Best of Show #3 - Amazing Actors
43:03 Share

Hello and welcome to the Jan Arden podcast, our third installment of very special episodes that we are doing for you this summer. These are our best of. We've had so many amazing interviews with people over the last couple of years that we thought it was about time we reminded you about them and just took a

Brief pause ourselves to reboot. Yes, folks, get ready for season two. Today, amazing actors Alicia Cuthbert,

What a Canadian success story she is. And she's a Calgary girl. The Girl Next Door. I mean, I could name a million movies that she's been in. She'll tell you all about it. She is such a nice person. I had a chance to work with her on The Jan Show. She's with us today. Danny Kind. I also had a chance to work with her on Working Moms. She plays the incomparable Anne. And she really is this fiery redhead. She's in Wynonna Earp.

She has really launched herself into a whole new stratosphere with the work that she's done in Canadian comedy in the last couple of years. Meredith McNeil.

Baroness Von Sketch. I don't even need to say anymore. Some of the most hilarious, hilarious sketch comedy this country has ever produced. She's with us today. And my friend Zoe Palmer is with us today. You will know her from Lost Girls. And she played my sister in The Jan Show.

She was also in Dark Matter. She's done loads of movies. She is not only funny, but she's charismatic. She's a mom. She's a philanthropist. She does it all. And she grows a mean strawberry. We're going to hear from her today as well.

Don't go away. You're not going to want to miss amazing actors on today's special episode of the Jan Arden podcast. Zoe Palmer plays Max, my lovingly frustrated sister on The Jan Show. Season three starts September 27th at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on CTV. We hope you'll join us. Zoe, I'm just going to welcome you again because we have no idea what we recorded in the last segment. It could just be dead air. We don't know.

Sure. Well, thank you for having me. I'm thrilled to be here. Okay. First of all, I want to say because of the internet, we all saw you take this beautiful trip to Ireland to visit your family. Can you just tell us a little bit about that? Cause we're quite jealous.

Well, yeah, my whole family lives there for the most part. Some of them are in England, but I don't have much family here really, except for my sister and my dad when he's not traveling. He has another place in Spain, which he spends half of the year. So, yeah.

So it's just my sister and I. So we went to Ireland to go see my family. And my mom was a family of seven sisters and a brother. And then they all had kids. And then we have 7,000 cousins over there. So we went and we did, you know, we climbed mountains and we kayaked in caves and we rode horses on the beach. And it was like amazing. The cave kayaking freaked me out.

Also, that beach, that horseback ride, the horse that you were on with that black and white face, if you get a chance to go to zoe.com,

Zoe Palmer. No, what's your, what is it? What's your, where am I going? Sorry. I want people to go to Instagram. I know I made. Oh, I think if you just type in Zoe Palmer, I'll come up, but I have, I have Zoe Palmer zeeps because people have to, uh, you know, I got, I got my name taken before I got my own name.

So I had to add a zeeps, which is fine because a lot of people say, call me zeeps. Go and see that because it was really a magical trip. It was really cool. Yeah. Really cool. Anyway, we did manage to film season three during a pandemic. Yes. And you, as always, were phenomenal. Thank you.

I want to share this. I don't want to take this really dark note, but I want to talk just for quickly about professionalism and about the old entertainment adage that the show must go on. We started filming the very first day of filming. Zoe experienced something that none of us can even fathom, really. And she lost her mom.

her mom passed away from cancer. It was quite a quick illness, actually. She didn't last very long. You were able to see her in Ireland. You came back hoping to go back because we had planned our schedule very, you know, we tried to get you in and out of filming as quickly as possible. But on the very first day of filming, your mom passed away and you were faced with performing. And I don't even know how you did it, but that was how we started. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, that's right. That is how we started. Yeah. Life happens when it happens, doesn't it? You know, and it was, yeah, I mean, it's probably one of the most surreal filming experiences I've ever had because, you know, especially doing a comedy and I still don't know whether it was better because normally I've done so much drama in my career and I don't know what would have been better, but, you know, you have to like go on and

I don't know. I mean, I think comedy is born like really good comedy is born out of reality, right? It's born out of truth. And so, yeah,

I don't know. I, yeah, you just gotta do it. So I would go to set and I mean, the truth of the matter is I would shoot the show Monday to Friday and then spend the weekend like in a coma on my couch and my pajamas. Like I was just, I would go do the shoot and then go back to my apartment and kind of

like fall apart for the weekend and then come back to set Monday and kind of go again. But I, you know, I said it the day that I stood on set and I said, I told everybody what had happened. There really was no other place I would have rather been.

than shooting the show because had I been, I mean, because I couldn't be in Ireland because we were filming, then the only other place that made any sense to me was to be with you guys and, and shoot the show and be surrounded by a ton of support and laughter and love and connection and,

So in a way, you know, if it had to happen like that, then there was absolutely a silver lining to some degree. Yeah. Well, we've spoken, you know, a couple of times since the show finished shooting, which was kind of the first week of April, I guess we were talking.

all wrapped up. But you were so funny. I said to Zoe, I'm seeing a lot of the shots now because we were doing editing and you were so funny, Zoe. It's such a funny, quirky, nutty season. And you said to me, I have no idea what I did. And I think you were being very earnest. Yeah.

I truly don't recall a lot of it. It's a bit of a blur, but I mean, I remember, but I, I was sort of there, not there in so many ways. Like I was, you know, I was so kind of in the moment when we were filming that I wasn't able to retain it in a really specific way or 3d way. I kind of have this blurry memory of what we did. So I can't wait to see it. I hear it's great. How do you feel about, you know, just,

Season three. I mean, it's exciting being able to come back and do these do these episodes with a group of people that we all know each other so well now. And you really do feel like it's a family. I think that's right. People are in for so many great surprises this season. Do you have any favorite moments?

I think there's so much this season. I mean, it really kind of, it's a really full eight episodes. You know, we have two new characters and they bring a ton of new dynamics to the show and sort of bring new stuff from all of us, right? And I think people are going to be really into it. It's like season one and two on fire a bit.

It does feel that way. Every season has its own personality. You could speak to that much easier than any of us can because of your work on episodic, you know, the Lost Girls, for example. You did five seasons. Dark Matter, three seasons. So you have a real sense of

how that feels, but it's to me, it's like, Hey, the band's getting back together. That's what it feels like to me. Yeah. Yeah. It's like war buddies almost you like when you're on a show with people, it's, it's like, you're just immersed in that world and everything else to kind of disappears while you're filming. Right. And you really do become, you go through highs and lows with each other, wins and losses. And, you know, it's a, such an interesting business that way, because then you, you leave and you're like,

Talk to you never, bye. You know, because everyone flies back to their world. And, but I love to be on series for that reason. I love the community of it a lot.

What have you been doing with yourself? I mean, I know that you had a bit of a move this year and just lots going on. I mean, you're endlessly busy. How is it work-wise? How is it looking out there in the city of Toronto for auditioning and things? I mean, it's great. It's great. I really needed to take some time, downtime, which is kind of what I did. I had traveled from mid-December to

I was gone for almost four months in total, like by the time. And so, well, three months, I guess. But yeah, so I really just needed to be home and kind of be here, which is what I sort of did. I put work a little bit away until I was able to kind of just

Get grounded. And, you know, like, I just didn't feel like traveling again was, it wasn't until I went to Ireland, you know, where I wanted, I kind of needed to go back there first. Well, you've turned into quite the gardener. I have. You should see my dolly. Yeah.

Yeah, they're really doing what Dahlias do best. I'm just so thrilled to be finally kind of able to say the season is starting on the 27th. We're all slated to go the 20th, of course, Zoe. And they announced an election. I'm like, okay. I know, honestly. Not going to be good. Like what could be going on that's so important that they need to look at that right now?

Yeah, I was just thinking, I think we'll want to know who the next prime minister of this country is going to be, which will be me. Sure. It's about time. You've written a book, you've written songs, you've done a TV show. I mean, it's kind of the obvious next step. I know how to say sit down in French. Oh, God. Well, say no more. Yes. Yes.

Isn't it SAVU? No. What did I say? SAVU. Yes, that's the one. Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't speak any French. I can say oeuf and jambon. Yeah. You are absolutely a star and you make the show so special. Thank you. Congratulations on season three. Let's hope for season four. You're listening to the Jan Arden podcast. We'll be right back.

We are so excited to welcome another new sponsor, our friends at Cove Soda. Have I pestered Cove enough to come and join us here at the Jan Arden podcast? I love them so much. They are Canadian, first of all. They are a natural, certified organic, zero sugar soda, which includes, get this, one big

I kind of sounded like Dr. Evil there, didn't I? But seriously, you can get 80% of your daily vitamin C in just one can. Cove Soda is on a mission to promote gut health for all, and you still get to have a delicious treat...

while putting a gut-friendly, guilt-free drink in your body. Cove Soda is available in 12 delicious flavors all over North America. So for our American friends, you can find it. They've got this fruity lineup that's fantastic. I drink those all the time. They've got the classic lineup if you like

A cola or a cream soda, root beer, yes indeedy. And they've got their limited edition summer flavor, which will take you right back to the second grade. You gotta try the ice pop one. Head to janardenpod.com to find out where the closest place to you is where you can go and buy Cove. Go right now. Welcome back.

Alicia Cuthbert is here. Oh my God. I just have to quickly tell the story. When I met you that first week, I mean, I was so excited to meet you. We had talked a few times on Instagram, kind of fired messages back and forth, especially when we found out we were Alberta girls and yada, yada, yada, kind of mutual admiration society. Oh my God, Alicia, you had me laughing so hard. And ironically, it was about

the podcast that you did with Anna Faris. Yes. And we all love Anna Faris. I mean, she is such a brilliant comedic actress and funny as all get out, but you just talked about, you know, how fun, how much fun you had. Yeah, I had so much fun, but I was, we were laughing about the fact that like she would bring on guests talking about like relationships and their problems and relationships. I'm not a therapist. I'm an actress. I'm not a therapist.

And here we are like telling people about let's take our first caller and Alicia is going to help you today with your divorce. Alicia, we wanted to surprise you today. And here's our, Oh my God. I was like, okay, here we go. But it was, it was a blast. Her podcast is a trip. It's called unqualified. If you want to check it out. And in particular, if you want to check out Alicia Cuthbert's episode,

you will truly laugh and you'll hear, you'll hear, anyway, I'm going to leave it there. So during this whole COVID thing, people have been drinking more. And before we went on the air, you were talking, because of course I was late signing on to my Zoom screen here with you guys. You had been talking to, you know, our engineer, Adam, just about alcohol in a time of COVID. And every single person I know, Alicia, is saying,

Has really stepped up their drinking game and almost without even realizing it. It's not until you put the empties out at the end of every two weeks that you're going, holy mother of God. Oh, it's embarrassing. I was like, I was like hiding them from the nanny. Like, God, she's going to think we're nuts. It's like, you know, and it's not even so much of like,

Feeling like it's a problem. I mean, I think people, there's a lot of people out there that are probably, it has escalated to a problem where, but if you're like, not really a big drinker, I just, we, we found ourselves every night sharing bottles of wine going, what, why are we doing this? And I,

The only reason I could think of was that we were trying to recreate sort of the bar or the restaurant where we would socialize with people and just weren't socializing with any of our friends. We were, it was just the two of us and we were recreating this sort of social atmosphere. And it was like, there was no need to be doing that every single night. It was like hilarious. But you know, I'll tell you, it was really funny.

I had to get over this other, uh, and I talked to Dak Shepherd actually, who's, uh, sober as well. Um, I, you know, we, we kind of talked about this too. And he said, it's actually very common. Cause I thought I was just nuts. Um, was that when I had my daughter after I gave birth to my daughter and I was finally finished with breastfeeding after nine months. So it was nine months of carrying and nine months of breastfeeding. I was completely sober obviously. And, um,

pretty much all about her and that and less about myself and more just about kind of doing all of those things.

as we, as mothers do. I found myself after that breastfeeding situation, I would put her to bed and instantly have to have like a night drink, like a, like a wine or something, because it was like, I created this thing where it was like me time, where it was like something adult that I could do that had nothing to do with being a mom. And it was sort of

trying to maybe recreate who I was before I had her and not in a bad way. I mean, I sort of dissected this after the fact, but it was, cause I was like, why am I doing this? Why am I having a glass of wine every night at like seven? As soon as I put her down at seven 30, I'm like, I have to like go downstairs and have a glass of wine. That's who is that? That's not me. And I started to realize, I think it was like a part of me trying to find myself.

My old Alicia, my life before. Yeah. My old self. And then I, at one point I had to realize it was like,

That girl's gone, you know, and there's a new version of yourself that you should embrace and be happy with. Not that I say, not that I don't drink, but I just felt like I had to, like, I started seeing this pattern, which is really interesting. And I think COVID has done that too. We're trying to find the people we were prior to this virus. You know, we're trying to replicate the social aspect that we used to have.

But I commend you and I think it's so amazing and what a great time to be sober and not have to go through all that. Well, listen, I was with you on this. There's so much of what you just said that I can relate to, Alicia, because you're talking about putting your daughter down. Well, I never had the opportunity to be a mom. It'll be like one of those moments.

regretful things probably till the day I die. It's just the way it turned out. How I didn't get pregnant in my twenties is a whole other set of circumstances. However, that's not what happened. But anyways, when I was looking after mom with memory loss, the Alzheimer's, especially in those last few years,

I had help, but I took mom every day that I wasn't on the road from four till eight. So hence my book that I wrote called Feeding My Mother, because it was about these hours and the time that I spent with her that was so difficult and just scary.

So frustrating. But gosh, soon as I walk mom back over to her night staff, because mom and dad's house were 100 yards from my place out here in Springbank. That's right. I had that bottle of wine open faster than you can say. Isn't that wild? And I, you know, as I'm pouring the last drops of the bottle into the glass and then

My mind has kicked into this place already. I'm going to open another bottle. I'm going to open another bottle. Cause now you're drunk. I'm texting and I'm, you know, anyway, my relationship was in shambles at the time, but it was this thing, but I did get to a point where I'm like, I can't do this and function, do my work.

And I kind of just recognized it. I mean, but my thing was like a way bigger problem than you and Dion will ever face in your lives. Like I had abused alcohol my entire life, but I've been sober now almost five years. And I can't believe how less inhibited I am, how more open I am with my feelings. I always thought, you know, Oh, alcohol, give me a little bit of, it'll, you know, grease me up. And,

And it didn't, it, it made me not authentic. And I don't know about you, but does, if you drink like three glasses of wine, does it wake you up at three o'clock in the morning? No, I go, I get to sleep. Good for you. Did it wake you up? Always. But I never have a good sleep. I never have a real restful sleep. I end up, if I drink three glasses of wine, I will wake up one dehydrated with a headache, but two through the night will grind my teeth. I will definitely grind my teeth.

or I will be clenching my jaw. I just do not sleep well. There's no way I'm sleeping well. And I haven't, I haven't drank in the last like month. And I just, I just feel so empty.

Much better. I just feel so I'm getting so much more and it's funny It wasn't even really I don't personally believe I was really abusing it, but it was enough that it was like you just hit pause Yeah, you wake up a little groggy My workouts were like painful cuz I was like, I'm like a little bit hung like I'm a little hungover This is just I wasn't doing things great. You know what I mean? I was just doing them but now I'm like really feeling

Well, I think hitting the pause button through COVID is helpful for all of us. I think so.

You know, there's only so many seasons of wine. And I know we walk into liquor stores and we're seeing, you know, oh, there's never, there's a never ending supply of wine. Well, actually folks, there really isn't a never ending supply of wines because most vineyards only make so many bottles. They've only got so many plants. But anyway, it's, it's something, here's the statistic. It's kind of staggering. It's gone up by 170%. I believe that. Wow.

Kind of across the board with, I guess they call it domestic recreational sales. Like not restaurants, because obviously they're not open, but for home. Yeah. And if you talk to any of my friends, we're all in the same boat. We're all doing...

we were all doing the same thing. And how about the drinking and the FaceTime? Cause we can't get together. So we're having glasses of wine with FaceTime. I'm like talking to my girlfriend who lives down the street with a glass of wine in my hand with an iPad. And she's down the street doing the same thing, talking to me and she's down the street. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh, it's madness.

Oh my God. The phone came out when I was drinking and when I was in that peak spot, I just, some of the conversations I had with people, I'd be like, oh, I just, the next day, sometimes I'd be like, oh, I, what, what, where did that go? Alicia Cuthbert, you are such a... I love you. Funny. You're such a funny...

talented, good hearted, kind person. And you deserve every ounce of success, every accolade. You are a wonderful actor. Can't wait to see what you're doing. And this is the great thing. You're 30 freaking what? Seven years old? 38. 38. Okay. She doesn't even lie about her age. 38 years old. And I feel like you are just getting started. Oh my gosh. Thank you.

And you are such a mentor to me and have been for a long time. So I adore you and thank you for being a part of my life. You're stuck with me now. Oh, yeah. We're stuck. You're listening to me and Alicia and we're saying goodbye now. So totally do. Welcome back to the Jan Arden Show. I'm sitting here with such a dear friend of mine.

and uh an unbelievably talented actor and writer and mother and you've got the greatest sister too I love your sister Sherry I had the opportunity to meet her and I love your relationship with her I'm obsessed with her well she you guys are I think what sisters in my mind look like because I have two brothers and they're great I love my brothers but you know whenever I talk to

other women about having sisters. There's such an incredible bond.

Yeah, I think it's a lot of our upbringing too. You know, there was stuff that we went through together and that sort of solidified us as like a united front. And even the past two years being separated, I can see it with my boys. I can see them and going through that, like going through a divorce, their parents getting divorced and then going through a pandemic. It's like they own, they're the constant for each other and they're,

They want to devour each other like all the time. It's really, it was like, please God, let them like each other. And they're, they love each other, which is huge. Do you find that with your girls, Adam? Like you, Adam's got two little girls and that they must be pretty tight. Hey.

Sometimes they're BFFs and other times they're killing each other. Oh yeah. Mine kick the crap out of each other. Yeah. My older brother used to hold me down and either dangle a string of spit, like just inches over my head. I mean, you just do things like that, but he was also the guy on the bus. You know, we took a bus to school, the old yellow school bus. Cause we had a 45 minute drive to a rural school.

he'd be the first guy to intervene. If anyone was bugging me or things were going sideways, he just would be this darkening door kind of guy going, leave my sister alone. But he would be able to like fart on me at home and, you know, punch my arm or, you know, poke that finger in your temple or,

Kind of, but yes, I, I sisters amaze me. And that's sort of a neat segue into your show because the working moms franchise has been such a Canadian sex success story and a sex story, a Canadian sex story. And I'm watching you guys grow your audience and grow these characters over these past five seasons has been really amazing. I, I,

Had people ask me, like, what do you want me to ask Danny? And they wanted me to ask you how you got, how you got involved with the show or what the audition process was like, or where, where was your humble beginnings with Working Moms?

um it went through a couple different casting directors in the city so the first round I got an audition uh and I did not do a good job and then it switched to a new casting agent and then um I couldn't get an audition for it so then I pushed and pushed and pushed and was just like let me just make a tape and we'll send it in and they'll watch it if it's if

If the work is good, they'll watch it. Yeah. And they ended up watching it, but Catherine was so pregnant. She was about to give birth any minute. So she was here casting, but she just flew back to LA. And then, so I just missed her for the callbacks. So we had to do it over zoom. And I mean, this is pre pandemic. It was like,

This is a pre-pandemic Zoom. The weirdest. I mean, it wasn't Zoom, it was Skype. So it was like choppy and weird. It was her and Phil and someone else in a room. Were you reading stuff from the first season? Yeah, I think it was the scene where she tells me, like, come on, dude, just say it. And we get in a bit of a fight and then it comes out that I'm pregnant. Yeah.

And I say, yeah, I'm thrilled about it or whatever, something like that. We get in a fight. But, you know, I remember I was super stressed. I was so sweaty and she laughed, which I was like, thank God she laughed. And she gave me some notes and redirected me. And then my agent called me like weeks, a couple of weeks after that and told me. And I just screamed. I just screamed and screamed and screamed.

I just couldn't, I couldn't believe, and I never thought we would go this long. Like five seasons is. Well, there's rumor that there's another one coming down the pike. So, I mean, I'm crossing my fingers, but boy, these characters have gone from zero to 300 over this past five seasons, especially. I'm really excited because I'm two episodes behind now in season five.

Because I've been working and I haven't been able to tune in on Tuesdays and do my thing. But how has being in Working Moms, and obviously the Netflix phenomenon, really changed the trajectory of the series? It put you in front of countries from all over the world. You guys were getting accolades from...

Other actors, I think there was so many people that weighed in and said, I'm watching Working Moms. It's amazing. How has it changed your life? I know that's a really basic question, but obviously,

you know having that moment of being super excited about the audition getting that audition getting the part and now here we are five years later like what what's what shifted for you uh i mean like uh simple things like uh financially as an actor you're never stable and you when you're building your career i think every actor just gains a whole bunch of debt for years

because you're just trying to like buy headshots and classes and blah blah blah um so those first two years I was able to like pay off my debt and we were like a family of four living in a small apartment and um but you like and I'm curious about this with you too being a musician the star system in Canada is kind of non-existent it's non-existent so my actual life hasn't changed at all really um

But I've been with you and people have come up to you. Like I'm sitting there having my coffee and nobody comes up to me, but, but no, no, it's, it's very, it's, it's, it's the best. And I'm, I just sort of sit back and lean into my bench and sit my coffee and, and you'll have like a really excited person going, I love the show. And I watched the show. That's gotta be a shift for you.

to have that recognition. And even in Canada, it does happen. I'm not saying that we have, you know, Jennifer Aniston here. And it's getting better because we do want to mimic that system in the United States. All the award shows. I remember when they started doing red carpets here at the Junos, they never did it historically for years and years and years. It wasn't part of

of the Juno narrative like it or the or the CSAs. It wasn't like if you look back even like 15 years ago, maybe not the last 10, but there was no red carpet. It was just you showed up, got out of your truck and went into the into the thing. And now, you know, I remember when they started doing red carpets. I'm thinking, oh, God, no, no.

We have to go down there and stand there and have our pictures taken. And I refused for a long time. I finally, Bruce Allen, my manager said, can you just stand there for a picture? Damn it. Yeah. And you kind of just go, okay, I guess this is part of it now. Yeah.

I think the biggest difference with the star system is in the States, I think when you get somewhere in your career, they want to nurture it and they want to work with you and like, what else can we make with you and let's collaborate. And in Canada, there's none of that. It's just you work a job and then you're unemployed and you try to audition for another job. That's how it feels anyways. What would you have changed? What would you like to see change within that kind of plot of the

having a successful show, are you talking about like a branding situation sort of like being able to take a Danny kind brand or, or do ads with the bay or, or, or a product endorsement or what, what do you mean more by that? Like Mark,

collaboration like networks I feel like networks or uh production companies pick people up in the states like yes you know hey Seth Rogen you're amazing let's make what can we make with you let's yeah with a good team and let's see if we can get another movie out of you or something like that yes I don't think there's any of that here

No, and I think that the word that really just smashed into my forehead was collaboration. Yeah. And to find that strength. I often really love seeing musical collaborations too in the States. I remember when Trio came out when I was in my 20s with Dolly Parton, Linda Bronstad and Emmylou Harris. Yes.

here's three women that are forced to be reckoned with period. And then they did this record. And along that kind of way of thinking, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda doing nine to five. These are women from very different worlds. Lily being a comedian, Jane being, you know, this, this actress that is, you know, what did they call a Hanoi Jane? I mean, she was such a, can I say she was a disturber?

and Dolly in the music world. And it was such, but is that kind of what you mean? Like getting totally putting people together. You've been listening to Danny kind and I have a conversation. We thank you for listening. I love you dearly and we'll see you soon.

Welcome back. It's Jan Arden. I'm here with Meredith McNeil, who has taken media training. I've taken media training. You'll probably be able to tell because the producer told me not to swear and not to say the f*** word. So no f***s. Wow. Okay. Well, if you guys are hearing beeps, you know that this is going really, really well. Media training. On the break a little bit, we were talking about social media and how Meredith McNeil avoids social media. Because why, Meredith?

It's hard for even me to look at because I feel like my job as a writer and a creator, I want to live in the world where I'm communicating about things that matter to me. With real people. And then there is this, there are several platforms for me to do it. And I panic and I don't know how. And as I was saying earlier to you, I have such an appreciation and value people and women like you that use it. And it empowers me.

But it also terrifies me at the same time. Like, and I think what I want to ask you is, do you care? How do you not care? What was your journey to not caring?

I absolutely don't care. I love that. I don't think, you know, this would be a lie if I said I didn't, there hasn't been some point in my life where I absolutely feel crushed about criticisms about music and stuff. And then I just thought, oh my God, this is about me liking what I'm doing. And then you suddenly realize as social media took hold that, you know, this last six, seven years especially,

Um, that people, it just, you're not going to please them all the time. Meredith, you're just not going to even the most benign statement. You're going to have someone who opposes it. Oh, you love bunnies. Well, great. Cause they're stupid and they're violent and they bit my three-year-old. So there lady.

I mean, seriously, you cannot win. So I do tell people to F off. Do you find the conversations are more intelligent online? Like, are you having... Are you kidding me? An intelligent online conversation? Well, not in 230, you know, letter increments. No. I think you just, you hurl the wittiest insults you can and then you just stand back and watch them fall off. Okay, this is, okay. Now I find this intriguing.

So someone like me, I'm enjoying what you're saying on social media. It's really helpful to me. I'm loving it. But most of the time, I'm not going to, I wouldn't comment on it. We just have that as a takeaway, right? So here you are in a ring and what you're getting back, if what I'm hearing correctly is ridiculous. It's vitriol. So for you, are you like, well, I know there's people that I'm starting a conversation with that I am helping.

I'm not hearing. So that's what you're like. So this is good. Even though 90% I'm making this up, you'll have to correct me is all like just ridiculous poo being thrown at you. It is. But then you're supported. Most of it is, I think, spam accounts. Most of it is people. And I make this generalization of people, you know, living in,

somewhere with a parent, you know, eating cheesies and doing video games all day that literally are looking for celebrity people to interact with to get a rise out of them. So there's a great majority of that. If you go in, I always click onto their profiles to see who's saying this to me. What can I glean from their

their, uh, little tiny bio that they may or may not have. Do they have a picture? Is it of another celebrity? Is it of a truck? Is it of a rebel flag? Is it of Donald Trump? Is it of make Canada great again? Like then I know who I'm dealing with and I, I usually immediately block them, but not before I send some kind of

that makes me laugh hysterically in the privacy of my own home. And then I wait and see what the, you know, my, my supporters do. And usually it's,

so funny and so enjoyable. Twitter, I love. I love how it works. I love the interactions. But it's also really positive, Meredith. It is shameless self-promotion. Anything that I do, any project, any record, any book, I'm in there putting pictures on. I am a shameless self-promoter for sure. I don't feel shame should be attached to that.

You can tell someone's been in therapy in their mid-40s. No, I need help, and this is free. I feel like for me, learning about your content on social media is helpful. So it is promotion, but it's needed. I mean, obviously, there's some stuff that you're like, it's not for you. But in general, I don't have a problem with people promoting their product because a lot of the time now, that's where I hear about it.

And I don't think people should be embarrassed by it. Just like it is what it is. It is what it is. And it's here to stay. And I, and I think, um, you know, it's, it's all about those, the freedom to say what you want without, how can I say this? I mean, it can't be hate speech. I don't think, I mean, Caitlin, you can correct me here. Donald Trump still hasn't been reinstated in Twitter. And, uh, what's her name? Uh, Ms. Green from the Republican party has just also had her Twitter account, uh, removed, uh,

permanently, but Donald Trump cannot interact on Twitter. The guy, it was his, Twitter was his balls, literally. I know when that plot got taken away, I felt the world was breathing easier. I felt a general consensus of like, things are going to be okay. My thread for four years was that guy. Anyway, I want to ask you this. This is a little bit of a sidebar, uh,

right turn here, no pun intended. How do you feel about the Canadian star system? I know it's got to be a question you've been asked before. Baroness could not have been a bigger show. I mean, you went international, you went into the United States. And I mean, I still don't feel like

We appreciate making stars out of our own people here. Yeah. I don't even think it exists. Like I wouldn't even know how that would happen here. I don't understand. Why? I don't know. I mean, it's weird because if you remove the word star from it, so if you just say, Oh, I celebrate this person's achievements in Canada, just that, that, that, that is even a struggle.

And to be honest with you, I don't really know. I mean, I can get into how a show is sold internationally and how some countries, you can only own this release date and protect the social media footage and the difference of when we sold to the States and what happened to our footage on Facebook when you couldn't share it. Like, there's that. But on that level, Jane, like, is there, like, besides you and...

I mean, is there any stars in Canada recently? And what are your thoughts on it? Because I think in a way it would only be helpful to all industries if we celebrated their artists for what they can do and bring in financial aid and platforms where we can hire more people. So it's a really strange thing where we...

I don't know. What do you think? Like, and you can be on top of your game. You're like, oh, I just don't work anymore. I don't know. I'm not sure. It feels like to me that you have to go away to be famous. I mean, you look at someone like Ryan Reynolds, who my love.

And I love his wife and I love everything he does, but it feels like he had to go away, become very famous in the United States. And then all of a sudden in Canada, we're like, Hey, he's Canadian. We do that with Keanu Reeves. We do that with these Ryan, Ryan Gosling, I believe is a Canadian guy. And there's, there's all these famous Canadians, but they, they live in New York or they live in LA now, but they were from here.

or they slept with someone who was Canadian. Very important to do that. So if you, yeah, I think if you were to sleep with Ryan Reynolds, then we'd have. Well, I'm single. So I could like, and do it, not hurt anyone except his wife. That's would be. Yeah. Okay. We, we, in this last minute, I feel so I, can we not bring Meredith back for another? Yeah. Let's bring me back and then let's like fly out and hang out.

Yes, we can do it live somewhere. I want to ask you, this is really random now. We always talk about food on this show and I want to know in 40 seconds or less, what did you have for lunch in your lunchbox in junior high? Oh, we had to walk home.

We walked home. And then sometimes if I, we didn't have like, like sometimes I had 50 cents, I get like a warm cookie and I would hold on. So like, I used to run home down Clarence street and sometimes it would be my, I can, did you have this where it was like a can of mushroom soup with rice mixed in? Who did that? Your mother? Dad.

Your dad? And he mixed the rice in with oil. He would like come home from work. So he worked down the road and my mom worked at the hospital. Meredith McNeil. I just, maybe we need to do like bonus material with Meredith. Anyway, Jan Arden podcast. Thank you so much. Adam, Caitlin, Meredith, me. I adore you. Thank you. Four people can't be wrong. Thanks for being with us. We'll see you soon. Totally do.

This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.