Lena Waithe

Now... I've got a couple of sweet bags of Unkibble. Come on now. Just sitting there in a drawer waiting to be freshly scooped right into their bowls. And I'll tell you what, my dogs, Harry and Sally, that's right. You heard me right. Yeah. They love it. I love that.

Super simple. Honestly, the Unkibble difference, it happened almost immediately. Switching dog foods, for those of you who don't know, is very difficult, but not with Unkibble. The dogs were already on it after like a few days and their digestion is better. Their energy is better. There's less itching going on with, I'm looking at you, Sally.

Everything has just kind of like instantly turned around. It's really great.

Is 15 late for your first kiss?

That's pretty late. I don't know. First kiss, how old? I guess 14 or 15.

Yeah.

See? Okay, it's all coming back. No, it's all coming back. Junior high.

Churchill Middle School. Yes. Little skinny Chris.

On today's episode of That Was Us, we will be discussing Season 2, Episode 13. That'll be the day. Kevin helps Randall and Beth with repairs on their new venture. Kate contemplates a surprise for Toby. Jack and Rebecca talk about starting a business together.

Is dating. Dating. Yeah. Remember when you used to date? Of course. And it just involved like talking to the person.

Like right after lunch.

For 10 minutes a day.

Her name was Marisola.

I won't say a last name.

And we kissed at the dance. We both had giant metal braces.

Oh, they did. Sure. Yeah, yeah. It was. And she, we kissed. And then we would kiss at lunch at the lockers. Okay. Right before I go to class, right? And she would wear real dark lipstick with even darker lip liner. Well, I didn't know. And I'd walk into class and my teacher would be like, get out of here. What? Just, just, just lipstick all over this face.

Mandy says every kiss is my first kiss.

No, come on. You just don't want to talk about it?

That's right. That's late. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I guess now that I'm an adult with kids, I'm thinking, that's not late enough. Wait a minute, what do you mean 15? College. You're gonna live with me until you're 25. And then after that, you're gonna take me to lunch every day.

Yes, and Jack McGee plays George. Yes. And Jane Daly plays Sally. Jack and Jane. And again, two more legends to the This Is Us cast roster. I think Jack, wasn't Jack McGee a good friend of Dan's?

Can we real quick, before we get too far away from your friend with the Jeep, remember a time when you could be in the middle of kissing somebody and a friend would touch you while it was happening?

There's just no decorum. None. And you're kissing in public anyways.

And they're like, this close. Hey, are you guys done? Are you finished? Because I have to go. I love it. Go on.

Didn't even kiss. They just knocked tongues together. It was so wet.

Mandy, are you remembering yours at all?

A personal friend of Dan's from some other project.

Orlando, 1992. It's not 92. Or 98.

She had a little crutch.

And in the long run, after all of this was said and done, Jack...

Yeah, I skipped that.

And in the meantime, looking back, like the music that was being played at my junior high dance is like strip club music. Totally. What was happening? Totally. Jesus. Just simulated grind. 13-year-old was backing it up.

And you're like, what? These are 13-year-olds. How old did you ask?

Jack got a lot. Remember? Well, we'll get to that. Yeah.

I got this. All right.

Yeah. Jack was like, Dan, what'd you do to me?

I got to be fast cooking. I can't be slow cooking. I need my meals, like, now.

I thought I was just being friendly neighbor.

And then Dan Fogelman says, yeah, that'll be enough till next week. That's about it.

To build a home. To Build a Home. This is the song we've been talking about for a few episodes now by the cinematic orchestra featuring... Patrick Watson or something?

This is an orchestra, obviously, that does mostly instrumentals. And I looked on this album, but this is the only song on this album with vocals. And it is one of the most evocative songs I have ever heard. And to this day... Same.

It's Super Bowl Sunday.

I almost, I will say for the, for the sake of overstatement, never has a song done so much for a moving picture and moving picture done so much for a song. It is the perfect synchronicity.

And it's probably Dan Fogelman, right. I'm sure who found this song. The man just has impeccable taste in music. Yeah. Um, and we go through this montage of the, of the house.

A mess.

I know a season and a half of television would lead you to believe that I am, but I am not.

Correct. You talk a lot about the chili.

That's not why they were laughing. They weren't laughing about what was wrong with this guy, Sterling. They were laughing because it was a funny joke.

Sterling, how dare you?

Again, I didn't write me this way.

I beg to differ.

This is all.

To be clear as to what chili gets cooked in.

Oh, Jesus. No, it's something that he does to pass the time. It's kind of a, he pictures himself a dog owner. He knows, he even says, I know that dogs are a tricky subject for you, but it's something that I blah, blah, blah. I mean, I have this in my life.

Do you have anything in your life that it's not social media related, say, that is like a little like online habit that you're like, because for me, it's real estate.

I will be like, you know, I visited Rachel's grandpa in Quincy, Illinois once. I wonder what the real estate market in Quincy, Illinois is like. Oh, insane.

Yeah. I'm a Trulia guy. Okay. Not paid advertisement. Not yet. But one of my favorite pastimes is to go, especially since the LA market is so overblown, is to go to a small town like Quincy and see what the most expensive house is. I can see that. In Quincy, Illinois.

It's a fun game. Pick a small town. Yeah. And find the biggest house. And that one in particular was great. Was it? You guys, on a mountaintop, a stone house.

Made of like a big block stone. Looked like a castle on a mountaintop. Yeah.

Like recent.

Like 20 years old.

Quanto cuesta? How much? Hold on. Okay. 10 bedrooms. 12 bathrooms. What? ! Four car garage. 10 acres. You want us to guess first? I do want you to guess. Quincy, Illinois. How much do you think it was? How far is Quincy from Chicago?

Biggest major city is Hannibal, Missouri. Cross the- Nope. I'm from Missouri. We flew into St. Louis. And then we took a puddle jumper to Quincy. Okay. This was maybe four or five years ago.

You guys, we live in the wrong city. Anyways, so that's what I do online when I'm like bored, I'm looking at things.

Are you in Quincy, Illinois?

It must be off-market at this point.

I think so. I think that's what I remember, yeah. Yeah, I like my age.

Do you guys have any shame around your mindless internet behavior? Like when someone sees you doing it, you're like, oh, hey, no, I'm not doing anything. Or is it, or do you indulge?

And so Toby's been fantasy shopping for dogs.

She's like, this is the first thing he's been excited about that's not sex.

In the entirety of the time that I've known him.

And it instantly made us like an HBO show. It comes on and you're like, oh, we just leveled up.

No, she comes home and says, listen, I know that this seems like it means a lot to you. Yeah. I've thought about it. Dan and the writers give a little bit of a head fake, like it's not going to happen. Right. And then she says, but I did.

It makes a day of shooting difficult. And our writers just kept adding more children and more pets. Yep. At every turn. How was this dog? This dog was great. This dog was great. This dog was well-trained. I cannot remember the dog's real name. Okay.

That's right. Wait a minute. He didn't stay? After the pandemic, we came back, and audio had just gone.

But never addressed. We can't. Yeah, well, he refused to wear a mask. And so the writers were like, well, then, kick rocks.

Hey, I have an idea. What do you got? You should get an Airbnb.

Hotels can be fine.

But nothing beats having a full place to yourself, especially when traveling with a family.

Like yours or a group. Now there's no fighting over who gets the last hotel key card or squeezing into one room with all your Bags everywhere. God. And don't get me started on those tiny hotel mini fridges. Don't start. Not enough room.

Hand me the hat. Can you reach it? Yeah, I can reach it. We'll put it out front. So there it is.

So if you've got an upcoming trip or you just want to make the most of your space you're not using, consider hosting on Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host.

tell them this thing because uh sully has dogs too yeah i've got a couple dogs i was watching the scene and i saw when audio goes to give the doggy kiss so there's a little bit of like okay he sort of like pulls back a little bit the trainer we're like okay how do we do this oh and by the way none of the writers asked either chrissy or i hey you guys allergic to dogs are you yes

We have hypoallergenic dogs, hypoallergenic breeds. But even still, I'm a little allergic to them.

You know, if I really get in there and . You don't do that with your dog. I told you guys, I'm still learning.

I heard someone say that dogs are here to teach us how to die. Yes. Did you say that on this podcast?

Existence and passing.

Because if you asked anyone on the street, if you showed them a single clip of you or they know anything about you, you'd be like.

You'd be like, yeah. This guy is.

Is a retriever. The energy. He really is.

Were you gonna finish? I wanted to tell you the dog kiss. The dog kiss, that's where we were. The trainer, so Kate and Toby get a dog about as quickly as Chrissy and Chris realize they're gonna be working with a dog for the next however long. And we're like, okay. Nobody thought to like check if...

Yeah. Or if, like I used to be deathly allergic to cats. Like I used to be, if I went to your house and you opened the front door, I would know if you had a cat. I'm like that. Standing on the front porch. I'm a little like that.

I'll take as I take before. Yeah. Anyways, we love it. The dog's there. He's very cute. We're into it. Yeah. Trainer's like, and if you want, you know, you can just put like a little, if you have like a little bit of, tuna fish or something you just put it on your fingers or have a little and just the scent.

No, because I don't like tuna. And I was like, but I'll have a bite. And it's like, and his focus will be on you no matter what.

I was like, okay, great. So when I pick him up in the shot, I look at him and I think this dog is just going to look at me because it's a very well-trained dog.

And I think he's just going to be like looking at me. Right. And dog just comes in for a straight up Tanya. Yeah. And it was messy and wet.

I was like, that's not Chris's thing. Because the camera was rolling. So I was like, well, it could be Toby's thing. And I'm like, but it doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be. I decide what Toby's things are.

I did have a little bit.

He had a bite too.

But yeah, halfway through, I'm like, I'm not doing this. Okay. Because as soon as, if this becomes pop, if the director's like, that was great, they're going to be like, can we do that thing you did the first time?

Black people- I like a doggie, a lick on the nose.

I don't need your tongue in my mouth, dog.

First of all, how dare you? How dare you?

And that's that storyline. R&B, because we're going to run out of time.

She knows how to do this.

Has Kevin already showed up at this point?

Staying busy. And to be helpful.

Not as well trained as the dog.

They want an original song. An original song, right?

It's dumb. It's dumb. There's a sense memory in the writing that never leaves the characters. So they never get disjointed. Like the writer never forgets what has happened or has been said in recent, if not all of history.

Absolutely.

One of the great kind of, in my opinion, injustices in our industry for anybody listening to the podcast now who may have watched the show who would never follow stuff like this, but in six seasons of television, the writing for this television received one award. Well, this is true. There was one writer who got an award for a script.

But she has an NAACP Award.

And she has two more awards than any other writer on the show. There you go. Which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest injustices of the running of the show.

When you were directing, were you like, how are they going to do it? Same. I was like, what do you lose?

Lena, we'll get to you in a second.

She had to make sure that you were the first one to stand up.

He was the second person to stand up.

As we rewatched the show, we've realized that our show is populated by legends yeah and and yourself included when when i re-watched this episode i was like that's right lena wave came and did an episode of our show yeah that's ins that's insane insane everything that was going on in your life at that moment and my knowledge of you You were like a legend out of the gate for me.

As soon as I saw you, I was like, this is it. And I know you just mentioned you studied writing production at Columbia, right?

That's right. And you've been running The Chi for seven seasons. Seven seasons. Congrats. Thank you. At what point... Because this I don't know in my knowledge of you. At what point did acting, performing, also become part of the game for you?

It turned out to be one of my favorite shots of the whole show. It's a great shot. The evocative nature of a father. kind of doting on his daughter, him in the mirror. Like they use it a couple of times now in like montages and things after we see it for this first time. And it's really, it affects me a lot, yeah.

What? The comeback of the comeback.

So then you stopped doing movies after that?

Anyways, Lena, it's been nice talking to you. Thanks for coming on. No, no, no, you're great. Everything you do is great. Cool, cool, cool.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, that's true.

Are you a dog person? Yeah.

No way! Yes, I was her assistant. You are a part of her legacy.

So stay tuned.

It's going to be such a rush.

Sterling just said, I am play. I am play. I am play.

Stay tuned. We will. We love you, sister. In the vein of Actors Studio, what is your favorite curse word? There you go. Shit. Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, Lena Waite.

Shut up about it.

We rarely get, they mentioned it a couple episodes previous where it's like, I wish somebody would have filmed our childhood. Yeah.

And when you said that in the episode, I was like, well, somebody did.

Andy saved the tapes.

I mean, sorry, jumping ahead. Jumping ahead. But we know now you still have the tapes. Yeah.

Somehow you've got these tapes, right?

Because we could see, yeah. And you might not be able to see your whole life, but to catch a glimpse of... An inarguable glimpse of the way somebody sees you is hard to do. Priceless.

It's like when someone takes a photo of you and your partner and neither one of you knows you're being photographed and you happen to see the way that you're looking at each other or the way they're looking at you or vice versa. Sure. Hopefully it happens to me someday. They're just the rare moments. And I guess maybe that's why that shot affects me so much. Yeah, it's a beautiful shot.

It really is. Shot by Milo. He's using the real cameras when he's shooting those things.

Yeah.

Also a real life love of Mandy Morris.

If I'm writing a handbook for a living, let's see what happens. If a husband and wife work together...

That is a very interesting point that you make, Mandy, because the shelf-stable nature of this unkibble has been kind of a game-changer in our household. Over the pandemic, we switched to all different kinds of food, and we even had to buy a special freezer in our garage to house the large amounts of food that I was constantly defrosting and moving from the freezer in the garage up to the kitchen.