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[0:01] HUNGOVER:

[0:09] Elliott Mattox: This is HUNGOVER, a new mini-series where we follow some of our favorite theater artists on their way back to the stage.

[0:18] Caleb Dicke: We're going to be checking in with these artists before rehearsal, during rehearsal seeing the process, and then afterwards during performances.

[0:25] Elliott Mattox: So you'll get a unique perspective on their journeys to getting back to normal.

[0:30] Caleb Dicke: So grab your hair of the dog, because this is HUNGOVER.

[0:35] Elliott Mattox: Cheers!

[0:38] Caleb Dicke: Welcome, everyone, to HUNGOVER, the mini-series from Equity One where we follow some of our favorite theater artists getting back to the stage.

[0:48] Elliott Mattox: Caleb, it's our first episode.

[0:50] Caleb Dicke: This is our first episode back since August, September.

[0:55] Elliott Mattox: October, November.

[0:57] Caleb Dicke: Since November.

[0:59] Elliott Mattox: If you're listening to this, there are some very, very fly and sexy photos now on our Instagram.

[1:06] Caleb Dicke: We did a really fun photo shoot to coincide with the launch.

[1:10] Elliott Mattox: And as our first guest, we are so excited to have my friend Pierre Jean Gonzalez with us.

[1:17] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Hi!

[1:18] Elliott Mattox: Hello!

[1:19] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Thank you so much for having me.

[1:21] Elliott Mattox: It's nice and cool here right now in this season that we're in.

[1:24] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Oh, yes.

[1:25] Caleb Dicke: Because it's hot outside right now.

[1:26] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: If you are listening and are bothered by the sound of air conditioning, the sound quality is less important than having air conditioning.

[1:33] Elliott Mattox: Listen.

[1:34] Caleb Dicke: I feel like back in the day we recorded with sirens and larger AUCs, so this is an upgrade.

[1:42] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: That's like ambiance, right?

[1:43] Caleb Dicke: Exactly.

[1:44] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Like, I live in New York.

[1:45] Caleb Dicke: Exactly.

[1:46] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It's very real.

[1:47] Caleb Dicke: It's very real.

[1:48] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And the old apartment, too, is so noisy.

[1:51] Caleb Dicke: This one is a lot more serene.

[1:53] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It's a beautiful apartment, everyone.

[1:55] Caleb Dicke: Beautiful.

[1:56] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Yes.

[1:57] Caleb Dicke: There's a balcony and the ocean view.

[1:59] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It's amazing.

[2:00] Caleb Dicke: Three bedrooms.

[2:02] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Three baths.

[2:04] Caleb Dicke: Newly renovated.

[2:06] Elliott Mattox: Anyway. Welcome, Pierre.

[2:08] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Thank you so much for doing this.

[2:12] Elliott Mattox: Now, I'm excited. We've never done a series like this before.

[2:15] Caleb Dicke: So I'm excited to bring our listeners the first in what will be three episodes with Pierre about his journey getting back to Hamilton.

[2:26] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Yes.

[2:27] Caleb Dicke: On the road.

[2:28] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Oh, my gosh.

[2:29] Caleb Dicke: The tour.

[2:30] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: The tour.

[2:31] Caleb Dicke: Yes.

[2:32] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: The Philip tour, right?

[2:33] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, the Philip tour.

[2:34] Elliott Mattox: Okay, great. So we start off all of our episodes by asking our guests, like, what first got them interested in theater or the arts when they were younger?

[2:43] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Well, I always was a singer when I was, like, a little kid. I always grabbed a comb and, like, pretended to be everybody.

[2:51] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And my mom always saw that. So she started putting me in classes, singing classes.

[2:57] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I didn't actually do well in it. I wasn't, like, that kid. I wasn't that kid who, like, oh, my God, and then, like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. No. I didn't like it. I hated it.

[3:07] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Until I went to high school and I met my mentor, Nico Anon, who is on P-Valley right now. I don't know if you saw P-Valley on Clifford.

[3:15] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: He took me out of, like, the music group, and he was like, child, you need to be acting on this stage.

[3:23] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: He's very much like that. He was like, honey, come here. Come here. Come here.

[3:27] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And I was like, yes. At that time, I was like, yeah. Because I was going through my stuff. I was still straight at the time.

[3:35] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Never. So I remember my first musical was Dreamgirls.

[3:41] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And I wanted to be Jimmy. I wanted to be all these people.

[3:46] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But I was right in the background, getting, like, a little doo-wop, right?

[3:49] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And that kind of opened up my mind to just performing, period.

[3:55] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: After that, we did so many shows in high school with him.

[4:00] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And then it wasn't until I did my first play, like, just straight play, that I was like, oh, shit. I want to go to school for this.

[4:08] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I want to act. I want to be in movies. And I got to audition.

[4:12] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I got into Rutgers University, the Mason Gross School of the Arts, which is an amazing program.

[4:17] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: The third year, we got to study at the Globe in London.

[4:21] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Amazing. We stayed there the whole year.

[4:23] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: They hate Americans.

[4:24] Caleb Dicke: Oh, really?

[4:25] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Yeah.

[4:26] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But they liked me. I was eccentric, you know?

[4:29] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I was like, hey. Sorry, our fave Brits.

[4:33] Caleb Dicke: Sorry.

[4:34] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: They did not at the time.

[4:36] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But we were there for two semesters.

[4:38] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: We got to do The Dream, Midsummer Night's Dream.

[4:41] Caleb Dicke: I love that.

[4:42] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: That was the first time I found out that that's what they called it over there.

[4:44] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: They don't say Midsummer Night's Dream. It's a long title.

[4:47] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: They go, darling, you're doing The Dream.

[4:48] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And I remember all of us were like, The Dream. I don't know what show that is.

[4:52] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And you're like nodding, and you're like, yes, yes, yes.

[4:55] Caleb Dicke: That's interesting because I feel like here we say Midsummer.

[4:58] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Midsummer.

[4:59] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, over there is The Dream.

[5:00] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It's our abbreviation of that.

[5:02] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But it was amazing. I mean, life freaking changing.

[5:06] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I grew up in the Bronx, New York, in the projects.

[5:09] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: The idea of seeing and being in those places for me was never even a possibility.

[5:16] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: So that whole time for me was really magical.

[5:20] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: All the life lessons.

[5:23] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: All the life lessons.

[5:25] Caleb Dicke: And then we come back to New York, right?

[5:27] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You graduate.

[5:29] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: We got an agent.

[5:30] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Everything's cute.

[5:31] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Nothing.

[5:32] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Always.

[5:33] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Hard nothing.

[5:34] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Like a hard nothing.

[5:36] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Coming from a school that was just doing theater and stuff like that to then come into these TV and film auditions.

[5:44] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I just remember being like, I was horrible, guys.

[5:48] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I was so bad.

[5:50] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You know that acting like you just want to over articulate.

[5:53] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It's money.

[5:54] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: So it was like a rough five years.

[5:57] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And then I finally started to cut the shit.

[6:00] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I was being lazy.

[6:01] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And I just started to invest in myself, put money into my classes, put money into myself and my business as an actor.

[6:08] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And then things started picking up.

[6:10] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And then Hamilton.

[6:13] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And then Hamilton.

[6:15] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And then Hamilton.

[6:16] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And that was two years ago.

[6:18] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: That was about two years ago.

[6:21] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And that process was I auditioned six times.

[6:27] Caleb Dicke: Wow.

[6:28] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I had six auditions.

[6:29] Caleb Dicke: Did they have to pay you?

[6:30] Caleb Dicke: Isn't that when they have to start paying you to audition after six?

[6:32] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I think it's seven.

[6:33] Caleb Dicke: I think it was after.

[6:34] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I think it's eight.

[6:35] Caleb Dicke: I think it's eight.

[6:36] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It was trying.

[6:39] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I remember the last one.

[6:41] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I came in. I was like, I don't even know what y'all want me to do.

[6:44] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Okay, I gave it to you already.

[6:45] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But I think that energy kind of got me the job.

[6:48] Caleb Dicke: Great.

[6:49] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I love that.

[6:50] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: That's very Rochelle Rack in every little step.

[6:52] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Being like, I don't know what changed.

[6:54] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: What do you want?

[6:55] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I don't know.

[6:56] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I know.

[6:57] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: This is what I have.

[6:58] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: This is what I have.

[6:59] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Iconic.

[7:00] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And it was amazing.

[7:01] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I got that call and just weeping.

[7:03] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: During COVID and just sitting by myself, I didn't realize how much I dreamed for this moment.

[7:11] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I don't think a lot of people can really say that one of my dreams, my dream to play Hamilton.

[7:17] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I never thought I could play that part.

[7:19] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: The dream came true.

[7:21] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And that's like what a blessing.

[7:27] Elliott Mattox: I'm just so grateful.

[7:29] Caleb Dicke: Wait, so how do you keep your self-esteem up like March 13th, whatever, 2020?

[7:35] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: How do you keep that up?

[7:36] Oh, honey.

[7:37] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Okay.

[7:38] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: So I got the job.

[7:39] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Okay. Disclaimer.

[7:41] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I was a standby before, so I covered Hamilton, Burr, and the King.

[7:47] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: So that was my job for about a year and a half.

[7:49] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And then I got a call.

[7:51] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: They said they want to give you the part.

[7:53] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Amazing.

[7:54] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But it's another six months until the other guy leaves and then you can take over.

[7:58] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Cool.

[7:59] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Cute.

[8:00] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Six months.

[8:01] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I could do that.

[8:02] Caleb Dicke: Remember knowing what we were going to be up to for longer than six months in the future?

[8:08] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Oh, my God.

[8:09] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And it was horrible because I took a month off before.

[8:12] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: So, of course, February, I'm living my life.

[8:15] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: The end of February, beginning of March, things are happening.

[8:18] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I'm like, all good.

[8:19] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I'm about to be Hamilton on the 28th.

[8:21] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It's all good.

[8:22] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Shut down.

[8:23] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[8:24] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: That hit me really, really hard.

[8:27] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I went into a deep depression.

[8:30] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It was hard.

[8:32] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It was tough.

[8:33] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But in the middle of it, me and my fiance, we ended up creating a production company.

[8:38] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: After everything was happening with Black Lives Matter and George Floyd, we were like, how can we make change?

[8:47] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: How can we not just speak about it, not just post about it, but how can we make change in our community?

[8:54] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Concentrating on highlighting Afro-Latinos, highlighting people who look like me, look like my fiance.

[8:59] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: So that started Dominican Productions.

[9:02] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And it's just this year we've done two narrative shorts.

[9:06] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: We're basically resident filmmakers for Pregones right now filming a bunch of their projects.

[9:12] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And it's been like I don't know what the – I can't curse, right?

[9:16] Caleb Dicke: You can.

[9:17] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I don't know what the fuck is happening sometimes.

[9:20] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Because a lot of us think, oh, I'm supposed to know.

[9:23] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Obviously, yes, children, go to school.

[9:26] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Go to school and learn what you want to know.

[9:28] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But when you have the community, you can.

[9:34] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You can.

[9:35] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You can make it happen.

[9:36] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And I thought that I could never have a production company.

[9:38] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I can't film shit.

[9:40] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: The other day I was a cinematographer for one of our gigs.

[9:42] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I'm a cinematographer now.

[9:44] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Stop playing.

[9:45] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I'm trying to learn everything.

[9:46] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I want to know how movies are made.

[9:48] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I want to produce musicals.

[9:49] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I want to be on that side of the table.

[9:52] Caleb Dicke: Right.

[9:53] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I mean I still want the camera on me though. Hello.

[9:55] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Okay.

[9:56] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I want the camera on me.

[9:57] Caleb Dicke: Why not both instead?

[9:58] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: There's the answer if you're clever.

[9:59] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[10:00] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I completely agree.

[10:02] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Throughout this time I've also been dipping my toes into producing my own stuff.

[10:06] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And it's like I didn't know shit, and I'm learning more and more and more.

[10:12] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And just by doing, I feel like I have such a broader vocabulary of how to talk to people, how to communicate with people.

[10:21] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It's about learning.

[10:23] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[10:24] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And hit the ground running.

[10:25] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You just go.

[10:26] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And honey, Google it if you don't know.

[10:27] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You don't know how many fucking times.

[10:29] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I'm like how does this mic connect to the camera?

[10:31] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Google.

[10:32] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Let me check this email really fast.

[10:33] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Siri.

[10:34] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It's there.

[10:36] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: The information is there.

[10:38] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I remember before I did this job last weekend, I was on YouTube just watching this girl put the camera together and put it apart for like two hours.

[10:45] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[10:46] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Something as simple as that.

[10:47] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You know what I mean?

[10:48] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: So it's possible.

[10:50] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And it's so crazy because I feel like us as artists, as actors, we were told that we have to wait.

[10:54] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: We have to wait for the audition.

[10:56] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: We have to wait for the phone call from our agents.

[10:58] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You know, like it's not.

[11:01] Caleb Dicke: It doesn't have to be like that.

[11:03] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Yeah.

[11:04] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It doesn't.

[11:05] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: No.

[11:06] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Like if that's what you want to do, just show up.

[11:07] Caleb Dicke: Absolutely.

[11:08] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Children do it.

[11:09] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But, you know, I think for us as gay men, us as artists that live here in New York, we don't see our stories being authentically made.

[11:20] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Like people don't really know.

[11:22] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Like I want to make a movie like of people in an eagle, you know, for one night.

[11:26] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Like I'm really seeing that experience of what the New York gay life is.

[11:30] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[11:31] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: We don't know.

[11:32] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: They don't know.

[11:33] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: So like why not create that ourselves?

[11:35] Caleb Dicke: Yeah.

[11:36] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: It's a lot of we've talked about this before.

[11:38] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I don't know if on or off mic, but like there is such a lack of like queer, just like joy stories, like like stories that aren't like about HIV and AIDS.

[11:52] Caleb Dicke: Agreed.

[11:53] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Or, you know, something, you know, traumatic, like not it's not all about like the trauma because that's there, too.

[11:59] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But, girl, it is like the most joyful community.

[12:02] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: We live.

[12:03] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: We live.

[12:04] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: There's beauty in everything that we do.

[12:07] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: And that's a big reason why we created the production company and highlighting LGBTQ plus BIPOC stories, because it's like, honey, yet the AIDS and the and, you know, like the parents hating them being people sleeping on the streets.

[12:22] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Like, yes, that does happen.

[12:24] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Absolutely.

[12:25] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: But there's such beauty in our experience.

[12:58] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: For gay people, you know, at that time. So it totally informs the culture. It's like, that's why we party. That's why we live like that, you know? And traveling with the tour kind of opened up my eyes of how comfortable I was here in New York and how it is still there. It is not that great out there, guys. Like, it's crazy. I was in the Midwest. Just not only for me being gay, but my color of my skin, I was like feeling like, it was unreal. And for me, that was a little bit of a culture shock for me. So how does that, like, because we're talking about before rehearsals, like before going out on tour, how are you, how is that influencing your thoughts of when you're going to go back out on the road?

Like, how are you planning to meet audiences? And is that affecting you at all? It is a little bit. I mean, I'm kind of sad because right now, right now, don't quote me this, I think we're not doing like backstage things because of COVID, which was one of my favorite things just because like to interact with these people who, this music, this show changes their lives, you know? And in the beginning of it all, I remember coming into it being like, oh, please, like whatever. But no, when you see it in a little child's face, when they meet you and they tell you that, like, it's one of those moments that all the performers have that's like, when you know that you're affecting someone like that, that you're building that person up.

I'm a little sad that that might not happen. But I've been working with people in my company to do outreach programs and to Zoom performances, Zoom, because they used to do, when the schools come in, Jesus, I'm blanking. So I think they're going to still be doing it. But it might be digitally. Yeah, we don't know yet. But like, hopefully in a month, everything will know. We'll check in on that. But we're gonna try to do as much outreach as we can. And actually, the other side of the table, like production side, is creating a program to bring people of color, young kids who want to stagehand, to learn how to do sound, to learn how to do, you know what I mean? It's really amazing. So I'm hoping that that works out.

And if not, I know myself, I'm a very grassroots type of guy. I'll go out to the community, I'll go to a school, knock on the door, be like, hey, so I play Hamilton. Can I do something for the kids? Just because it's what you have to give of service. It has to be of service. The more that we try to help our community to help each other, the more that goodness is going to come. I swear. It's not easy to make that choice. Trust me, sometimes I'm like, girl, because people can be shitty. But it always comes from a place of, I try to come from a place of love, and understanding, and empathy. Because this year, this year really messed up a lot of people. And I think the only reason I got through it was because I already had some tools to express my emotional state at the time. Some tools. And I can't even imagine our brothers and sisters who are still struggling, are going to continue struggling after this moment.

[16:19] Caleb Dicke: Yeah, I'm leaving in right now. So what, a week and a half? Oh my god. It makes me emotional because it's finally here. Oh my god.

[16:28] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Yeah. So how is that feeling? Are you excited? I feel good. So this whole year, my partner, my fiance, he got me into running. I still hate running. But I also love running. And the breathing exercises, I've been running constantly. I've been since July singing the show in the streets, and people must look at me like I'm fucking crazy. Because my whole idea is, I need to know the whole show. Period. I don't skip a track. I need to know what everybody's saying. I need to know all the words. I need to know what's happening. I need to know what transition is happening. I need to know where everyone's going. Because that's only going to make me a better leader and a better Hamilton. That's how I'm thinking about it, right?

So listening to the show, and just running. You see me in Edgewater. I don't know if you've seen me by Trader Joe's. Just like, I'm past patiently waiting. So that's kind of been my training, yoga, therapy. I just started therapy a couple months ago. It's new. It's fresh. I'm not used to it. A hundred percent. To be honest. But I'm pushing myself too, because not only now, I'm going to leave my partner. Just thinking about leaving him makes me want to cry. Because he's been my rock. So just trying to get all the tools together. Because honey, I know it's going to hit. I know it's going to hit hard.

[18:09] Caleb Dicke: Was there any, with all of the work that people have been doing for inclusivity and equity and diversity, were there any things that the company has done with you all about that?

[18:15] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Yes. So Ham for Progress is kind of like a group of Hamilton cast members who decided to come together and kind of create awareness. So if that comes with programming, that comes with just highlighting different artists, different people in different communities, highlighting these people, people of color, BIPOC people who are doing things. And I think they're doing a really, really good job with that. And I'm hoping that it continues going. And I'm going to do everything I can with my company and with this platform to kind of push that. And I have to. We all have to. Because time's up on all of it.

[18:56] Caleb Dicke: Yeah. Work.

[18:58] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Honey. Work, work.

[19:00] Caleb Dicke: Well, as we always do in our episodes, Caleb is the question master. These are easy questions, but we're going back to school, honey. We're bringing it back. And let's think, you can pick high school, you can pick elementary, but these are back to school questions.

[19:18] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Okay, cool.

[19:19] Caleb Dicke: Okay. What item of clothing do you treat yourself to for your first day back?

[19:25] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: New outfit. Which is your favorite part? Sneakers.

[19:26] Caleb Dicke: Shoes. Sneakers. Yes. Oh my God. I'm going to buy a disgustingly expensive pair of Jordans. I already know where they're at.

[19:37] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Yes. Honey, the link is right there. The minute I get there, I'm like...

[19:44] Caleb Dicke: Well, honey, she's waiting for the paycheck. Did it go through?

[19:47] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Ah, that's me tapping everybody. Don't get the... Are you going to stay in an Airbnb or are you in a hotel?

[19:53] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: So what I decided to do was do a hotel for our first couple of days, because she wants to be a little bougie. She's high class. She's a little bougie, y'all. So I was like, I just want to be somewhere. I don't got to worry about anything. And then once we are deeper into rehearsals, I'm going to move to like a condo.

[20:11] Caleb Dicke: Great. Sunny.

[20:13] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Honey. A pool. I need a pool. She needs a view.

[20:19] Caleb Dicke: Okay. The most important school supply back in the day.

[20:20] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: The most important? Yes. I'm going to tell you which one is that. It's the four pen with the different inks. You have the four different colors. Your journals with like that kind of like black and white cover on it. You know, composition notebook. Yeah, composition. Thank you. Or multicolored highlighters. Which one's the best one? Most important. Come on. It's between the notebook and the pen. But I'm going to say the pen, because we can always like tape or staple something into the notebook later.

[20:50] Caleb Dicke: Okay, yeah. You have all the colors. What's the best crayon color name?

[20:57] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Crayon? Crayon? Which one? Crayon color name? Magenta?

[21:05] Caleb Dicke: Okay.

[21:06] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I don't. I don't remember the crazy names, to tell you the truth. Or the crayon. Because I've.

[21:10] Caleb Dicke: And Robinson Blue comes to mind.

[21:11] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Yeah. I would say like Tickle Me Pink or something.

[21:13] Caleb Dicke: Tickle Me Pink. Listen, guys. Back in the day, we only had the 12 pack. I never got. I never had the exclusive. I had like, I had like the three primary colors. And they were like, okay, guys, let's learn how to put them together. What hue is this? You know?

[21:26] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You didn't have like the sharpener on the back of the box?

[21:28] Caleb Dicke: Oh my god.

[21:29] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: No, we had a shiv.

[21:31] Caleb Dicke: Oh my god.

[21:34] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Okay. Did you pack your lunch or did you buy the hot lunch?

[21:39] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Actually, my mother always sent me to the deli in the morning. So that was like my thing. So while she was like in the shower getting ready, I would have to get ready first, call in my sandwich. I had to go down to the corner, pick it up, and then come back up and then she'd be ready.

[21:52] Caleb Dicke: That is like the most New York thing ever.

[21:54] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Yeah. Always a deli sandwich with like a can and then some chips.

[21:58] Caleb Dicke: Nice. Okay. Favorite class period.

[22:03] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Last period.

[22:06] Caleb Dicke: That was it.

[22:09] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Last, honey. I was like, what time is it? I need to go to rehearsal. I have to rehearse.

[22:16] Caleb Dicke: Best high school TV series.

[22:19] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Oh god, Vampire Diaries. I love Vampire Diaries. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know.

[22:26] Caleb Dicke: Okay. Last one. What advice would you give your younger self about going into the first day of school?

[22:34] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: I would tell little Pierre to just be himself. Be yourself. I just remember a lot of times first day of school, it always took me like a couple of days to kind of like loosen up. But just be yourself. Have fun. Pay attention. Okay. Pay attention and figure out how many books you have to read because you got to start now. That's what I would tell him.

[23:01] Caleb Dicke: Pierre, thank you so much for coming on. I am really excited to hear back from you in a couple weeks. It's going to be really cool.

[23:10] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: When she's in the midst of rehearsal. Honey, she's going to either have a voice or not. No, I think you have to have a voice. Have a voice. Give a voice.

[23:20] Caleb Dicke: Where can people follow you along on your journey?

[23:28] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: People can follow me at at Pierre Lito, P-I-E-R-R-L-I-T-O, Pierre Lito. And you can also follow my production company at Dominarican Prod. That's D-O-M-I-N-I-R-I-C-A-N-P-R-O-D. Dominarican Prod. I did that, guys. Amazing.

[23:46] Caleb Dicke: My eyes were closed. I was concentrating really hard.

[23:50] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Very, very impressed. My fiance would have been like, if you felt that. Yeah, on Instagram and yeah, just follow me.

[24:02] Caleb Dicke: Well, we can't wait to check back in with you again. Caleb, we haven't done this in a while.

[24:09] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: We haven't. Let's try it. Okay. You can find the podcast on Instagram at EquityOnePodcast and on Twitter at EquityOne underscore. Send us an email at EquityOnePodcast at Gmail.com. Elliot, where can we find you?

[24:22] Caleb Dicke: Hold on. Make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app and rate us five stars on the Apple Podcast app, please. Yes.

[24:36] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Caleb, where can people find you?

[24:40] Caleb Dicke: There it is. You can follow me at Caleb Dickey, C-A-L-E-B-D-I-C-K-E. Elliot, where can we find you?

[24:43] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: You can find me at Elliot Maddox on everything. And until next time, cheers.

[24:49] Caleb Dicke: Cheers. Ding.

[24:51] Pierre Jean Gonzalez: Oh my God. That was a struggle, but we made it. We made it. Through the socials.