This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Justin Guarini: It is about doing the work. It's not about what the people on the other side of the table or the other side of the camera think about what I'm doing. It's about me being completely connected to the material that I'm doing. And then it's satisfying for me. Then I'm like, I just did a day's work.

[0:18] Justin Guarini: Hello, I'm Justin Guarini, and you are listening to Audition Secrets, the behind the scenes podcast that helps you nail more auditions and book more jobs. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. We've got a great show for you. Before we get there, I do want to say thank you very, very much for being a part of the Audition Secrets family. Those of you who have gone to auditionsecrets.com, gotten my free book, I just want to thank you very much. Those of you who are listening from week to week to week, I thank you. This is so awesome. I'm getting such a great response, and we're trying to spread the word. So if you can take a screen grab of this podcast, the image that you see on your phone, and put it up on your social media, tell people about it, that would go a huge way to getting the word out, to making sure that we reach more people, give them more audition secrets.

If you hashtag it with auditionsecrets, hashtag auditionsecrets, I can actually see what you're doing, and I can respond to you all across social media. I would really, really appreciate that. All right, enough yakking. I want to get to the show. Laura Bell Bundy, the amazing Laura Bell Bundy is my guest, and we had such a fantastic conversation. Some of the things that you can look forward to hearing in this interview are, one, Laura unpacks some of the similarities and differences between theater, and television, and film in her experience, because she has done all of them, and done them all quite well. Not a lot of people know that Laura Bell Bundy had to have some major vocal surgery, and we talked about that, and it just scares the living hell out of me when it comes to any sort of surgery around my vocal cord, but she had it.

She tells you her experience about it, and also maintaining your instrument, your body, and your voice, and how intense of a process that was for her. Also, knowing your strengths, and your not-so-strengths. The two of us have a really good time laughing about being actors that move, and not dancers, and some of the crazy dance calls that we've been to, and then at the very end, or towards the end of the show, the interview, she reveals her auditioning philosophy, so make sure that you stick around and listen for that. It's a great show. It's a great interview. I'm just going to get right to it. Without further ado, here's my interview with the fun, spunky, talented, wonderful Laura Bell Bundy. Enjoy.

[2:35] Justin Guarini: Hi, how are you?

[2:43] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah, I'm fine. How are you?

[2:50] Laura Bell Bundy: I'm doing really well. Thank you so very much for taking the time.

[2:56] Laura Bell Bundy: Of course. I love your Dr. Pepper commercial.

[3:04] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, thank you very much. You know, that's so fun. I think the first time we met, actually, was when I was in L.A. filming for one of those commercials, and it was at the wrap party of Anger Management. I think that's the first time we actually met in person.

[3:08] Justin Guarini: Oh, my God. Speaking of Anger Management, speaking of the time that you spent there, how do you keep your head on straight when you're not only dealing with the pressures of everything that comes with being on a networked TV show, but also with a castmate who is, let's just say, can be a challenge?

[3:24] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, here's the thing I'll say about Charlie, is that when he put his work hat on, he was the best. He was better than anybody, because he loves to work, and his comedic timing is brilliant. He was never one of those people that had to figure out how to land his jokes. It was just so natural, whereas the rest of us are in the corner trying to make the jokes work. It was just natural. He's in every scene, almost, and so he had a lot of material, and we were covering... Typically, the plan was to cover two episodes a week.

[4:12] Justin Guarini: Wow. It's hard enough to cover one episode a week, and you guys jam two in there.

[4:19] Laura Bell Bundy: Two. Right. Yeah. You think two, and it's 45 pages of dialogue, and it's multi-cam, which means it's all rhythmic. You can't really improvise if you want to land the punch of the joke. He's spending a lot of time going back and forth between his trailer and with a line coach trying to drill this stuff, and that was never the issue. It was really that he had an exciting social life outside of work.

[5:04] Justin Guarini: Sure. How do you tune out all of that stuff? Because like you said, you're in the middle of not only trying to do one show a week, and I think maybe there might be a misconception like, oh, here we go. It's a multi-cam shoot, whether they're on film and television or whatever. You can always cut. But look, I have not done that much television work, but when I have done it, there is still a tremendous amount of pressure, even though you can stop, even though you can go and fix mistakes. I mean, you've got to hit it, and you're trying to do two shows in a week, which is like... I mean, it goes beyond nine to five.

[5:32] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah, definitely. So how do you manage to focus when all of that craziness is going on around you?

[5:39] Laura Bell Bundy: I don't know. I feel like I kind of do well in chaos, and I think the big thing was... What I meant about Charlie's social life is because of what was going on outside of work, sometimes he would be three hours late to set, or he would have something go on, and we would cancel a day of work. What that actually allowed me was more time to go over my material, and I got used to having a little extra time to go over the material. And yes, I didn't feel like it necessarily affected anything that Charlie did ever really affected my performance, except for to give me more time. And I really enjoyed being his scene partner, because we have a very similar rhythm. When you're doing a scene with somebody, and they're biting, it's like we had a very good rhythm with each other, and it was always pretty solid when we got it.

And so we went through scenes pretty quickly when we both knew our lines, and we had a great chemistry. So in that way, that was amazing. I loved that. There was other things to navigate, but I always had a book, or something to read, or a script. I was writing scripts in my trailer in the downtime. I came up with a whole movie concept, and so I worked on that stuff. So did Michael Arden. He was in his trailer, making shit happen and becoming a director.

[7:19] Laura Bell Bundy: I know, right? I mean, just amazing to think that during... You want to talk about focusing during all the chaos. My God, I mean, what happened after that show for him was just insane. But speaking of challenging moments, it's like you've had a fantastic film career, you've had a fantastic television career, and you've also had a fantastic Broadway career. Have you ever found any of those kinds of challenging moments like that in your Broadway experience? And how have you managed to push through them and deliver eight shows a week?

[7:42] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, I've never... With my Broadway experience, I've never really had the challenge of the personal life of an actor, really. I've had my own personal life, you know, to deal with while I'm doing a show. But I actually find that the fuel I get from my personal life, whether it be positive or negative, it helps my performances. So I think the biggest challenge for me with eight shows a week, depending, was some body part breaking down. You know, because you know how you use... When you're doing a show and you have choreography, you're using the same muscle on one side or the same joint. So in Hairspray, it was my knees, because it was a lot of jumping and in heels. And then in Legally Blonde, it was my voice.

You know, it was my vocal muscles in trying to sing through that whole thing in those keys, eight shows a week, plus press, and not really getting the days off. The days off really weren't days off. And then it was a real rapid schedule in terms of like rehearsals, taking out of town, going to Broadway, Tony season. And just all of that was like back to back to back. So there wasn't any room to rest.

[9:14] Justin Guarini: No. And I think what a lot of people don't realize is that Tony season is like basically what you did on Anger Management, trying to do two... It's like trying to do 16 shows a week. You know what I mean? Instead of eight. Because not only are you trying to just keep up with your regular workload, but you're having to do press. You're having to show up to all these events. You're having to, in essence, campaign for the Tony season. And it is unbelievably stressful. And I remember, like, for example, in Wicked, there's the raked stage in Wicked. And the bottle is this really amazing machine that when you start to wear out a certain muscle, other muscles will compensate for it. But then those muscles will get... And it's just like this horrible domino effect that if you don't rest or if you don't get PT or take care of yourself, then you end up being wrecked.

And literally for like three or four months after just doing Wicked... Other shows I've had challenges. But like just doing Wicked from swinging out on the rope and doing all... My shoulders ached. My knees... I had strange... I had this patch that still happens every once in a while in my quad that it literally is like this rectangular patch in my quad that just goes numb for no apparent reason. And I know there's something to do with the show. I mean, I'm okay. I can still perform. It's great. But like, I just think like, oh my goodness. And somebody one time said to me, oh, well, it must be nice. You only have to perform three hours a night. And my head almost exploded because I have no idea what goes A, what goes into that three hours. And then everything that you have to do before and after that three hours in order to be able to maintain eight shows a week. So I totally feel you.

[10:55] Laura Bell Bundy: Absolutely. Absolutely. That is... I always compare it to like being an athlete, right? So you have to warm up your body and then your body's ready. And then you have to cool down your body and whether you're like icing your body or the physical therapy that you had to do, like depending on the show and depending on which body part it affects. I'm at least doing one session of physical therapy a week, acupuncture, just general to stay healthy, to not get a cold or to address any issues. I saw... And by the way, you should see an osteopath if you've never seen for your quad, because it sounds like what has happened is a bit of a pinched nerve, which is why you're feeling the numbness. And you may have just a little bit of muscle out of place that you could get realigned and an osteopath will do that for you.

[11:48] Justin Guarini: I know you played a doctor in Anger Management, but I'm getting doctor advice from Lohan Bell Bundy. I love it. Medical. That's awesome. Well, okay. So then speaking of those challenging moments where you got to warm up and warm down, what did you do or what have you done when you had those vocally?

[12:03] Justin Guarini: Challenging moments, doing eight shows a week, playing Elle, and just the challenge of that. How do you maintain, because I'd love for my listeners to get some of the insider tips and secrets from some of the shiny folks that I talk to, because, I mean, this happens eight shows a week, and then, you know, if you look at regional theaters or like even church theater or local theaters, sometimes you're doing two shows a day. You do the dreaded high school show in the morning. So how do you maintain your voice when you are having to perform at a high, high, high level and wearing down throughout the week?

[12:39] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah. I think everybody's different, right? And everybody has a different schedule to contend with. And as you know, even going out on the road as a pop singer, you have that like sometimes early morning radio and then the late night show, and you got that four days in a row, and then you have a little bit of a break. I found that sometimes being on the road as a musician was easier because I knew I was going to have that three days off where my voice could repair. When you're doing eight shows in six days, sometimes five, depending, and you don't have the full 24 hours to rest the vocal cords, according to a speech pathologist and a vocal doctor I had talked to at one point, 36 hours of not speaking at all can do incredible repair to your voice.

That's a general rule. Now you don't always get that when you're doing show after show after show, but you could get close to it if you didn't talk. So when I would lose my voice, I would, and I knew I had a show the next day, I would shut up. The other thing that I found incredibly helpful is body work, getting laryngeal vocal massage, osteopathy, cranial sacral, things like that. Because sometimes when your body is tight, your neck muscles are tight, your shoulder is tight, you could have something going on in your leg and it's affecting your voice. When you release that stuff, it drops the tension in the neck, which allows your voice to move. Then in addition to that, I was doing vocal exercises and vocal classes with various teachers, glycerin drops in my water because water can actually essentially be a bit drying.

So I'll put a little of those in my water and sometimes licorice drops, which are helpful. And then anything else that's anti-inflammatory, but not too anti-inflammatory like Advil, because then you can actually have a vocal bleed. So I mean, it's all, I mean, it is the things going through, clearly the things going through my head and the things that I've tried and trial and error. And I will say, I'll be honest with you, I ended up having to get vocal surgery because I had vocal hemorrhaging and I had a little nodule. And I went to Dr. Steven Zeitels, who is in Boston, and he did Adele's surgery and a bunch of other people that don't want to be mentioned. You would be surprised how many singers have gone to this guy and gotten surgery that you'd be like, oh shit, I didn't know they had a, and it's not normal to use your voice that much.

And I had doctors telling me nothing was wrong with me and I knew something was wrong with me and he was the only person with a camera good enough to figure out there was something. And then I, it was the best thing I ever did.

[15:34] Justin Guarini: But it must've been so scary because like you look at, you know, the stories like Julie Andrews, where like just bought and someone who had just an unbelievable gift that was just taken away. And so, okay, so you had that surgery and it just scares the living heck out of me to even think about that. Even at times when I have completely blown up my voice, been on tour out in the pop world and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, what am I supposed to do? Going in and having surgery is that last ditch effort. So I mean, you went in and I'm sure you were scared, but what gave you, what gave you hope that you were going to come through it?

[16:14] Laura Bell Bundy: Well here's the thing. You said last ditch effort. I had lost a lot of my vocal range and I was also having this like little pocket where like I couldn't get, I would, I would start to squeak and then I could get above it, but I couldn't, but there was like that. And so I just lost a lot of my vocal range. And as a person who's been singing their entire life, you feel like you lost yourself. You lost your ability to express yourself. And I didn't realize like how much of a little bit of a low grade depression that had given me throughout the years that I struggled with that. And it was so painful that the surgery was less painful. Do you see what I'm saying? Like it was worth, it was worth it to go, I can't do this anymore.

And I don't know in this position how it would be able, I would be able to do eight shows a week having this issue. And um, and then him being able to identify specifically what it was that he could go in and he had done these other singers. I was nervous. I said some prayers before I went in on the operating table like, Lord Jesus, please do not take a, take it away. But he is so good and he's so cocky that I trusted him. Um, you know what? Listen, bedside manner. Fuck it. If you're, if he's a cocky doctor and he knows he's good, I don't care how nice he is. Especially if all those big people are going to him, you know, he's doing something right. Steven Tyler brings him on the road. I'm like, hello.

If that man at that age is singing those notes, come on. So, um, I did it and I tell you, Justin, it was the best thing I ever did. It repaired way more than I even imagined it would. He was even Steven Zaitel was like, Hey, I got in there and I saw some other stuff and I took care of that too. And I was like, wow. Um, and I was given back these notes and this tone and this thing that I thought was forever gone. And it, and I didn't, that's when I moment I realized like, Oh my God, I've been depressed because I'm so happy. I'm like singing all the time. And I wasn't doing that anymore. I had lost a sense of that.

[18:27] Justin Guarini: I can't even begin to imagine. I mean, I've lost my voice, but never to that extent. And knowing that it is such a part of who I am, such a part of who you are, you're right. It's like, you feel like you just have some sort of, it's like you're missing the lower half of it or the upper half of your body and you're just walking on this sort of this disembodied thing. Okay. So, um, I'm glad that you did that was, how long was the recovery on that by the way?

[18:52] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, it was, um, so I had to be totally silent. I think for four weeks, um, first of all, how did you do, how does anybody do that by the way? But how did you do that? How did you get through that?

[19:04] Laura Bell Bundy: The thing is, how did I do it? Because I love to talk. Okay. Um, so, uh, yeah, it was hard, but it was also, uh, I had projects, you know, I was going to do some like art projects. I did some stuff where I was like refinishing some furniture. I always had like either a whiteboard or a notepad with me. I texted a lot, like I would text my husband who was sitting right next to me. Um, or, and definitely the computer texting is really helpful. Um, and, and I like discovered how much we say unnecessary things we don't need to be saying what is the most important thing for you to actually say. And then you just don't say a bunch of other bullshit. And it was, so it was almost like, um, a spiritual experience.

[20:03] Justin Guarini: Yeah.

[20:04] Laura Bell Bundy: And, uh, and you know, I've, I've totally forgotten it now, but, um, it's amazing. I could learn these amazing lessons and then just like, forget them, throw them right out the window.

[20:06] Justin Guarini: Yeah.

[20:07] Laura Bell Bundy: Just the same way we always were. Whatever. Uh, so, so then it, then it took a while, then it was like, okay, now I'm beginning to speak again. Now I'm humming again. Now I'm doing some like very specific vocal exercises and it was like, okay, you can talk, but you can only talk for 10 minutes every hour or, and then it was like, yeah. And then you, if you talk for an hour, then you have to not talk for two hours. So like this went on for like weeks to two months after that of not talking too much and then doing certain vocal exercises to make sure that you did those in the morning to, you know, and I didn't really, really feel like the full, it took, I feel like six months till I was like, oh shit, this is amazing. But I did notice a huge difference after two months, I mean right away, honestly. But when I was first allowed to sing again, I noticed it. I was like, oh my God. But then you got to tune up.

[21:12] Justin Guarini: Yeah.

[21:13] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah. It's a muscle. It's like you haven't used the muscle in a long time and you got to retrain that muscle, build that muscle back up. That's the same exact thing.

[21:17] Justin Guarini: For sure.

[21:18] Laura Bell Bundy: For sure. So you're doing auditions. The name of the show is Audition Seekers and auditions are a necessary evil. But do you have any either crazy, funny or horror auditions from your time?

[21:31] Laura Bell Bundy: Yes. I mean, I have gone on so many damn auditions in my life. I started like in this business at six years old. So try to go through the audition Rolodex in my head is like hard, you know, to find. I have had good auditions, bad auditions. I figured out a little bit of a philosophy for some auditions now. My biggest horror story audition was I was auditioning for, I believe it was Oklahoma years ago. It was either Oklahoma or something else, but Grazia Danielle was the choreographer. And at the time I was like 17 and my mom was sort of still involved in my career. And she was like, you should go to this dance audition. And I'm like, no, I don't really feel into it. And she's like, do it. Right. I'm like, all right. Okay. I go to this. And you don't say no to your mom when she gets like that.

[22:30] Justin Guarini: No, you don't.

[22:31] Laura Bell Bundy: No. Yeah. That took a long time to figure out how to communicate no to my mother. But so I...

[22:39] Justin Guarini: That's a whole nother podcast.

[22:40] Laura Bell Bundy: We could do a whole nother episode just on saying no to your parents.

[22:44] Justin Guarini: Yeah.

[22:45] Laura Bell Bundy: If it ain't one thing, it's your mother. So anyway, I go to this audition. It's a dancer call. I'm going to be real honest with you, Justin. I am a mover. Hello. Listen, I grew up dancing and yes, I can dance. And my specialty dance is tap. No one's really taken advantage of that in my Broadway career, but that's beside the point. Tap was not what I was doing in this audition. It was like ballet, lyrical, jazz, Oklahoma dancing. And I can learn all the moves. It just takes me a little time to learn them. But when they're finally up on stage, it looks like I'm a dancer. I just don't have the brain that learns it super fast. I have the brain that learns lines really fast. That's my brain. I don't have the brain that learns physical movements very fast.

So I get to this thing and they are moving so fast and I'm like, it's like a freight train of dance. It's evil. It's evil. And I am the girl in the back that's looking at the other girl that's trying to keep up. I mean, this is, if somebody had a hidden camera and there's like, oh my God, there's hidden camera footage of Laura Bell Bundy at this audition. And I am like, oh, it was a mess.

[24:08] Laura Bell Bundy: Everything I was doing was like a half second behind everybody else, because I was looking at them. And so when you know, when they break you up into groups of three, and they, it was just, I felt, I just, I felt so embarrassed. My face was hot, like I had shit my pants in front of everyone. It was awful. And you know, and then they're like, you stay, you stay, you stay. And I'm like, Well, I'm obviously not staying. And I did, you know, they said you may go. And I at that moment, I was like, I will never go to a dancer call again, ever in my life. And you know what, I never went on a dancer call.

[24:42] Justin Guarini: I don't blame you. Because you know, I will look, you were honest with me here. I'm gonna be honest with you. I am also an actor that moves and moves. I can pick up the call. I can get it. But I mean, I'm the I'm that guy who's like, look, when, for example, I was in there for the the sort of the open call for an open call, but the sort of, I guess, invited call, but there's like, right, right, right in the room, right? For American Idiot, and the replacements for American Idiot. I was in there with guys who had just come off of West Side Story on Broadway. Oh, my Lord, Jesus thinking, there's no I'm gonna look like an asshole in here. And it's Stephen Hoggett. So you're throwing yourself around and you're on the floor and your head banging.

And I mean, I had just come off of I think it was like, I don't know women on the verge of a nervous breakdown, which was like, like, not even remotely that type of choreography. I had never danced anything like that in my life. And I swear to God, I think I might have shit my pants a little bit. And yet I may I was just good enough in order to make it to the next level.

[25:51] Laura Bell Bundy: Here's the thing I'll say is that sometimes you get a choreographer like Jerry Mitchell, who likes actors who can dance, meaning he likes people who feel what they are dancing, who can create a character through their movement. That is something I can do. And so, you know, if you probably got out there thrashing your head around got some whiplash, and they were like, Hey, this is good enough for us. We're, we're like, he's super into it. This is good. You know, because really, when you watch someone on stage, it is about like, there are certain people that have passion when they move and dance and when they sing, and that's what you want to watch. My friend, Tracy J. Edwards, she's a great, amazing dancer.

But she also has this thing when she dances, that is so passionate, that you're, you cannot take your eyes off of her, because she's so connected. And I think that's, that's how we get that's how us movers get through, we get through that we get through that way. But I will say I just anything like I was doing honeymooners, and I knew it was going to be a lot, a lot more dancing. And so I did ask, you know, with a choreographer, send me a video of the choreography in advance of rehearsal. And I had I learned it all. I hired my friend who was a who was also choreographer to break down and teach that to me before I even started the first day of rehearsal. And then I did Sweet Charity with Kathleen Marshall.

And unfortunately, she did not send me the choreography in advance because she hadn't figured out the choreography in advance. But I was like, girl, you, this is all fine. I'm looking at you and I'm doing it in front of you because you're doing it in front of me. But we need to videotape this. And I would be at home, like you said, every moment I had trying to learn it. And then once I learned it, by the way, I still remember it. Once I learned it, it's in my body forever. But my God, I was like in an airport doing it. And that's what I mean. That's what we do. And that's when people like I said before, it's like, oh, must be nice to work for three hours. No, this job is not a lifestyle, right?

Yeah, it's amazing. I did in transit on Broadway with Kathleen and we all kind of just made up the I mean, we didn't make it up. I mean, she really made it up in front of us during the process. She had an idea of it. And some of it was just so off the wall. And we filmed it. And but yeah, it is an absolute lifestyle.

[28:31] Justin Guarini: The question I like to ask performers is, have you ever walked out of an audition room and said something to yourself like this? What just happened? That was terrible. I feel so unbelievably confused right now. Well, believe me, I have walked out of audition rooms and felt the same exact way. And one day I just got tired of it. And I started doing research, talking to my coaches, and asking myself better questions and finding a better way of going about auditioning and trying to make it fun. And guess what, I found success. And then I started sharing that knowledge with my friends and some students and they found success in their auditions and in their careers. And so what I want to tell you today is I am opening up a limited number of slots for private one-on-one online coaching with me.

That's right. You can go to auditionsecrets.com, click a few buttons and then schedule some time to have one-on-one private coaching with me where I share my wisdom, my knowledge, and I tailor it specifically for your needs. We break down your audition, the mindset of auditioning, and we address and correct your biggest concerns around auditioning. And then we go and we work on the song portion of your audition together. We work to make the material shine, to make you shine with my signature technique called the triple threat technique where we break it down, we dissect the material, we connect you to the material, and then we project the material together to make it just shine, to make you look awesome, to make you feel awesome.

It's 60 minutes of fun, growth, and just an awesome time. And I want to get you results. And I've gotten results for some other people. Jenna Propado, Mia's mom, said every session brought more and more value. My daughter found Justin exciting and exuberant. Everything was valuable and fun. She got a bigger part than what she auditioned for. I love, love, love coaching. I love seeing the light bulb go on above students' heads. And I would love to have the honor and the opportunity of coaching you through your next audition and any audition you want me to coach you for beyond that. So all you have to do is go to auditionsecrets.com and hit the little button that says Private Coaching with Justin and we can set up a session. It is awesome, it is fun, and it is at auditionsecrets.com. All right, back to my interview with Laura Bell Bundy.

[31:01] Laura Bell Bundy: So you have an audition philosophy. Tell me about it. So now throughout the years, as I've auditioned, granted now I don't go on dance calls, and I only go on, you know, acting or singer calls. And then when they ask me to dance, then I do that. But that's not the philosophy. The philosophy is we have to do the work, right? So even when we don't get, even if we don't know we have the job, it is our job to do the work before the audition. So what makes me feel, you know, 50% of acting is getting over your fear, and so is an audition. And so I'm like, if the fear is there, what helps me get over that fear? And it's preparation. So I am like, the second I get that material, I look at it, I go deep dive in it.

Now it's easier for me, it's quicker. But sometimes it took me a long time. And I have, I have a friend or something, read those lines with me, I feel very comfortable with them I have. And I go into that audition. And it is about doing the work. It's not about what the people on the other side of the table, or the other side of the camera think about what I'm doing. It's about me being completely connected to the material that I'm doing. And then it's satisfying for me. Then I'm like, I just did a day's work. I, I had fun, I played, I did what I do. And, and it's not about whether I got the job. It's about I love doing what I do. And I just got an opportunity to do it. Exactly. And the only people that saw me do it were the casting people and the director and the producer.

But I got to do what I do. Right. And, and then you just forget about it. And you don't think about whether or not you got it. And, and the reality is sometimes you end up getting it because you've you have the abandonment of like, the not being so concerned about getting the job.

[33:01] Justin Guarini: Right. Fun, fun, fun. This is fun. I wrote a book called Audition Secrets. And one of the chapters in there is called this is remember, this is supposed to be fun.

[33:11] Laura Bell Bundy: Yes, totally.

[33:12] Justin Guarini: Hello, like, we, we lose sight of that. And so you said the fear, where do you think for you in auditions? What do you think is the root of that fear is?

[33:24] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, it's like the same thing I said about the dance audition, it's looking like an asshole. I do not want, I so desperately do not want to look like an asshole, that I will prepare. So like, I will, and if I'm not prepared, I'll cancel the audition, I won't go smart. If I do not feel like I can nail this. I've got this, I'm connected to this. Then I don't even want to show that I keep the the non best version of it. So I, I really do commit. And then it is fun. And the other thing that I love, I used to hate self tapes. I love self tapes now.

[34:03] Justin Guarini: Tell me why, because I hate self taping.

[34:06] Laura Bell Bundy: Okay, so now when I do a self tape, I make the whole scene happen. I have a glass, you know, if the character is supposed to have a glass of wine, I have a glass and I fill it up. I wear sometimes I put a costume on, like if I feel like yesterday I had something it was like 1930. So I did my hair in 1930s. And I had, I had to have a wine glass. And I, I, if I have to be looking around, I pick places to look, I create the scene and I put myself inside the scene. Because number one, do I know I'm going to do a better job. And also when they're watching it, it's going to be more interesting and more dynamic. And it's so much more fun for me. Because just to stand there and you know, look at the, I have so much more freedom.

The other thing I can do with a self tape is if I have two ideas for it. Like, is this character should have an accent or not have an accent, then I can send both versions. And I don't have to be like, hey, I was kind of thinking that this character might have an accent and then hear the casting person say, No, we don't want an accent, right? I'm just sending you the accent, you can take it or leave it, but you might see it and you might like it.

[35:17] Justin Guarini: Right. And that's you're having fun. And you're bringing your unique perspective to yeah, and you're actually filling up your own cup. I mean, in the sense you did have a cup, but like, you know, you're filling up the scene for yourself. So it's not just this dead thing where you're just talking to air.

[35:35] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah, I mean, I have so much fun with them. Hopefully you have somebody that can read with you and is also good. But and that that's always a challenge. But I've started to really have fun with them. And then it feels very satisfying. So it's like you said, it's like having fun. So if you can have fun at yourself tapes and make them come alive in a real way and not for you. When I auditioned for scream Queens, I literally put three different versions of the character on tape. And then they and then they offered me the job and I was like, which version

[36:11] Laura Bell Bundy: I didn't know. I didn't know. I was like arriving on set and I'm like, I still don't know which version of this character I'm playing. What a luxurious problem to have, though. But yeah, so anyway, that's my audition philosophy. You started from six years old auditioning, and you've been in some wonderful films and some great TV shows and theater. But if there was one sort of great lesson that you've learned, either from someone that you've worked with, or just from being a part of the whole machine, what would that be? So I think the biggest thing that I've learned is that I haven't learned everything. So there was an epiphany I had when I was doing Legally Blonde, and I was in my 200th show.

And I tried something totally different and got a laugh I'd never gotten before. And I was like, huh, interesting. As actors, we have never arrived. There is always something to learn. There is always more to discover within your performance, within your character. There's comedy beats you haven't found yet, even when you're doing 300 shows. You can be more connected to your material than you were on opening night. As you know, you can figure out different things to do vocally the more times you sing a song because you get bored of how you were singing it. It's the same thing with the performances. That has informed me so much about who I am as an actor and as a performer, is that I am the type of person that gets better with time.

My opening night performance is not the show you want to come see. You want to come see my closing night performance. Because at that point, I have figured out where the jokes are, where the emotional moments are, how to really make it deeper. I just like to go deeper. I've also discovered that about other things. If I know that I'm doing a TV show, and I'm not going to get to do this eight shows a week, that scene is going to be over at the end of the day, and I can't go back to it. What can I do, knowing that I get better with time? The second I get that material, I start to go in and do the deep dive and try to perform it as much as possible on my own before I even arrive, have ideas for it, things like that, just because I know there's so much to discover.

I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to discover it. That's what I've learned. I've learned that there is always something to learn. Even if you're Meryl Streep, she's still learning things. She's still discovering. That's part of the exciting part of it. That's my lesson.

[39:34] Justin Guarini: Well, I think it's a great lesson, too, because I think we can tend to forget that in the throes of all the other stuff that we pile and gets piled on top of us in this business. But also, what I'm hearing underneath what you're saying is that there's an element of fun. I know we spoke about this, but there's an element of fun to all of this. I know that, like you said, when I've been on stage and I'm in whatever performance, doing eight shows a week, that not only does whatever I have going on in my personal life and what even happened that day, do I bring that to the role, but I always bring a sense of discovery and wanting to try new things. I mean, I'm not going crazy where I'm going to screw up my scene partners, but just always having fun and trying to find the nooks and crannies and, like you said, just discovering new things.

I'll never forget a long time ago, Patti LuPone told me that there was one time where she was doing a show, and it wasn't until closing night that when she said a certain line that she actually understood it and really, truly discovered what it meant to her. And then, of course, the show is over. So it's a living, breathing, the material is a living, breathing thing. And as long as you are in harmony with that and having fun and discovering it, it can be a new show and a new experience and an exciting and engaged front foot experience every single night.

[41:15] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah, totally. I always say we do plays because we are playing, we do plays, we play music. I really love to play. And a lot of that is, you have to get over your fear enough to try something new, right? And to have those discoveries. So there is that, too, of just pushing through the possibility that if you say it this way, it might not land. But you're going to try something the next night, and it might land, or the next take. So this take wasn't great, but you're figuring it out. The next take, you're going to take what you learned from the last take, and you're going to nail it. You just have to be fluid enough to not get so rigid and so afraid that you are going to have egg on your face. So while I don't want to make an asshole of myself, like I said before, I'm willing to, on a small scale, make an asshole of myself within a scene to try to discover how far we could go.

[42:27] Justin Guarini: Yeah, there is so much success that waits for all of us just on the other side of the willingness to completely fail.

[42:30] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah. Oh, my God. Totally. That's great. That's a quote. Quote that. Put that on a t-shirt.

[42:34] Justin Guarini: Okay, great. Good. So I just got a few more questions for you. You now are a mother to a beautiful, delicious, beautiful baby. Having a baby is a game changer for sure.

[42:52] Laura Bell Bundy: Yes.

[42:54] Justin Guarini: So in the context of our profession, I mean, considering that stability is a hallmark of this business, I mean, how do you think that motherhood will change the trajectory, obviously, of your life, whatever, but your career going forward? How do you think Huck will influence your career and the decisions you make going forward?

[43:17] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, you know, at this point, I don't know. I'm starting to see.

[43:27] Justin Guarini: You still were doing a self-tape, you know?

[43:29] Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah, exactly. Yesterday. I mean, you just had a baby not all that long ago and you're still standing in front of the camera and doing your thing. So it's not like you've stopped.

[43:37] Laura Bell Bundy: Well, I will say this. This gives you like the general is I had an audition on Monday and Huck had a temperature. He had a high temperature for his age and he had been exposed to someone who was sick. And then he had this weird lump on his neck. And when I called the doctor, the doctor was like, hey, just to be safe, go to Children's Hospital. So I was like, oh, my God, I'm taking my four week old to the Children's Hospital, which, by the way, is not you have to prepare yourself to walk in and see kids in pain. I mean, it's just... We have one here in Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. And it is just like you look at these children who it's not like anybody does anything wrong to get any sort of physical health challenge, but like you look at these children, it's like they were born behind the eight ball. And you're like, how? Why? Why is this happening to these innocent, beautiful people? And then you're bringing your child in there on top of that.

[44:39] Justin Guarini: Yeah, it definitely puts things in perspective in life. And I do believe also that having a child is putting things in perspective for me in terms of what's important. I didn't think twice to just say, like, I can't go in. Sorry. Then I get the response, which was, hey, you've got to Wednesday morning if you want to self-tape. And I'm like, great. But this... So the decisions that are happening that I'm seeing is happening is I'm taking my child first before I'm taking my career. That has never happened. No one has ever been able to do that. And this was the literally like the third audition I've canceled since he's been born or not gone to or whatever. It's only been four weeks. It's only been four weeks. Okay.

[45:22] Laura Bell Bundy: I know. And I'm kind of like, why are you sending me these auditions? But it's okay. So I just happened to have him in a kind of a busy time. So I think what... But here's a good thing. Like the perspective that I'm getting is my child is the most important and all other things, including my career, come second. And that's the first time that's happened as being someone who was sort of thrust into the business as a child, where my career has always been at the forefront. It's really nice to not have that be the case. And I believe that what it will do is make me more selective. Is this character really a character I haven't tried before and I really want to try or that I feel connected to? Is this material good?

Is the money good? Whatever those things are, what's the perfect storm of the thing that makes it worth it to me to be away from him or bring him somewhere? And so, yeah, I'm not going to navigate that. But I'm very fortunate. My husband is not an actor. And even though he's in the business, he's an executive. And his business, there's more stability than being an actor for his job. It's not the most stable thing in the world, because it's still inherently the entertainment business. But I do think that that allows me to be more selective when I need to be and to be able to be home and be a mom.

[47:09] Justin Guarini: I can't wait to hear and see the things that Huck does and the things that you do in the next year and for the rest of your career. I really can't thank you enough for sitting down and taking the time to talk with me. And I hope that you have a wonderful rest of your summer with your sweet, sweet new baby.

[47:26] Laura Bell Bundy: Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate it. It's always nice to talk to you.

[47:30] Justin Guarini: Yeah, you too. Thanks, Laura.

[47:32] Laura Bell Bundy: All right. Bye, Dustin.

[47:33] Justin Guarini: Bye.

[47:35] Justin Guarini: Well, that does it for today's show. Thank you so very much for listening. Thank you so much, Laura Bell Bundy, for being an awesome guest. For more episodes, my free book, private coaching, and a ton of other stuff, make sure you go to AuditionSecrets.com. On next week's show, we have Tony Award winning producer, Robin Goodman. It's going to be a great interview. I hope you tune into it. In the meantime, I'm Justin Guarini. You've been listening to Audition Secrets, the podcast. And remember, you're only one audition away. Thanks for listening.