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[0:01] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:08] Robert Bannon: Well, welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World, the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart, Spotify, wherever artists are talking about art. She's in art. I don't know. She's a lot of things. Our guest today, everybody, she may have lived a few lives already. She has served this country. She is an actor. She's behind the camera. She's practicing her MMA fighting. She has been all sorts of things and proof that you can change your life, make new chapters and open up a whole new adventure after doing something. I always say the best is yet to come. And for Ruby, it sure has. She has a film that we all need to be checking out. I can't believe she would.

How did she survive the Marines? And how did she survive show business? They might have a lot in common at the end of the day. And we're going to talk about a brand new project that she has, and we're excited to talk about it. Ruby Garnet, welcome to The Roundtable.

[1:05] Ruby Garnet: Thank you. Hello.

[1:06] Robert Bannon: You are from, let me check my notes to see if I'm right, Ohio.

[1:12] Ruby Garnet: Okay. That is correct. Yes.

[1:16] Robert Bannon: So you went to Ohio and you did model and act as a kid.

[1:20] Ruby Garnet: I did. Yes.

[1:22] Robert Bannon: So then when you're a kid and you're modeling and acting, how does modeling and acting lead you to, and doing theater in high school and all of the things that you've done, lead you to the Marine Corps?

[1:31] Ruby Garnet: Well, I loved theater. Growing up, that's what I wanted to do. And I grew up pretty humble, so a pretty large family. And when I completed the Overture Awards in Cincinnati, I had made it to the finals. The finals took place when I was in bootcamp. I graduated high school early, but I felt like the Marine Corps was a lot less scary than going to college for theater. And growing up pretty humble, going to bootcamp was so much fun. And it was kind of like a vacation because I was working my butt off in high school, waitressing, going to, sometimes I wouldn't get home until about 2 a.m. And my last two years in high school, we didn't have running water and electricity. And it was really hard. And so going to bootcamp, it was so low stress. It was amazing. I got to go to bed by 9 o'clock every night. I didn't have to go to the laundromat. It was like the showers were right there. It was pretty amazing. So when I went to bootcamp, it was just, it was easy. It was great.

[3:10] Robert Bannon: When you look back at the, you know, you're starring in a movie, like a real movie, everybody, and the movie is called Dogwood. Do you look back to that kid and all the struggles you went through? It must be, how does it make you feel to look back when you tell that story and see how far you've come and the journey you've had to face?

[3:29] Ruby Garnet: Yeah, it used to be embarrassing for me. And I used to never want to tell anybody about those things. But now I wear it like a badge of honor. And I want to show people that you can do whatever you want. You really can. You can make something out of absolutely nothing. In America, you can. And I just, I want people to be inspired and just go out and do it. A lot of people, and I kind of held myself back from, you know, going to theater school. But I wouldn't be who I am now had I not gone through the journey that I did go through. Even growing up, I mean, I had an amazing childhood, you know, regardless of the little, you know, bumps or highs and lows. But I've learned so much about myself and what I'm capable of.

And being in, like you said earlier, the military and the entertainment industry, they're parallel. I mean, in order to be successful in both, you have to know who you are, you have to be thick skinned, you have to be able to love the misery in order to get through it. And if you can't do that, you need to stay away from both.

[5:01] Ruby Garnet: It's not for you. It is not easy. And you have to have so much initiative and just do your own thing. And when something doesn't work, you pivot. You just got to keep pivoting until you get around all those roadblocks to get to where you want to go.

[5:20] Robert Bannon: You have to be a tough cookie. And you're a tough cookie because not only were you in the Marines, you were active duty eight years, deployed to Iraq. And then when you were done with that as a vacation, you decided to be a federal intelligence officer. So you are no stranger to some tough situations.

[5:40] Ruby Garnet: Yeah. And I do feel like I've lived a thousand lives, but at the same time, I feel like everything was just yesterday.

[5:51] Robert Bannon: So I get that too. I get that too. So this should not be a controversial question. There's a very—the United States is an interesting place. It's a unique place. It's divided at times. It's a crazy time to be here, no matter how people feel or how people affiliate themselves with politics. Universally, what has working for the military and working for the government taught you about what makes America America?

[6:20] Ruby Garnet: It's all about the people.

[6:23] Ruby Garnet: So there are good people and there are bad people. And everything is a relationship. And everything is about having a good relationship with the people, regardless of differences or commonalities. It doesn't matter.

[6:45] Ruby Garnet: One of the things that—I grew up and I wasn't very pretty growing up. I wasn't. No, I'm not fishing. I'm totally serious.

[6:58] Robert Bannon: No, but okay. I'm going to let you go. Go ahead.

[7:01] Ruby Garnet: I definitely peaked probably in my 20s and maybe in my 30s. I was not a cute girl growing up. I wasn't. So when I was in the Marine Corps, and I mean, there's highs and lows in the Marine Corps. It was the best of times and the worst of times. And I had just left Okinawa. I went to Okinawa right after 9-11. So I was in Okinawa in 2002. And I picked up Sergeant, which is E5, in Okinawa. Okinawa, I lat moved from my old MOS, which was communications. I was a radio operator. When I first joined the Marine Corps, I wanted to be an O3. I wanted to be an infantry person. And I am a total old school feminist. I am women can do absolutely anything that they want to do, but they have to work for it. You can't just get it because you're a girl.

And it's just like that for anybody. You have to work your butt off for it. So if I want to be able to do what a guy can do, I need to work as hard as he is, and vice versa. Because there are guys that are below average. There's girls that are below average. Both can be above average, but you have to work for it. So I was always the person that was like, I'm going to be an infantryman and I want to do this and I want to do that. And of course, back then you couldn't unless you were a guy. So I was a radio operator. That's what I wanted to do, so that I could be a ground person with a radio. So like we always did hikes and all sorts of stuff. So that was as close as I could get to be an infantry person or an infantryman.

[9:57] Ruby Garnet: Anyways, so I decided that, hey, this isn't that much fun anymore. So I lat moved to Intel. And that was kind of my end to after getting out of the Marine Corps, going into intelligence service in the government. So in Okinawa, I lat moved to Intel and then I went to my intelligence school. It's at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas. While I was there, and I rub people the wrong way a lot. They, you know, I like have this resting bee face. People always think, you know, different, whatever. So I'm in Intel school and the one of my instructors, he did not like me. He did not like me. And I probably had a chip on my shoulder and all sorts of stuff. So my thing is like, I'm gonna outperform you no matter what.

And a lot of people, they take that the wrong way. You know, like, oh, this chick has an ego, this and that. But in the way that I grew up is you always had to perform at a high level or you couldn't get anything. That's how I grew up. But as I started getting older, I started.

[10:54] Ruby Garnet: I made a few phone calls. My ex-husband made a few phone calls and his first sergeant made sure that my orders got changed to where I would be close to my husband. But it's constantly that thing. People take one look at me and they're like, oh, you've always gotten everything you ever wanted because I'm a pretty girl and I take good care of myself. But what people don't see is the 18 years growing up to, you know, working my butt off and trying to prove myself all the time, regardless if it was in my head or if it was something that I actually had to do. But, you know, it's like I'm going to find a way to make sure that I take care of myself. But one thing that I've always learned is you've got to help other people, too. Because just because I went through a lot of things like that doesn't mean everybody should have to deal with all of that same nonsense, you know?

[12:24] Robert Bannon: Yeah, that's beautiful. Absolutely. And that struggle is what makes you probably a great actor and makes you survive sets and this business and also just being able to share humanity, which is the job of an actor, is to show human beings in different circumstances. You made the decision at some point, I'm assuming, which must have been scary or a huge change to go back to art and acting. When did you make it and tell us about why?

[12:53] Ruby Garnet: So I got out of the Marine Corps in 07. I started my federal service in 08 as a federal employee and I worked a lot of missions. I worked in a special programs office when I was an intelligence officer. And I just hated it. I did not like it at all from the beginning. It was just a lot of... I was good at it and I did a good job, but I just didn't like it. In 2010, my third child was born. And for a while, for several years, I was a single mom. And their dad has always been in the picture and always helped out in those things. But he was active duty until 2020. So he was gone a lot, no matter what. So it was just me and the boys. And then I met my husband and he has always been 100% supportive.

So I'm just like, look, I hate this, but I have a lot of debt. So I need to pay all this off. So in 2012, I did a five-year plan to figure out how I was going to, one, pay off all my debt and then get out of the civil service and do what I wanted to do. I first started doing... I went to personal training school and I became a personal trainer. And I love fitness and I love competing and I love doing all of those things. But I realized I don't like training people. So that took me back into fitness modeling and runway. And then from there, I was like, oh my gosh, I would much rather get back into acting because that was really what I liked more. So from fitness modeling and runway, I went back into film and television. And I started doing that full time in 2018.

[15:07] Robert Bannon: It's incredible. And just kind of co-writing, producing and starring in Dogwood, which is... So where did the idea come from? How did you find this story? And why is 2026 the time for us to go back and hear this story?

[15:24] Ruby Garnet: So my sister, my younger sister loves Westerns. So when the pandemic happened, my husband and I, we had a discussion about, okay, what do I do now? How do I pivot? And I started writing and making short films. And no one was really working unless you were preparing and creating things yourself. So I started doing those. And my sister, she's awesome. My younger sister, she's like, have you ever thought of a Western? All of these shows that she was watching, she's like, you should write a Western. So I'm like, okay, that's expensive. And are you going to help me out with the budget? She's just like, no, I'm just telling you to do it. That's my contribution. So I started writing in 2021. And it just started morphing into what it is right, or what it was before we started filming, we were going to start, we were going to film in 2022, in the summer of 2022.

And everything just fell apart at the like two weeks before we started filming. So I canceled postponed. And then my friend who plays Rose in the film, and is one of the producers, Amy, she's like, hey, are we ever going to do this? And I said, Well, if I if we do do it, I want it to be better. So I started writing again, started cleaning things up. And then I got it to 55. It was at 55 pages that I liked, she helped me get it to 69 pages. And then we started looking for a director. And that was in May or January to March, January to March of 24 was when we started doing all of that. And then we settled on Renee, Diana Renee in May of 2024. And Diana helped write a little bit more and clean things up.

And then and then we started hiring the rest of the cast and crew. And we did principal photography in August and it was a lot it was a lot. So Eric Roberts role, we he was the third person that we had cast for that role. And I mean, we were really happy with Eric and and it was really easy to work with him and Eliza, his wife, who's his manager, and then his agent, Peter, it was so awesome. It was so easy. When the second Daniel Manlius dropped out, I was like, What are we going to do? This is the exact same thing that happened in 2022. I don't want to cancel it again. We already had, you know, we had sunk so much money into everything. I was like, No, we we have to figure it out. I went on IMDb Pro called Peter.

And 12 hours later, they were calling me back. It was meant to be so it was. So the story to answer your first question, my apologies. I everything that I write, I try and get me behind most of the characters. So I thought about what would it be like for someone like me in the 1860s. And and I just started going from there. And I wanted it to be like a realistic Western. I wanted it to. I wanted it to be what I remembered watching growing up. And and that's kind of what I stuck to there. There is a fight scene. There's a few other scenes. I didn't want it to be over the top and unbelievable. You know, this this mom from the 1860s isn't going to know how to fight. She probably knows how to shoot a gun, but doesn't really know how to fight.

So I wanted it to be as realistic as possible. And so, you know, writing a few veteran stories into the film, some of those I'm not sure if they're conveyed as well as I would have liked to. Some of the footage we couldn't use some things we had to reshoot. But but every character or almost every character has a little bit of me from today in in their personalities. And I'm hoping that that can come through a little bit when when people watch the film. But it was it was a lot of fun. It was, you know, there were some very difficult times as there are when you're writing a writing and then producing a film. It's it was my that was my first feature film and it was so much more than I anticipated it would be.

[20:48] Ruby Garnet: I'm so excited to be here, Robert! Thank you for having me.

[21:18] Robert Bannon: Of course! I mean, you have so much going on. You're not just an actress; you're a writer, producer, director, and a Marine veteran. How do you juggle all of that?

[21:38] Ruby Garnet: It's definitely a balancing act! I think it all comes down to passion and dedication. Each role I take on feeds into the other, and I love storytelling in all its forms.

[21:58] Robert Bannon: That's amazing. And speaking of storytelling, let's talk about your new film, "Dogwood." What inspired you to create this Western?

[22:18] Ruby Garnet: "Dogwood" is really close to my heart. I wanted to tell a story about resilience and the strength of women, especially in a historical context. The character I play, Harriet Beckwith, is a widowed mother fighting for her family's future after the Civil War, which is such a powerful narrative.

[22:38] Robert Bannon: It sounds like a compelling story. What was it like stepping behind the camera as well as in front of it?

[22:58] Ruby Garnet: It was a wild ride! Being behind the camera gave me a whole new perspective on filmmaking. I had to think about the story from different angles, not just my character's. It was challenging but incredibly rewarding.

[23:18] Robert Bannon: I can only imagine! And you also worked with some notable actors like Eric Roberts and James Storm. What was that experience like?

[23:38] Ruby Garnet: Working with them was a dream come true. They brought so much experience and depth to the project. I learned a lot just by watching them work and interacting with them on set.

[23:58] Robert Bannon: That's fantastic! And as a Marine veteran, how has your military background influenced your approach to filmmaking?

[24:18] Ruby Garnet: My time in the Marines taught me discipline and resilience, which are crucial in this industry. It also instilled in me a sense of duty to tell stories that matter and to represent voices that often go unheard.

[24:38] Robert Bannon: That's such an important perspective. It's great to see you using your platform to tell those stories. What do you hope audiences take away from "Dogwood"?

[24:58] Ruby Garnet: I hope they see the strength in vulnerability and the importance of fighting for what you believe in. It's a story about hope and perseverance, and I think that's something everyone can relate to.

[25:18] Robert Bannon: Absolutely! And what’s next for you after "Dogwood"?

[25:28] Ruby Garnet: I have a few projects in the pipeline, both in front of and behind the camera. I'm excited to keep pushing boundaries and exploring new stories.

[25:38] Robert Bannon: That's exciting! I can't wait to see what you do next. Thank you so much for joining me today, Ruby.

[25:58] Ruby Garnet: Thank you for having me, Robert! It's been a pleasure.