what you're saying. Uh, well, you know, when I first started working Um, professionally, which was when I was 16 actually, so I was quite young. Um, I traveled a lot. Traveling was always part of my work, and I really loved it. It was one of the things that I dreamed about, that I could, that I could work as a professional actress, and as a result of that, have a lot of opportunities to travel with work.

05:13 Necar Zadegan: And one of the beautiful things about that is not only do you get to see the world on somebody else's dime, but that's a, that's a, that's a cheap joy. The true joy is, um, how you get to collaborate with people and, um, and perspectives that are affected by these different places. It's such a wonderful opportunity to grow by virtue of that.

05:40 Necar Zadegan: And travel is the enemy of ignorance, and- Oh, yeah ... so i- it's, it's just profound in such a wonderful way. Um, you know, the experience of traveling itself has changed a lot, particularly flying, in my own lifetime. It's not, it's not as, uh, easy as it once was. Well, Sunny, you're only 25 years old

06:02 Marc Preston: though. I mean, you know, it haven't been that many changes in the last...

06:05 Marc Preston: Just, just kidding with you.

06:06 Necar Zadegan: No, but you, but you know, particularly after, um, after the turn of the century. Yeah. I can say that. It's fun to say, isn't it?

06:13 Marc Preston: Yeah.

06:14 Necar Zadegan: But it really did change, and I mean, uh, you know, just flying alone drives me crazy now. I don't like to... I hate to fly. People say that they hate to fly, but I don't, I don't know anybody who hates to fly as much as me.

06:24 Necar Zadegan: I genuinely hate to fly. And I'll drive as much as I can. I like to drive.

06:28 Marc Preston: I love road trips. Uh, for me, that's always been, uh, you know- That's true ... there's a s- this, the pace of it, uh, really seeing people you'll, you would never otherwise see.

06:38 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, I love that. I love that. I like trains too, and train stations.

06:42 Necar Zadegan: And, and not just because of the kind of romantic aspect of being on a train or in a train station, but you could, you can get there, like, five minutes before the train goes. You just jump on- Yeah ... and you go. The, and the airport is like a whole day affair.

06:53 Marc Preston: It is. You know? It is. Yeah, my daugh- And, uh- My daughter was, uh, in Europe.

06:56 Marc Preston: She spent, uh, it was last year, fall semester, she studied in Europe. And she, every weekend she's on a train somewhere.

07:03 Necar Zadegan: That's a, that's a fun thing to do. Yeah, that's a fun thing to do. Yeah. Uh- So yeah, I do like it. But you know, being on the road is really cool. Um, but nothing makes home more beautiful than when you're on the road.

07:15 Necar Zadegan: And so I do miss home. And, um- Well, do

07:17 Marc Preston: you do that thing that a lot of people do- And- ... is they bring their pillow with them? I've found that that's sort of a- ... like a, their comfort thing, you know. Do you do that?

07:25 Necar Zadegan: Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. No. I don't do that. No. I travel very light.

07:30 Marc Preston: Oh, so where did, did I see your family is originally from Iran?

07:33 Marc Preston: That's like where your folks are from?

07:35 Born in Germany, raised in California after Iran’s 1979 revolution

07:35 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, my family is from Iran. Mm-hmm. My family is from Iran. And, um, I was born in Germany. And, um, soon after, um, I was born, we came back to the United States. My parents were already living in the United States.

07:49 Marc Preston: Wasn't there a big influx of folks from Iran to the US around '79?

07:53 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, there was, because there was a, a revolution in our country, um, in 1979 that caused, uh, a, kind of a mass expulsion for a variety of reasons. But m- all of which really had to do with the, um, you know, government changes and things like that. But, um, my mom grew up in the United States, in San Francisco, and my dad had come to Los Angeles to further his, uh, higher education.

08:19 Necar Zadegan: Mm-hmm. And, um, they'd met out there, met out in California, um, in those years. And then, um, they got married and, um, my dad got a job in Germany. At the time, Germany and Iran were working on, um, projects together. And then in 1979, when the revolution happened, those projects all fell through. Mm-hmm. And shortly after that, the Iranians in the diaspora, their experiences started to change.

08:46 Necar Zadegan: So although my, you know, family was there on this kind of great project, they were going to have to claim refugee status. Um, my sister and I were born, and my father didn't wanna kind of do that, and so they moved back to the United States where my grandparents were. And then stayed here, and then stayed here.

09:05 Necar Zadegan: And I don't know what my life would have been if all that hadn't happened, but that is what happened.

09:10 Marc Preston: You know, you are... Okay, now you are the second, uh, guest of Iranian descent, uh, or actually the other guest was from Iran, and the second person, uh, who of Iranian descent who was on 24.

09:21 Necar Zadegan: Oh, I think there was a lot of Iranians on, um, 24.

09:24 Marc Preston: Yeah, well, uh- I think. I think there was one- Uh, Shohreh Aghdashloo.

09:26 Necar Zadegan: Yes, yes. Mm-hmm.

09:27 Marc Preston: Now, she told me also, 'cause I'm a big food nerd, she said I, uh, she was gonna send me a recipe. Mm-hmm. And I st- I never emailed her. I need to do that. That's okay. Uh, G- uh, Ghormeh sabzi, I think, something. Is that... I don't know if that, that's-

09:38 Necar Zadegan: Ghormeh sabzi, yes, yes.

09:40 Necar Zadegan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. It is a, it is the, one of the national dishes. It's a stew. It's delicious.

09:44 Marc Preston: She was telling me how she always makes... She's like, "If you lived in LA, I would make you some and bring it to your house." You know, so, uh, but- But, uh, but no. I've g- I've got quite a collection of folks who were on 24. W- which was, uh, that was my kids and I.

09:57 Marc Preston: That, 24 and, uh, the show Lost was our COVID show. You know, we powered through every season.

10:04 Necar Zadegan: Those are good COVID shows.

10:05 Marc Preston: Oh, yeah. It was, uh, yeah, we... I say we've had quite a few folks on, uh, 24. But it was the first time I became aware of you. Was that kind of your first role on TV here- Actually ... or was it first one of note, let's say?

10:15 Necar Zadegan: No, you know, it's interesting. I know Shohreh quite well, actually. Um, she's a very powerful actress. And when I was little, she, um, and her husband had a theater company, and they would travel. And so within the community, um, people were very aware of her for... And, and, you know, she was an actress back in Iran.

10:36 Necar Zadegan: You know, I think she immigrated here, I don't know, she was probably older than me when they had immigrated to, uh, the US. But, um, she had a- Very healthy career- Yeah, yeah ... prior to that, you know. Um, but I do remember, um, my mom saying to me, um, "Oh, yeah. Well, you know, she's an actress, and she's, um, Iranian, and so you can do this too."

10:58 Necar Zadegan: I remember that. Um- Well,

10:59 Marc Preston: that's nice ... but then I, I- That's, yeah, that's- Yeah ... because, you know, a lot of times parents will be like, "Why do you wanna do this thing?" Especially if your parents are professional, like, you know, highly educated. They're like, "This acting thing."

11:09 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, totally.

11:09 Marc Preston: Did you have encouragement early on from your folks?

11:11 Marc Preston: Or- Which my parents

11:11 Necar Zadegan: were. They were always so encouraging. They were so into it. I never had any, um, I never had any feeling that they didn't want me to do this at all. And yeah, they were very supportive, and they really wanted, um, both my sister and I to do whatever we wanted and find success with what we did, and I, I really am grateful about that.

11:32 Necar Zadegan: 'Cause it w- it's hard otherwise. Yeah, yeah. You know? It's al- it's hard any time you don't have support from your family, you know?

11:39 Marc Preston: Well, when you were coming up, was this the, was the performance thing on the radar, or were you athletic? Were you an academic kid? Uh, w- or was the theatrical th- were you a gregarious kid who just wanted to perform?

11:51 Marc Preston: Kinda how did that evolve, uh, early on for you?

11:54 Necar Zadegan: Um, I mean, you know, my mom just had us in everything. She was one of those moms, you know? She really wanted us to explore everything. She was particularly fond of the arts herself, and I, um, just really gravitated towards it, and there was a lot of opportunities, um, at the time.

12:13 Necar Zadegan: They were not interested in, um, my exploration of this work professionally until I was an adult. School was always, um... And everybody I knew had gone to college and graduated, so I never thought about not doing that. Mm-hmm. Um, it was something I wanted to do. I wanted to have a university experience in my life.

12:32 Necar Zadegan: I recommend it to others if they ch- want that, you know? Um- Well, now, where'd you go to school? Uh, I went to UCSB- Okay ... here in Calif- or there in California, and then I studied in Paris for a little while, and, um, those were great times. I really enjoyed it. It was really good. Um, but you asked if 24 was my first, um, kind of experience.

12:52 Landing the First Lady on “24” opposite Anil Kapoor and Cherry Jones

12:52 Necar Zadegan: No, it wasn't. Um, because like I said, I'd been working professionally since I was 16. Right. But it was, 24 was the first time, was the first job that I'd had. First of all, it was the first, um- You know, series that I booked regularly, you know. Um, and then it was the first role that I played on American television that, um, people inside the business started to recognize me as an actress and who I was.

13:23 Necar Zadegan: You know? Then suddenly I was going in to meet with, um, you know, directors and things like that, and they were aware of my work, you know? Now, your season was the

13:32 Marc Preston: New York season, right? Uh, where it was shot in New York?

13:36 Necar Zadegan: Was it? Maybe. I think, like, that was a long time ago. You know, we shot it in LA. We were in LA.

13:41 Necar Zadegan: Right, right. But I think you're right, I think it was New York, yeah.

13:43 Marc Preston: It's funny 'cause I just had Katee Sackhoff on, and she was on that same season. But no, we were, we were 24 nerds. In fact, on my, on my cell phone... We, I did this years ago, so whenever one of my kids texts me, it's that sound... The, the phones in the 24 office all had that same sound, and so my kids thought it was funny that I'd put that ringtone on my phone.

14:01 Marc Preston: So every time, even to this day, when my kids text me, I know it's them because it's that same ringtone of the telephone. I know, it's probably the nerdiest thing. Uh, uh, my kids thought it was funny, so it stays. Um, but the fella who, who played your husband, you were, you were the first lady, if not mistaken, of...

14:18 Marc Preston: I don't know if it's-

14:19 Necar Zadegan: Yes, indeed. I played the... Yeah, I played the first lady of this, um, fictitious country that maybe was kind of, was trying to mimic Iran or Pakistan- Mm-hmm ... or s- one of these, um, one of the countries from this area. Um, and Anil Kapoor, who's a very decorated actor in his own right, um, big old movie star from India- Mm-hmm

14:42 Necar Zadegan: who I, I'm very fond of. Anil is such a wonderful person.

14:46 Marc Preston: I, I saw him sort of the other day, and he was hilarious. I forgot what it w- uh- Yeah,

14:49 Necar Zadegan: he's very

14:50 Marc Preston: good ... it was... But it's always such a pleasure to see somebody who you've seen in, like, a heavy, dramatic role, and then they just nail it on a comedy, you know.

14:56 Marc Preston: I always enjoy having folks on from 24 because it seems like it w- would've been a fun show to shoot. Do you have any memories that stick out in your mind about shooting 24?

15:05 Necar Zadegan: Oh my gosh, so many. You know, um I was so, like I said, it was w- um, the first job that I kind of was coming onto, so in such a s- kind of, uh, you know, long capacity.

15:19 Necar Zadegan: And so I really, um... It was exciting for me in a lot of ways. I worked primarily with, um, Cherry Jones- Mm ... and Anil Kapoor, of course, but also Cherry Jones. And, um, it was such an exciting experience for me, because Cherry was such a, um, established and successful actress, and she's so incredibly talented. She was the president, right?

15:40 Necar Zadegan: And- Okay ... she was the president. She was, yeah, the president. And, um, you know, in those days, um, because I was still in my 20s, Cherry was so ahead of me in life and in career. And now when I see Cherry, I actually just ran into her in New York a, a couple weeks ago, um, uh, over at The Waverly in- not too long ago, and now she doesn't seem so much older than me.

16:06 Necar Zadegan: Um, but, but you know, so I was in my 20s at the time, so it was such a gift to... Because I, I really enjoy working with women who are ahead of me in life and career, because it's one thing to work with a man who does your job. I'm sure it's like this for men, too, and it's cool, 'cause you can learn a lot. But it's something else to work with a woman, because then you can really, um, watch and see how does she handle the set?

16:30 Necar Zadegan: How does she handle the material? How is she hand- You know what I mean? And so it was h- it was awesome, and I really, um, appreciated that a lot.

16:37 Marc Preston: It's funny. I saw her this, the other day. I was watching, uh, Amy Poehler, one of her... I don't know if she directed or wrote it. It was called Wine Country. Did you ever see that, where they were going to celebrate their friend's- No

16:47 Marc Preston: 50 year... They went to, like, Sonoma County, and they were gonna, they rented a house, and they were, uh, celebrating- Oh,

16:53 Necar Zadegan: wow, how fun it must have been to

16:54 Marc Preston: shoot that. It, well, well, Cherry Jones played a, uh, she played a psychic, and a really, a really- ... grumpy psychic. But yeah, that was, that was a, uh... I'm g- I can't believe during COVID, my kids and I powered through all of Lost and all of 24 in just a short span of time.

17:10 Marc Preston: You know, but we couldn't go anywhere, so we were doing that.

17:12 Flying to Hawaii for her one-episode role on “Lost”

17:12 Necar Zadegan: I worked on Lost, too. Yeah, I did a brief thing on Lost, a very br- I only was in one episode. In fact, before I worked on 24. I think it was Season Four. I was very young. And I, and it was an exciting job, because they flew me out to Hawaii to do it.

17:24 Necar Zadegan: How great

17:25 Marc Preston: is that?

17:25 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, and I called my sister. I told her to come with me. It was fun. I'm

17:28 Marc Preston: trying to remember. Okay, so I, I, I have a pretty decent memory. Where did you fall in the storyline in Lost? Did the, um...

17:34 Necar Zadegan: God, it was so long ago. You know what I, what I... There was a, we were shooting in Hawaii, but the storyline was based, I think, in Morocco.

17:42 Marc Preston: Oh.

17:42 Necar Zadegan: And, um- Oh, oh, oh, okay ... there was a, there was a redheaded girl. Rebecca? Was that her name, the actress? Who, um, had come on as a s-, as an archeologist, kind of a scientist, and I was, like, her co-archeology buddy, and we were, we found some bones in the desert- ... I remember.

18:01 Marc Preston: I gotta go re-watch that. That's a commitment, though, to re-watch that show, you know.

18:05 Necar Zadegan: I know.

18:12 Marc Preston: You said you started when you were around 16. What were you- were you doing, like, local theater, or were you doing on, on camera work?

18:18 Her professional debut at 16 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

18:18 Necar Zadegan: Well, yeah. My first professional job when I was- was when I was 16 because I was part of a tour that went to, um, London and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Are you aware of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival?

18:31 Necar Zadegan: I, I- It's a wonderful festival. I've

18:32 Marc Preston: heard of it. I haven't been

18:33 Necar Zadegan: there. Oh, it's a fantastic festival. And so, um, I was doing a couple shows in tandem. One was Beauty and the Beast, and the other was called Peribanez, which was like its Latin counterpart show. And, um, and we took that and we toured it there.

18:52 Necar Zadegan: And yeah, yeah, I guess you could say my professional debut was in Edinburgh. And, um, I felt very fortunate, but not as m- much as now when I look back. It was a great experience. I didn't really recognize how fantastic-

19:06 Marc Preston: One thing, if I could go back, I would give my 20-something-year-old self- ... like, the presence of going, "You know what?

19:13 Marc Preston: Soak this up. Really just, you know, be present because this is gonna- this is a pretty badass experience," you know?

19:19 Necar Zadegan: But you are. But you are. I mean, you just are. You- nobody has to tell you, you know? You really are. And so that's part of how wonderful I think it is, you know? You're, you're not even aware of it, so you really are present, so.

19:29 Marc Preston: Maybe the memories age like a fine wine. You know, they get better over time, you know? But, well, as far as the stage thing goes, I mean, uh, didn't I see somewhere you were- you did something with Robin Williams, though. I gotta know what that experience was like, 'cause I think that was his first, uh, on stage performance thing.

19:45 Marc Preston: Is that right?

19:46 Broadway with Robin Williams in “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo”

19:46 Necar Zadegan: Well, I don't think it was his first on stage performance, but it was his Broadway debut- A Broadway, yeah ... and it was all of our Broadway debuts. Yeah. Um, well, it was a small cast. We did a show called The Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which was written by Rajiv Joseph, who's gone on to do some, some really wonderful things.

20:01 Necar Zadegan: Um, I th- I guess it probably was Rajiv's Broadway debut too, and Moises Kaufman was the director of that project. And we did that project, um- Uh, with Robin Williams, um, as the tiger in that show, and it was, it was fantastic. We'd done the show, um, we started the show in Los Angeles, um, with another actor who was equally fantastic.

20:24 Necar Zadegan: Um, and when we took it to Broadway, they really wanted to bring Robin on. In fact, I think it was written for Robin, um, initially anyway. But, um, they, you know, the weight of his, um, of what he could bring to it was very important for the show. And so we had already, the rest of us, we were all in our 20s at the time.

20:46 Necar Zadegan: We all knew the show backwards and forwards because we'd already done it in Los Angeles. So when we took it to New York and we gained Robin, um, we didn't really-- We rehearsed for Robin's sake, but we weren't really involved- Right, right ... in the rehearsal. He, it was really us watching Robin get ready for the show.

21:02 Necar Zadegan: And what was really wonderful about that was that Robin's process was very vocal. So you really could watch his process while he was in rehearsal, and it was, it was really like a master class, watching a master class. Um, and so it was really spectacular, and he was, he was just wonderful to be in company with.

21:22 Marc Preston: Well, to be on stage, you gotta follow the script, of course. Uh, but he's known for just epic improvisation. Were you able to see or experience through the prep process any of his improv, any, just him just riffing?

21:38 Necar Zadegan: You know, people, um, ask me that a lot about this particular experience. But I think people forget that even though Robin was an incredibly famed and beloved comedian, and street performer, in fact, he was also a Julliard- Right, right

21:52 Necar Zadegan: trained actor, and incredibly serious. And there was-- I mean, he was the first person at the theater every time I went there. And I, I had an extensive amount of makeup on the show, so there was a makeup artist that I worked with. Generally, when you're, um, on stage, you do your own makeup unless there's something extensive that you have to do.

22:11 Necar Zadegan: And because I had that, I had to arrive before everybody else. But Robin was always there before I was. Um, I mean, he was a really consummate professional, and there was a script, and, and he never thought to, um, veer from it. In fact, I think he was, you know, he had a very short time, um, in, in terms of rehearsal to prepare.

22:31 Necar Zadegan: We had already done the show, so we were very ready, and I think there-- He really, you know, he was just one of us. You know, he was an actor and, and he was Just wonderful. Um, he was wonderful to watch and wonderful to play with. And, and no, he didn't, he didn't, um, go that direction with regards to this particular play because I didn't, it maybe it didn't call for it.

22:55 The press day when Robin Williams turned it on

22:55 Necar Zadegan: But on the day that we, uh... So it was easy actually to forget that we were working with one of the greatest stars that was ever going to live, you know? But then one day we had a PR, we had a press day, and when PR showed up and we all had to do the, you know, dance and things. And then suddenly I remembered, "Oh, we're working with Robin Williams," because he, he just turned on in that way that you're talking about.

23:18 Necar Zadegan: I mean, he gave them everything they were there for, you know? The, the riffing and the improvving and the all of it. I mean, he was, he was... You know, his brain worked very quickly. He was a very clever, um, and funny and charming and warm. And so yeah, I did witness it, but not in, not in terms of, um, taking time away from the work that we were working on, you

23:38 Marc Preston: know?

23:38 Marc Preston: Yeah. Did y'all ever connect? Like, I think he's from the same, roughly from the same area, uh, San Francisco area, correct?

23:44 Necar Zadegan: Yeah. Yeah, that's right. In fact, um, yeah, yeah. In fact, he had a birthday. I remember he turned 60, um, those years, and he had a birthday party up in San Francisco, um, on Cavallo Point. It was so beautiful up there, and it was a, it was a very private birthday party.

24:02 Necar Zadegan: There was only, I think, 40 people invited, and, and the cast was there, and that's... And the cast was there, and, um, every- everybody in his kind of inner circle, and that's kind of how he, he was, you know? It was so kind of him to invite us, um, to be a part of it. But it, it was, yeah, it was just lovely being up there, um, with him, and he loved being up there.

24:22 Necar Zadegan: He loved Northern California very much.

24:24 Marc Preston: So this is, this is, uh, in your 20s. What an experience, man. I like to be able to have that. Um, kind of going back to post '24, now you're on the radar. Now people are much more aware of you, like you were saying, 'cause, you know, you had... The show itself had a lot of high profile.

24:39 Marc Preston: Did you start having some other opportunities starting to kick in? Did you start feeling some momentum after that?

24:46 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, I suppose so. I mean, I was always... Oh, there's so much to talk about with regards to this kinds of stuff in the business, and it personally affects everybody diff- ev- that's what I love about this business so much, is everybody's st- has a different way- Yeah

24:59 Necar Zadegan: of, you know, there's no, like, formula, you know what I mean? Everybody has kind of their own journey. And that's how you can get yourself into trouble- And I love that ...

25:05 Marc Preston: trying to follow somebody else's exact path, because that's not carved out for you, it's for them. Yeah.

25:11 Necar Zadegan: Totally. There's no... Yeah. And so I think that it, it's, it's such a mystery for people, I think one, that's one of the reasons, you know?

25:18 Shooting “24” by day and ignoring advice to skip Broadway

25:18 Necar Zadegan: Um, but yeah, to some degree. You know, I, I was doing this show, The Bengal Tiger, at the same time, um, 24 kind of came along. And, um, we were doing it in Los Angeles, and the guys were so lovely. They would shoot me out by 5:00 so I could get to the theater in Los Angeles by 6:00 so that I could execute The Bengal Tiger, you know, until 11:00 PM, and that's how it was.

25:44 Necar Zadegan: I thought that, um, all productions were gonna be that easy- ... to maneuver, and I, I since realized not always. But they were really, really... I mean, they, you know, I joined in the eighth season, so it was, like, running like a-

25:55 Marc Preston: Right ...

25:56 Necar Zadegan: it's, you know, what do they say? Smooth as a ship or something like that. But anyway, so yeah, after that, you know, I went to Broadway, and, um, with the show.

26:05 Necar Zadegan: And I remember a lot of people told me not to. A lot of people were like, "No, you're on, gonna be on every shortlist in town. 24 is a big hit, and, you know, you've played this wonderful character. It's one of the memorable female characters in television. Don't go to Broadway." And I didn't take that advice, because I thought it was dumb.

26:23 Necar Zadegan: I really would have, um, been heartbroken to watch my show go to Broadway without me, and I was really happy to go to New York and do the show. Um, and other opportunities opened up for me here in New York, which was wonderful. Um, I did a project with Jonathan Demme here, and, um, I think... So what I mean to say is, yeah, that opportunity, um, certainly allowed a lot of kind of people inside the business to start to take notice.

26:51 Necar Zadegan: But I think it's also the idea of work begetting work, you know? Um, there was also, because of the nature of that role, um, there was also this kind of, um, misconception that I was this much older woman with, who was accented and foreign. So, um, there was a little bit of having to navigate that, you know, because I couldn't compete with a real 60-year-old woman from-

27:17 Necar Zadegan: you know- Well,

27:18 Marc Preston: I mean, in, in 24- ... Oman or whatever. ... you, I think, I think you had a daughter who was supposed to be, like, 18, 19 or something like that, which was only a handful of years younger than you really were, you know?

27:27 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, there's... Yeah, Nazneen Contractor and I, uh, are very good friends still. She's a wonderful actress.

27:32 Necar Zadegan: She played my daughter on that show. And it's true, we were about the same age. Um, but they kind of pushed me more towards 40 and they pushed her more towards 20. And you know what? People believed it because we told the story. Um, but, uh, yeah, so, so I was getting called in for a lot of things that were a little bit outside of my, um You know, castability.

27:56 Necar Zadegan: Um, and, um, so that was, that was a little, that was some, there was a little bit of negotiating with that. But, uh, but it was still, you know, an opportunity nonetheless.

28:07 Marc Preston: Did you start feeling like a compass pointing you in a specific direction, whether it be theater or whether it be, uh... What was your North Star at that time?

28:15 Marc Preston: Were you, wanna do more comedy, more, more stage, more, uh, more drama? Did you have anything in mind?

28:21 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, I really wanted to do television. I really, really wanted... You know, what I was doing when I was, um, before I was doing... Sorry, I have two... Remember when I told you I travel light? Oh,

28:31 Marc Preston: that's okay. Yeah, I love the little pe- the little

28:33 Necar Zadegan: furry people.

28:33 Necar Zadegan: I have two dogs that I have to travel with. Um, and they love to talk. But anyway, um, I was doing a lot of very kind of avant-garde independent films, and I was doing a lot of theater, and I was really into it, and that's what I was interested in doing. Mm-hmm. Um, but, uh, I really decided, I think, when, um... I, I, and here's the other thing.

29:03 Necar Zadegan: I never really thought television was gonna give me the kind of opportunities that opened up for me. I didn't think... I didn't even know... You know, when I was a kid, television wasn't really like this. I watched a lot of TV. We grew up in America- Yeah, yeah ... of course, and we watched television, but television was different.

29:21 Necar Zadegan: There wasn't these kinds of, um, stories and, and shows. I really enjoyed some of them, but they weren't, like, this kind of caliber, or people didn't give them this kind of attention. When I was a kid, it was like, uh, good p- good projects were movie projects, and we kind of, whatever- Yeah, 'cause- ... watched TV

29:40 Marc Preston: on Fridays, you know?

29:40 Marc Preston: Yeah, you had people who did TV and people did film, and they would not crisscross into, you know. Yeah. Occur- you'd get an occasional George Clooney who would, you know, step up into film or whatever. But didn't you do, um, The Event? Wasn't that on the... It was an NBC sh- that- Yeah. That's right. The, the, uh, I think Jason Ritter was...

29:57 Marc Preston: Was he in that also?

29:58 Necar Zadegan: Oh, Jason's lovely. Yeah. I love Jason. Such a gem.

30:02 Marc Preston: That, that, it was so random how some of these shows would be, like, just not there anymore, and it's like, "That was a great show. I loved it." It was, like, one of the-

30:09 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, it was a cool show. That was a cool show. I don't really remember why that, um, got cut short and didn't go on, but it was...

30:15 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, it was a good show. I really enjoyed working on that. But yeah, I really wanted to explore, um, the opportunities that television was giving me. I was seeing a lot of great stories, a lot of character opportunities, and, um, so yeah. I really, um, I really embraced that.

30:29 Marc Preston: I don't mean to be going down your resume, but there are certain sh- you've always landed on shows I really enjoy.

30:34 Marc Preston: Like, our, my kids, their, our little family show that we love, in fact, I don't watch it until my daughter, uh, my oldest is 23, and she- a school teacher in New Orleans. And when she comes back here, we power through, uh, The Rookie. The, uh, my kids just love that show

30:47 Necar Zadegan: People love that show.

30:48 Working with Nathan Fillion on “The Rookie”

30:48 Marc Preston: And, you know, what is it like shoot The Rookie, shooting The Rookie?

30:51 Marc Preston: 'Cause it's kind of a cool ensemble cast. They are always posting stuff on social media it seems like. Seems like a fun set to be on.

30:57 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, that's a real fun show to shoot. That's a really f- really cool cast. Um, the guy that leads that show is a guy called Nathan, very sweet. Mm-hmm. And he's kind of, um, he's kinda, he's like a, he's almost old school in the way he's, um, so, such a gentleman and, and such a pro and, um, so inviting in the way that, in a relaxed way that sets used to have.

31:25 Necar Zadegan: Mm-hmm. And so that's really great, and I think it probably is a testament to why they've been doing so well, you know? Um, but, uh, nonetheless, it's also, it shoots in, um, Los Angeles and it shoots, um, down there on Melrose at, uh, Paramount. So the, going to the set is awesome. It's also, because it's in Los Angeles, kinda just feels like playing in your backyard.

31:46 Necar Zadegan: Um, so it was a nice invite to come and, and work with them down there.

31:58 Shooting “NCIS: New Orleans” during COVID

31:58 Marc Preston: How long did you shoot NCIS New Orleans, or how many seasons?

32:00 Necar Zadegan: Not that long, actually. A few seasons. I think I, I think I worked on that show for three seasons. Mm. But, you know, we shot it, um, during COVID. I, I, I started working on that show before COVID And then, um, COVID. COVID's so weird. I still can't even believe we lived through that-

32:18 Necar Zadegan: to be honest with you. I,

32:19 Marc Preston: I found one of my masks. I'm like, "Oh, God, I forgot." I, like, all the masks I ordered online , you know? I

32:24 Necar Zadegan: know.

32:24 Marc Preston: So, uh, what did you think about shooting in New Orleans?

32:26 Necar Zadegan: Well, that's why I bring up COVID. You know, um, for whatever it is, you know, good or bad, Louisiana was one of those states that didn't really shut down comparatively, you know, to the other states, 'cause it's a red state.

32:40 Necar Zadegan: And so there was kind of a weird freedom about being there during that time, you know? Even though... I mean, a whole bunch of people died.

32:49 Marc Preston: You know? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah.

32:50 Necar Zadegan: That did happen as well, but it was pretty open. But, you know, I mean, we still abided by all the rules and stuff on the set, but it... 'Cause I later shot in Toronto during COVID for Mayor of Kingstown, and that city was really shut down, so I can't really speak to you about Toronto- Yeah.

33:06 Necar Zadegan: 'cause I didn't experience it in the, in the way that one can. But New Orleans, I mean, it was just awesome. I, I love the city anyway, um, because of the music and the food and the culture and people. It's just... It's kind of a one, the one blue dot in an otherwise, you know, red state. Oh, yeah. And

33:27 Marc Preston: so there's- That,

33:27 Necar Zadegan: it's funny.

33:28 Marc Preston: I, that's the exact same thing I, I tell folks. It's a very red state, but New Orleans is just this really vibrant blue dot, you know?

33:35 Necar Zadegan: It is. So there's, you know, a lot of, um... It, there's an eclectic vibe for that reason, and, uh, and it's really cool. I f- I just, I love New Orleans. I love the heat. I love all of it.

33:45 Marc Preston: Oh, you must love humidity also? You know.

33:47 Necar Zadegan: Love

33:48 Marc Preston: it. Well, with your hair, you're okay. Hair pretty good. You know, you're, you're per- Like, my daughters would, uh... I became deeply acquainted with hair straighteners, uh, 'cause my daughters have, like, wavy hair. You know, but it's like out, step outside and like, pfft, you know, it's all, it's all back to being wavy.

34:01 Marc Preston: Yeah, let it grow. I had more than one chat on, on this show where somebody had to have somebody come to their house and swab their nose, uh, for that day's shooting. In any other scenario, you go to your front door, somebody sticks a cotton swab up your nose, and then leaves. I mean, well, that's kind of the weird times we were living in, you know.

34:17 Necar Zadegan: That we- that was our life weekly.

34:20 How “Law & Order” led to CBS’s “CIA”

34:20 Marc Preston: How did the CIA come to you? Is this something, just, just an audition, or d- was this something that they were like, "Okay, this, you're, you're just right for this"?

34:28 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, I think they thought I was just right for this. And, um, they had had... Uh, well, I replaced somebody on this show.

34:34 Necar Zadegan: They had had an experience of shooting, and, um, as of- ma- happens often, um, they decided to, you know, change some things and go a couple different ways. And so they called me and, um, asked me to... It happened so fast. They called me and asked me to, um, come... Well, you know what happened was Law & Order had called.

34:53 Necar Zadegan: I got a call from Law & Order, and they had asked if I wanted to come do the show here in New York. And I thought it was so strange because, um, I thought it was so strange that I had never done it because, you know, it's one of those shows that everybody does. Yeah. And, um, and I had never done it, and I was like, "Yeah, I'm gonna go to New York and do it.

35:12 Necar Zadegan: It'll be fun." And- It's kind of like a rite of passage

35:13 Marc Preston: for New York actors to do, and s-

35:16 Necar Zadegan: Yeah ... to do that show. Yeah. Yeah, totally. Totally true. So anyway, I came in to do the show, and I had a really good time, and I guess it was because, you know, at that time, that's when they were making all the changes, and I think that was what kind of put me on their radar.

35:30 Necar Zadegan: And then they reached out about this show and told me that they wanted me to come on and do this role. And so we talked about it, and I was really into it. I liked the, um I mean, people take jobs for all kinds of reasons, you know, and, uh, and, I mean, you know, you might wanna work with the team or you might wanna, you know, you like the location or maybe, you know, you like the role.

35:51 Necar Zadegan: It's really whatever, you know? But, um, it really, it really seemed like a fit for me too, and I was excited about coming to New York. I liked the idea of, you know, hiding in plain sight that, you know, was kind of one of the themes of the show and, you know, um, the international quality of it that I w- I hoped that we could, you know, um, maybe make use of during shooting and yeah.

36:13 Working with Taylor Sheridan on “Mayor of Kingstown”

36:13 Marc Preston: You mentioned Mayor of Kingstown. What, what... I, I always enjoy speaking with folks that, uh, work on a Taylor Sheridan project. You know, what, what is that like? Do you have any feedback on... 'Cause that guy's, I don't know how he creates so much programming, you know, and it all lands. I admittedly have not had an opportunity to get into Mayor of Kingstown yet, but it is literally in the queue.

36:34 Marc Preston: What's that like working on a Taylor Sheridan project? Do you have any insight? I always, I always love a- asking folks who do his, uh, whose shows.

36:41 Necar Zadegan: Well, it's true that I'm very biased, but I'm not the only one that thinks Mayor of Kingstown is his best show. Well

36:47 Marc Preston: done.

36:47 Necar Zadegan: But, um, he does have a, he does have a collection of great shows.

36:52 Necar Zadegan: Um, my parents currently are on a Yellowstone and Dutton Ranch binge. They can't stop talking about it. Every time I talk to them they talk about it. Um, but anyway, yeah, of course I have a, a lot of insight about it. I loved working on that show. I loved it for so many reasons. Um, the very first season that we shot it, Taylor was, um, probably the, the most, um, very hands-on was in the first season.

37:17 Necar Zadegan: So we... You know, one of the wonderful things about working on Taylor's show is he generally has the whole season, um, written out. That's very- Really? Okay ...

37:24 Marc Preston: um,

37:24 Necar Zadegan: different for television. Yeah. So

37:25 Marc Preston: you know the

37:26 Necar Zadegan: full arc as you

37:26 Marc Preston: step in. He's been a whole- You kinda know where you're going for the most part.

37:29 Necar Zadegan: Of the season.

37:30 Necar Zadegan: Of the season, yeah. Uh, and we did that first season. It was really cool because, um, you know, um, you, you... Just the, the, you know what direction. It's just like shooting a movie or a play or something. You have a lot of opportunity to think about. You have a lot of opportunity to kind of, you know, create it.

37:46 Necar Zadegan: And, um, I don't really ever have questions for, for the writers and things. You know, we collaborate in different ways, but I don't usually have questions for Taylor. Well, that's gotta be really nice

37:57 Marc Preston: when you, when you've, you have the, that, you have the confidence to show up and do your thing, you know?

38:01 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, but sometimes things come up, you know?

38:03 The call that unlocked her backstory with Jeremy Renner’s character

38:03 Necar Zadegan: And, um, Taylor had called, um, which is also very, just so, um, involved, you know. And he had called me before my first day of shooting and he, he said, um, "Hey, I just want, I want you to know I want it to go really well, and just let me know if, you know, you need anything." And I said, "You know, I do actually have a question," which was very strange.

38:21 Necar Zadegan: I don't usually do this. And I said, "These are my questions, and what do you..." But it was b- it was a burning question. And he said, "Oh, yeah." And it was something that altered the, um- my perspective on the character and the performance for the rest of the entire series because my character's introduction, um, in the show was in a very compromising position with Jeremy Renner's character in a, in an intimate bathroom scene.

38:44 Necar Zadegan: And, uh, I didn't know at the time. I was like, "Well, how long have they known each other? Did, did they just meet last week at a bar, or do they, you know, know each other?" And he said, "Oh, no, these were, you know, childhood friends. They're, they've known each other since high school. They used to da-" I mean, the backstory that he recounted to me was so specific and so thoughtful, and that was something a little bit...

39:08 Necar Zadegan: Writers always have backstory, and they always talk about these things. But to the extent of the specificity that he shared with me, not always. Um- Well, that's gotta give you more confidence ... because there's a lot of characters

39:17 Marc Preston: to keep- Yeah, that's gotta give you a lot of confidence in submitting to the story, you know, and really kinda jumping on board.

39:22 Necar Zadegan: Oh, it was wonderful. I mean, what it gave me, the sense of history that it, uh, has allowed me to play on that show has all come from that one conversation. And, um, and then in, uh, subsequent seasons, I shared that with some of the other writers who, you know, weren't privy to that because if you don't...

39:37 Necar Zadegan: Sometimes, you know, there's some things you are so aware of and thinking about so hard that you don't necessarily think about sharing them. You just kind of take for granted that other people must see it, you know? Um, but I didn't, and so Taylor shared that with me, and then I shared that, um, with some of the other writers, and so it gave us a lot.

39:54 Necar Zadegan: So yeah, working with Taylor's fantastic because he's so thoughtful.

39:58 Marc Preston: One of the things I love, and oh, my son and I, we're, uh, what did we just wa- We just finished Dutton Ranch a while back.

40:04 Necar Zadegan: Did you love

40:04 Marc Preston: it? I, I, I th-

40:05 Necar Zadegan: Like my parents

40:06 Marc Preston: are loving it? I, I've watched one episode of Yellowstone. That's it. But I've watched everything else, you know.

40:10 Necar Zadegan: You should watch Mayor.

40:11 Marc Preston: Oh, I'll... It's, it's- You and your son will dig it. Well, I always wait till they're in town, and then we kind of power through stuff. Mm. One of the things I love about Taylor Sheridan's shows is that I, I really feel the beating heart and, and the backbone of the shows are always strong women.

40:25 Marc Preston: I, I, I just... I think he is kind of an American poet, you know, in the way he tells stories.

40:29 Necar Zadegan: Oh, that's such a lovely way to describe

40:31 Marc Preston: someone. I... But going forward, is there something you haven't done that you're like Be it sci-fi or be it a, a specific type of character, something that you would l- that you really wanna take a bite out of.

40:41 Marc Preston: What's out there that you haven't done yet that you would like to try out?

40:44 Necar Zadegan: Well, I've done sci-fi. I got to work on Star Trek. I love it. I'd love to do more of it. Sci-fi's very cool 'cause what you were talking about with regards to female characters, I mean, the world is your oyster. The women can do anything because there's no set standard.

40:56 Necar Zadegan: I love that. Um, what I haven't done, there's so many things, you know, that I haven't done. I'd love to do a musical. I watch, uh, Matilda with my niece all the time, and I love that movie, and I would have loved to have done any role in that thing. Um, I'd love to get back on stage again. I love comedy a lo- a bit ago, I did a thing called Documentary Now with, um, Alex Borno and a series of, um, creators from SNL, and that was a very cool project.

41:20 Necar Zadegan: I don't get the opportunity to do comedy a lot, even though that's where I started. And so I'd love to do that. I love period pieces. Um, I'd wanted to do... I mean, there's so m- it's endless. Biblical thing. It's our level.

41:31 Marc Preston: So what are you, what are you watching now? What is it now that you're... What, what are you either binging or watching, or what is your jam right now?

41:38 Necar Zadegan: You know, I watch movies more than I watch television. I mean, first of all, I do watch my own stuff. I always do.

41:43 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

41:44 Necar Zadegan: So I'm really into the stuff that I'm doing right now. I can't wait for the new season of Mayor of Kingstown. Um, the last show that I binged- Which is not, which is not always the

41:50 Marc Preston: case.

41:51 Marc Preston: I've, I've spoken to a lot of people say, "I just don't like watching myself." Yeah.

41:53 Necar Zadegan: I know. I know. It's not just that I like to watch myself. Oh, I'm not saying that. Yeah. I really enjoy, which I love. But I really, I really love watching my co-stars. I love watching my friends on things. Um, I love watching the people that have made it, you know, but, and what it, what the show is.

42:12 Necar Zadegan: Um, also just for professional reasons, I like to watch it. I like to see what the different departments are doing. I, I don't feel like I can talk to them in a really collaborative way if I'm not watching it, you know, 'cause it doesn't look the same as it, as it could be, you know? Yeah. Yeah. That's,

42:25 Marc Preston: that's...

42:26 Marc Preston: It's sort of like a restaurant, you know. Unless you're actually seeing what the plate looks like exactly- Eating.

42:30 Necar Zadegan: Yeah ...

42:30 Marc Preston: you don't really understand.

42:31 Necar Zadegan: That's how I

42:32 Marc Preston: feel. Yeah.

42:32 Necar Zadegan: But I do, but I do watch a lot of movies. Um, m- I, uh, I've been watching some things at the New York Film Festival. I had a movie there.

42:40 Necar Zadegan: Um, that's a great movie called Mr. Green that's just coming out. Chris Rock directed that. And, um, because our movie was there, I got to see a couple other things at the film festival, which was cool. But the last thing I binged was Beef. I love that show. I think it's so smart. Um, I love the genre. Um, and I'm, I'm really into it.

42:59 Necar Zadegan: Isn't Beef sort of an anthology,

43:00 Marc Preston: or am I, am I imagining that? Isn't, like, each

43:02 Necar Zadegan: season

43:02 Marc Preston: different?

43:03 Necar Zadegan: Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I like that quality about it. Um, yeah, I'm really into that. But there's some shows that I'm interested in watching. Um, so yeah.

43:20 The Seven Questions

43:20 Marc Preston: One of the things I always love to do, uh, towards the end of my chats with folks is something I call my seven questions. Uh, and I always talk food at least once. I know we talked about the gourmet sabzi, I think, earlier. Yes. But, you know- Uh-huh ... I, I always like to, uh, have the first question, uh, put it out there.

43:33 Marc Preston: What, what is your favorite comfort food? Great day, it's like he adds to it, or a crummy day, it just kind of lifts you up a little bit. What would that be?

43:41 Necar Zadegan: Well, that's easy. Pizza. And I'm in New York, so it's, like, on every corner.

43:46 Marc Preston: Yeah. But I gotta know what you put on your pizza, though. What, what is the perfect slice for you?

43:53 Necar Zadegan: Oh, I'm so... It's so simple. You know, I, I cook-

43:56 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm ...

43:56 Necar Zadegan: and I'm an excellent chef, so, um, I really, really love a really simple food that doesn't have a lot of ingredients. I love to taste all the flavors. Um, so I really do love a, a margherita pizza with a side of anchovies. Oh. That's my, that's my order.

44:15 Marc Preston: You're, you're into my, you're into my new hero, you know?

44:17 Marc Preston: It's like there's one- There's actually on- there's a little neighborhood pizza place here on the island, and they still have anchovies. Oh? And I, I think there's something about having anchovies on a pizza. It's just, it's... I love cooking with anchovies, though. Like, you ever do, like- Me

44:31 Necar Zadegan: too ...

44:31 Marc Preston: you take 'em, put 'em into oil, they kind of dissolve.

44:33 Marc Preston: They give you that salty, what they call the umami or whatever. But, but y-

44:36 Necar Zadegan: Listen, I know all about

44:37 Marc Preston: it ... I, I gotta know if you're, if... I, I, again, I'm a food nerd, so I have to know what it is that, uh... If you were to say the thing that, the thing you love to cook that you think, "It's just my jam," and/or the th- and/or the thing that people when they say, "Hey, let's go over to Necara's house because she's gonna make this tonight," you know?

44:54 Necar Zadegan: You know what's wonderful about coming to my house for dinner? You will never come to my house for dinner if you're a regular invited guest and have the same meal. I always, I really do change it up. But my go-to is easy because it's so delicious and simple, and again, I love a simple food. But often I'll make a rosemary chicken with an anchovy pasta limon and, um, you know, some beautiful

45:20 Marc Preston: vegetables

45:20 Necar Zadegan: and lovely- Anchovy pasta.

45:21 Marc Preston: You just gave me an idea. I'm no- not even making this. I was like, anchovy pasta. Go-

45:25 Necar Zadegan: I believe you. I know

45:26 Marc Preston: It's

45:27 Necar Zadegan: like, it's- I know, Luther.

45:28 Marc Preston: My daughter who, the one who's in Europe, uh, e- ever since my kids were growing up, they've learned how to cook with me, and I, I've so enjoyed, uh, cooking with them. But she did the, uh, just simple, just garlic and, and the pasta, a little chiffonade of some fresh basil.

45:43 Marc Preston: Just keeping it simple, you know, to let the, uh, ingredients speak for themselves, you know. But-

45:47 Necar Zadegan: Well, that's how I grew up eating, too, because in our food, in Persian cuisine, we use a lot of herbs, and even those, uh, there's a lot of, uh, there can be a lot of ingredients. It's really about the flavors coming together.

45:57 Necar Zadegan: Mm-hmm. I do make this fantastic lemon celery stew that's a Persian dish that I love. A lemon-

46:02 Marc Preston: I've never played, see, uh, being a Jewish kid, I think, you know, you know, there's a lot of, I think my natural inclination is things Mediterranean, but I haven't really gotten into the Persian thing, and I tried out something Indian the other day.

46:13 Marc Preston: Eh, it didn't really come off like it came from an Indian re- it still tasted good, though. Oh, I love

46:16 Necar Zadegan: Indian food.

46:17 Marc Preston: It's such a-

46:17 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, Indian food is great.

46:18 Marc Preston: But y- it's, uh, one of those things you gotta have a, a, a grandmother or somebody in your family that knows how to cook it to show you 'cause I think it's like that and, uh, Greek are the same way.

46:27 Marc Preston: You know, you gotta have somebody show you.

46:28 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, but you know, you know what, I really do make an amazing chicken soup that's, that tastes like your grandma, your Jewish grandma's chicken soup. It's fantastic.

46:38 Marc Preston: I will say my matzo ball soup I came up with, 'cause I didn't really come up with any recipes. They were passed down.

46:43 Marc Preston: Ooh, I

46:43 Necar Zadegan: love matzo ball soup. That's a good one.

46:45 Marc Preston: I'm, mine is more like a stew. You know, y- like you go to, uh-

46:49 Necar Zadegan: Oh, different ...

46:49 Marc Preston: it's a little more r- you know, big chunkies in there, you know? Like, the, the- Oh ... I use chicken thigh. You can tell I haven't had lunch yet. Uh, so I'm sitting here thinking of all these things.

46:59 Marc Preston: But where's your, uh, like living in LA, where is your kinda like your go-to, like one of your go-to restaurants? I don't wanna say comfort food, but it's, like for me, it's Canter's. I always end up at Canter's 'cause it's just, y- you know what you're getting there, you know? But as far as-

47:12 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, yeah ...

47:13 Marc Preston: what, where is one of your favorite?

47:14 Marc Preston: One of your favorites?

47:15 Necar Zadegan: Well, because, um, I'm in New York, um, and there's such a great amount of restaurants here, uh, dining in New York is exceptional. It is. Oh, yeah. It's really fun. You have everything

47:27 Marc Preston: you want

47:27 Necar Zadegan: at all hours, yeah. And you n- yeah, I literally have to try not to eat out here. Um, but, uh, but I don't get, I have to miss a lot of LA restaurants, but what I do miss are the Persian restaurants in LA because there's a shortage of those here, and we have some good ones in LA.

47:41 Necar Zadegan: Which I've, I've never had Persian food. Rock these. You're missing out, man. I've always- You're really missing out ...

47:44 Marc Preston: I, I know I am. I wanna, but there's a, also an ice cream place- Mm-hmm ... out in LA.

47:49 Necar Zadegan: Persian ice cream Yeah, you gotta be okay with rose water. That's a flavor that I don't n- is not a familiar- Oh, I love that.

47:55 Necar Zadegan: Yeah ... flavor for everybody. I, it's- Yeah, but if you like it, and once you kinda get it, it's, it, it's just so lovely. It's so lovely. It's not over sweet. That's something I love, and that's something I really loved to do in New Orleans, was eat. And surprisingly, their baked goods were not so sweet. That's what I am always looking.

48:11 Necar Zadegan: That's how you know it's, like, closer to homemade, you know, when they don't overdo stuff like that. But yeah, there's some Persian restaurants in LA that I love. Rafi's is great. It's in Glendale, and I, I would go there tonight if I was home.

48:23 Marc Preston: You know, if I get an idea of what's happening with the ingredients, I get in the kitchen, I can make something.

48:27 Marc Preston: I'm not gonna pretend like it's exactly as it should be, but I like, I like playing.

48:32 Necar Zadegan: Well, our food is meant, it's meant to be cooked at home. So going to the restaurant, we really only go there to, like, get kebab. And although the other f- dishes they make in the restaurants are good, but because I cook, you know, that's what we go to the restaurant for, is kebab, 'cause they make it over their, like, barbecue or whatever.

48:47 Necar Zadegan: You know what I mean? Uh, real, real coals,

48:49 Marc Preston: yeah.

48:49 Necar Zadegan: Like, they have the big old... Yeah, you know? It's better. Oh,

48:51 Marc Preston: God, I'm so hungry right now. Um, well, I'll get to the next question before I just go crazy thinking about food here. Uh, but w- if you were to sit down and have coffee for, for a few hours, uh, living or not- Mm-hmm

49:02 Marc Preston: who would the three people be that you could talk story with for hours on end over coffee? Or who would you like to sit down with?

49:08 Necar Zadegan: Um, my grandma. That's easy. That's one. Um, maybe, uh, like, dead forever? Like, a long time?

49:20 Marc Preston: Oh, an- anytime. You know, I've had people say Jesus, so. It could be

49:23 Necar Zadegan: anybody?

49:24 Marc Preston: So it could be anybody, yeah.

49:25 Necar Zadegan: Oh, that's a good one. Um, well, certainly my grandma, so that's easy. That's one. But, uh, mm, maybe also Maria Callas And maybe John Ritter

49:42 Marc Preston: John Ritter is just like... As a young boy, I thought it would be totally normal to live just me and two girls in an apartment. And I'm like, "Okay, that's what life could be like," you know?

49:50 Marc Preston: Yeah. Doing the Three's Company, you know? It's like-

49:52 Necar Zadegan: That was a funny

49:53 Marc Preston: show. Oh, he was... Ah, I, I, I miss that guy.

49:57 Necar Zadegan: You know, speaking of Robin, since you asked me about Robin, have you ever seen... Gosh, I wish I could tell you exactly what it is, but I'm sure you'd have no trouble finding it. Have you ever seen, there was a time Robin Williams was performing somewhere, I don't remember where.

50:10 Necar Zadegan: He was doing some standup, and John Ritter was in the audience, and he invites John, just like totally randomly, to come on stage with him. And you can see in the footage that not only is John, like, a little bit nervous and, you know, g- uh, g- complimented of course to be joining Robin, who he obviously admired, but then he just shines.

50:30 Necar Zadegan: And then you watch Robin r- uh, just thri- thrill at John shining, and then they're shining together. It's really worth it to watch if you ever see it.

50:39 Marc Preston: I, I would love... Thank you for telling me about that. I know, I'm gonna hunt that down, try to find it on YouTube or somewhere.

50:43 Necar Zadegan: Yeah. It m- It'll probably be easy to find, but I wish I could give you a more specific- See- They're both, like, masters, you know?

50:49 Marc Preston: Well, they're, they're actors who, who, I don't wanna say in a bad way suck the oxygen out of the room. It's just that it takes all that oxygen to feed their flame. We'll put it like that. Um, but-

50:58 Necar Zadegan: No, for sure. But I said they're masters.

51:00 Oh,

51:00 Marc Preston: no.

51:00 Necar Zadegan: Masters of physical comedy.

51:01 Marc Preston: I, I imagine Robin being the kind of guy where he doesn't necessarily wanna do that.

51:05 Marc Preston: He wants whoever's around him to also be elevated. 'Cause you w- uh, becau- Yes. Yes ... you watch when he improvs, he brings people into the story or the riff, you know? Yeah. It's not just about him. Yes. He's just the facilitator of this controlled chaos, and that's one of the things I loved about him- Mm-hmm ... is that, you know, there wasn't a star vibe to him.

51:24 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, totally. It was really

51:26 Marc Preston: cool. I wanna... Uh, John Ritter and... I, I... Thank you for tell- I, I've actually, I've made a note here. I will hunt that down. Oh, uh, can he... He only, he was, like, 50. He was very young I think when he passed, right? I, I... He's something like-

51:37 Necar Zadegan: He was. He was in his 50s. Yeah, he was very young.

51:39 Necar Zadegan: Yeah. They say if you, um, they say if you have heart, a heart issue that's serious in your 50s that for some reason that decade doesn't seem to survive it that well.

51:48 Marc Preston: Hmm. Well, thank you for telling me about that. I always love getting those little Easter eggs and things like that to, that I haven't seen before.

51:53 Marc Preston: Yeah. That's right. Um, now next question. I- I- If you're gonna be living on an island somewhere beautiful, somewhere you really wanna be, uh, it's, it's, it's at a resort, let's say, but no streaming. So if you wanna l- You're gonna be there for a year, and if you wanna listen to music, you can only bring one CD.

52:07 Marc Preston: And if you wanna watch a movie, you can only bring one DVD. What would that CD and what would that DVD be- Uh ... for the whole year?

52:14 Necar Zadegan: Oh, for the whole year? Oh my God. Um, well, I'm on an island, and I can only listen to one CD the whole year? I

52:22 Marc Preston: will say a box

52:23 Necar Zadegan: set. CD. I feel like it'd have to be Bob Marley. It seems fitting- Yeah

52:27 Necar Zadegan: for the- Over the, um, you know, location. And I'd probably bring The Princess Bride because I'm sure I'd never get sick of it

52:35 Marc Preston: One of Rob Reiner's, uh, crowning achievements most certainly.

52:39 Necar Zadegan: Mm-hmm.

52:39 Marc Preston: Yeah. And I actually, I, you know what? Uh, um, Mandy Patinkin, I'm like, he's one of the people I've always wanted to speak with 'cause that movie was perfect in so many ways, you know?

52:48 Necar Zadegan: It was perfect. And that, just that sword fight between the two of them is so fantastic. Mandy Patinkin has had some great scenes I could watch a lot. Do you remember that fight scene between him and Barbra Streisand in Yentl? That was fantastic.

53:01 Marc Preston: No. No, no, no. I should- What? 'Cause I'm not, I sh- I'm a good Jewish boy.

53:04 Marc Preston: I should know this, but, uh-

53:06 Necar Zadegan: What? You, what are you, you must rem- it's the scene when he finds out that she's a woman and he loses it ...

53:11 Marc Preston: I, it's been so many years since I've seen that. I know it's, I'm, I'm a bad-

53:15 Necar Zadegan: Not only is that a great scene, but if you can find the footage where you watch her directing him in that scene, it's even more exciting than watching the scene itself.

53:24 Necar Zadegan: It's just saying

53:25 Marc Preston: a lot. He is, I just, uh, power watched, a f- couple months ago I went, uh, through, uh, Homeland, the entire series in, in a s- short span of time, and he's so versatile, so he's such a wonderful guy to watch work.

53:36 Necar Zadegan: Yeah,

53:36 Marc Preston: he

53:36 Necar Zadegan: is. Uh,

53:36 Marc Preston: now next question. If you were to say from the time you get up to time you go to bed, if you wanna say the ingredients for you of a perfect day.

53:44 Marc Preston: Like, if you say, "Okay, these few things happened," or, "I went here, I did this thing, I saw these," whatever it happens to be, what would the ingredients for you be for a perfect day?

53:54 Necar Zadegan: The ingredients would be, um, hmm. Um- Well, it would have to be something that stirred my soul and expanded my mind. So... And, um, a walk is nice too.

54:14 Marc Preston: Now, next question. If you were-- If somebody said, "This is, this acting, uh, performance, this is not on the radar. It's not available to you anymore, so you'd have to choose another vocation that you think you'd find joy doing," what would that, what, what would that other job be for you?

54:31 Necar Zadegan: Um, probably be a teacher.

54:34 Marc Preston: Teach anything in particular?

54:36 Necar Zadegan: I think it would be lovely to teach people... I, I mean, any-anybody that's in, you know, their child years. But between 12 and 16 is a really important time for shaping your thoughts and things, and I think that's a nice age. Of course, I, I think, um, I think teaching, um, you know, dramatic art and story is very powerful because in our, in the highest, um, form of this business of what we do and this art, it is, it is a recipe for healing.

55:15 Necar Zadegan: And I think we know that because we do it. But, um, I think that, that there's a lot of finding out about, um, the world and yourself in a very, um, healing and honest way. So maybe I, I would teach this, this-

55:30 Marc Preston: I love that. Uh, it kind of tethers back into, to storytelling, you know, for me, and telling stories. Yeah, mm-hmm.

55:35 Marc Preston: And I think there's something in our DNA that just knowing how to tell stories and receive stories, I think there's, there's kind of a zen to it. I don't mean to get too philosophical you know, but-

55:44 Necar Zadegan: I agree. No, I agree. Yeah

55:45 Marc Preston: Um, and the last question I got, though, uh, if you had that DeLorean and you can jump in and go back to when you're 16 years old, and you have a piece of advice to give yourself at 16 to make that moment of your life better or to put yourself on a little different track, uh, or, you know, whatever piece of wisdom if you had a few minutes with 16-year-old you, what would you pass along?

56:05 Necar Zadegan: Oh, man. Oh, I don't know. It was so many things. I don't even know where to start. Um- Hmm. Maybe drink more water. I don't know.

56:21 Marc Preston: Drink... Wait, wait, was it drink more water just in general, or drink more water as opposed to other things?

56:29 Necar Zadegan: I don't know, whatever you think.

56:31 Marc Preston: Well, I do know. People are like, "Well, she was a troubled child in high school."

56:35 Marc Preston: "She was a troublemaker." No, uh, but no, that's... I think water is, is a-

56:38 Necar Zadegan: I don't know. I feel, I feel cl- I mean, I don't know, because I feel like I was a really, really curious, um, and, um, like rambunctious and explorative young person, and I really wouldn't want to, um, change that. Yeah. The idea... Well, there's so many Robin Williams quotes I could bring up, but I'm thinking of another one when he said something about if you get to a certain age and you have no regrets, you're just stupid.

57:05 Necar Zadegan: That's hard. I think young people need trust, and I... And support. And so otherwise they just have to f- because you can't give a young person who hasn't experienced things certain kinds of advices. They won't even get it. You know? They have to kind of- Yeah ... experience it a little bit, you know? Um, but if they have trust and support, then they can have freedom, and that's-

57:30 Marc Preston: I lo- I love that.

57:31 Marc Preston: Yeah, uh, what you said earlier reminds me of that phrase that if you're a guy who can look at yourself in your 20s and not think you were a complete knucklehead in your 20s- ... you're still a knucklehead. You know? Uh-

57:41 Necar Zadegan: Yeah,

57:42 Marc Preston: that's right. So I, I, I at least have one or two moments every week of cringe going, "God, did I do that or did I say..."

57:47 What’s next: “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Misty Green,” “Joseph of Egypt”

57:47 Marc Preston: Nothing bad, just like, oh man. Pat myself on the back, okay, I've matured a little bit. Just a little bit, not a lot. But I've matured a little bit. Uh, but so do you have anything, uh, bes- of course, besides CIA, do you have anything else in the can, as they say? Anything coming up that you're working on or that, uh, that's on the calendar?

58:05 Necar Zadegan: Um, the final season of Mayor of Kingstown I just finished shooting, and that'll air sometime in the beginning of 2027. I think, I think it's slated for May, but I, I don't know. Don't, don't quote me on that. Um, I just finished this movie that I was shooting with Chris Rock. It's just, um, started the festival circuit, called Misty Green.

58:24 Necar Zadegan: Um, I'm really proud of Chris. He's such a, he's such a lovely director and he did- Oh, he directed it? ... a wonderful job with this movie. Oh, okay. I didn't know that. Yeah. He's in it also, but he also, he directed it. And, um, the actors are all fantastic in the movie. Um, I also, uh, did this project for Amazon that's a biblical story called Joseph of Egypt, and that should be coming out in 2027 as well.

58:49 Marc Preston: It sounds like you're staying busy to say the very least, you know. Wow, you're like a professional and stuff. That's awesome. Well, that's- Well, no, seriously, uh, I love all your work, I sincerely do, and, uh, going all the way back to 24. Thank you. And, uh-

59:03 Necar Zadegan: Well, it's a pleasure talking with you today because, I mean, you have...

59:07 Necar Zadegan: It feels like you have interviewed everybody. It feels like you have mu- you must have had some... I mean, some of those questions, you, it would be, uh, more interesting to hear you answer them, like who's the three people you would like to get coffee with after speaking with all the people you've spoken with?

59:22 Necar Zadegan: I can only-

59:23 Marc Preston: Oh, I, it's so funny you said that the other day. Tell me,

59:25 Necar Zadegan: tell me what your three are.

59:26 Marc Preston: Um, it would be my grandfather. Uh, it would be- Mm ... uh, uh, Anthony Bourdain. And, uh- Oh, good

59:33 Necar Zadegan: one.

59:34 Marc Preston: That's a good one ... and, uh, and Alan Watts, the philosopher, uh, guy from-

59:37 Necar Zadegan: Oh, yeah. That's a good one.

59:39 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm. So yeah, just, you know, enough to where it's, you know, it's, uh...

59:42 Marc Preston: could get philosophical, but could also get a little... is some people's sense of humor, you know? It's just, uh, I don't know. So the things you were mentioning before about travel reminded me a lot of what Anthony Bourdain said, you know, just, you know- Mm. Yeah ... going other places, seeing things, you know. Um, it's funny because that's the only question I probably could answer, you know?

1:00:00 Necar Zadegan: That's a hard question.

1:00:01 Marc Preston: Well, it's not just the conversation you have with the person, but I find it interesting, and I think actors are like this 'cause you, you, you have to listen for your job, you know? It's really listening. Hearing the interaction- True ... between people I think is fascinating. And ever since I was a kid, I loved watching the older folks, the folks with gray hair, the way they interacted with one another.

1:00:20 Marc Preston: And I,

1:00:21 Necar Zadegan: uh- Me too.

1:00:21 Marc Preston: But no, so when are you heading back to the West Coast? When, when does your, uh, tour duty in New York wrap up this go-around?

1:00:27 Necar Zadegan: Well, you know, we have a very short hiatus. Our hiatus is about, I don't know, like, two months long or something like that. Um, but I don't plan on waiting that long to get back to the West Coast.

1:00:40 Necar Zadegan: To be honest, I've been here since July this season started. Um, I mean, I've been here since January, but in July this season started, and I would've thought that I would've gone home by now, but I just haven't had a chance to. But certainly for the holidays I'll go back.

1:00:53 Marc Preston: Well, think of me fondly next time you're at Katz's Deli or, well, eating anything there.

1:00:58 Necar Zadegan: Oh.

1:00:59 Marc Preston: Eating anything in Up- Yeah ... New York.

1:01:00 Necar Zadegan: But

1:01:01 Marc Preston: I'm gonna be looking up some Persian recipes. Uh, you have inspired me to dive in and, and be brave and try s- a new cuisine I have yet to get into the kitchen and manifest. So.

1:01:10 Necar Zadegan: Well, uh, let... But, you know, here's the thing. You have to eat it first before you make it 'cause you need to know what it's supposed

1:01:16 Marc Preston: to taste

1:01:16 Necar Zadegan: like.

1:01:16 Necar Zadegan: Oh,

1:01:17 Marc Preston: okay. Shohreh Aghdashloo did say that she had a recipe. I, I, I kick myself for not emailing

1:01:22 Necar Zadegan: her. Let's give her a call. She should have a dinner party. We should go.

1:01:24 Marc Preston: Yeah. I, I think the, uh- It'd be fun ... honestly, I would bring a bottle of wine 'cause she said that she would make the, the, the, the, uh, uh, uh, gourmet sabzi.

1:01:31 Marc Preston: Or I think that's how you pronounce it.

1:01:33 Necar Zadegan: Yeah, she... Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure she meant it. That's a, that's a beautiful dish for somebody to invite

1:01:38 Marc Preston: you down for. And she was so sweet. She's like, "Okay, where do you live?" 'Cause I think she was firing it up in her head to make some, and was like, "Where do you live?"

1:01:43 Marc Preston: I'm like, "Well, I'm in Texas." She's like, "Oh." I was like- Where

1:01:45 Necar Zadegan: do you live? I will send it for you.

1:01:48 Marc Preston: I could just listen to her talk all day long. But, uh-

1:01:50 Necar Zadegan: I know. Read me the phone book.

1:01:53 Marc Preston: Well, Nika, thank you so much for sharing some time with me, and thank your pooches for allowing you to share, share some time with me.

1:01:58 Necar Zadegan: Aw. It's my pleasure. It's

1:02:00 Marc Preston: my pleasure. But, uh, but hopefully, uh, fingers crossed we'll have an opportunity to catch up down the line. Otherwise, we'll be, uh, I'll be starting Mary Kings Town in the next week or two, and, uh, enjoy watching you there.

1:02:09 Necar Zadegan: It's a pleasure talking with you. Thanks for wanting to get together and ma- making time.

1:02:14 Necar Zadegan: I appreciate it.

1:02:16 Marc Preston: All right, there you go. Necar Zadegan. So charming, so cool to chat with. Uh, she has had a career which includes a lot of the shows I love. Uh, 24, uh, The Family, as we mentioned. We all love The Rookie. Uh, Mayor of Kingstown, I know. I haven't watched it yet, but it is in the queue, and I probably am gonna start it this week sometime.

1:02:37 Marc Preston: So that is my next journey into the world that is Taylor Sheridan. Uh, hey, do me a favor. Hop on over to your podcast app. Make sure to follow Story and Craft, uh, that way you get notified every time a new episode comes out. Make sure to like the show. Leave some stars. A review helps people to find the show.

1:02:53 Marc Preston: And also, you can head to storyandcraftpod.com, the website. Past guests, past episodes, it's all right there for you, and you can also send me a note. I always welcome little emails and, uh, a check-in from you, so good to hear from you. So, uh, I'm gonna jump on out of here. It is dinner time here, and I have a new recipe I'm gonna play with.

1:03:14 Marc Preston: Uh, hey, have a great one, and as I always say, thank you so very much for making what I've got going on here part of what you've got going on. It does mean a lot to me, uh, to have you here every episode. Great episodes to come. Some really great chats. So, uh, we'll see you in a few days for another episode of Story and Craft.

1:03:33 Marc Preston: Talk to you then.

1:03:34 Announcer: That's it for this episode of Story and Craft. Join Marc next week for more conversation right here on Story and Craft. Story and Craft is a presentation of Marc Preston Productions, LLC. Executive producer is Marc Preston. Associate producer is Zachary Holden. Please rate and review Story and Craft on Apple Podcasts.

1:03:56 Announcer: Don't forget to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. You can subscribe to show updates and stay in the know. Just head to storyandcraftpod.com and sign up for the newsletter. I'm Emma Dylan. See you next time, and remember, keep telling your story.