Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Hey, everybody, and welcome to the worst advice I ever got.
I'm your host, Sean Taylor, along with my producer, JB. And today our guest is Johnny Snead. Johnny is an actor perhaps best known for his roles in fever Pitch, parks and recreation, criminal minds, and painkiller, just to name a few. Johnny's a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law and worked as a lawyer before developing a career in acting, kind of, but we'll let him get into that. Johnny, thanks so much for being here today.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: You bet, Sean. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:40] Speaker A: So, tell us, Johnny, what's the worst advice you ever got?
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Well, the worst advice I ever got was don't do that part. It's too small for you.
And that was an acting part in a movie. And my then manager, who I'm still friends with today, Karen. So, yeah, so it's funny. Here we are, we're on this podcast, the worst advice I ever got, and I've chosen this advice from my then manager about this part that I didn't take. It's not that this advice, when it's the worst advice, it sounds like so catastrophic, like my life has been ruined or. It's not that at all. It's just something. It has more to do with me, actually, than what the advice was. I mean, she was just saying, I think this part is too small for you. I think we can do bigger parts. And it was the fact that I believe that is what I look back on. And so it's not even that her advice was the worst. It's that my understanding of the advice.
[00:01:53] Speaker C: Was, okay, so the part is too small for you. How did you get to the place where you agreed with her? What's your background here?
[00:02:01] Speaker B: I had, you know, I went to law school and back in. I grew up in Mississippi, and I went to college in Austin, at Utah, in Texas, and I went to law school, Ole Miss. And then I practiced. I passed the bar and practiced law for about a year, but it just was not for me.
And I then took a job in Texas and Dallas, working for a finance company that was dealing with used car loans. It seems like it's just going downhill. Lawyer, basically used car salesman.
And I thought, okay, I got a. I got to do something else. And I was in Dallas, and I was watching auto rocket. It was the first movie that Wes Anderson did, and they were. They shot it in Dallas. And I thought, man, that looks so much more fun than what I'm doing right now. How do I do that? I had reached out to a lady who was writing about entertainment news and the Dallas Morning News.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: I.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: And said, you know, how would I get into acting? And she graciously took my call and then said, go here. Here's the place. You can take some classes. I mean, I give her so much credit just for taking the call from somebody she didn't know.
[00:03:19] Speaker C: Right.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: And so I took her advice and went to. That was good advice.
I took that, and that was good.
I met an agent there in. In Dallas and was able to do some commercials and tv stuff there. But my first actual job, I got, as you know, auditioning for something was actually, coincidentally, a promotion job for the Dallas morning news. It was. I had to drive around in this, like, 1956 Thunderbird. Every day I would be at a different location, and then Dallas Morning News would publish my picture next to the Thunderbird. Like, you can win this car. Follow the Dallas Morning News delivery guy. He'll be at these locations, and you could come sign up so that there's.
[00:04:03] Speaker C: People that remember that you did that. Like, I know you're the Dallas Morningstar and delivery guy.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Right? That's where he needs me. Yes.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: Right. That's me.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: I mean, I don't know if too many people remember it outside of my family, but. And the lady that won, they ended up winning the car.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: They'll never forget that as long as she lives.
It's interesting, you know, when you were first trying to get into acting, you probably wouldn't gotten that same advice that you got from, you know, the individual that gave it to you. Right.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: I was just auditioning for whatever I could, you know, commercials. I did a lot of little training videos and things like that.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: So that's cutting your teeth. Right. That's getting you sort of the chops you need to take the next step. So I look at this. Almost like a staircase you had to climb. Little jobs are really kind of big jobs in your mind, right? Right.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: Oh, huge. I mean, that's what's so funny.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: You think? I mean, I was so excited. I got. I got the part. The training video part. I'm so excited. Of course. It's like. I mean, that's the thing that's sort of odd, too, about this gig. I mean, it's one. You finish one, and then you have. Then it's over, and you have to go get another one. It's like you're not, like, just staying at one place and progressing.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Yeah. You're always applying for a new job. I've worked at one place, Johnny, for 30 years. It's never been on a job interview since college. And you literally are on a job interview after every gig, right?
[00:05:27] Speaker B: That's all I do. Yeah. And I always say it's passive rejection because you just basically just don't hear. You don't. It's not like they tell you no all the time. You just don't hear. You figure, well, I guess they were.
[00:05:38] Speaker C: Shows up on Netflix with somebody else in it. You're like, oh, I didn't get that one.
[00:05:41] Speaker B: Yes. I didn't get that one. Yeah. It's like I knew they were going to. They were starting to shoot today at ten. It's already ten. I guess I'm not going to do that.
[00:05:50] Speaker C: So how do you go from, you know, you're excited about getting the training video at GED headquarters to turning down roles in movies?
[00:05:59] Speaker B: I know I was able to get a commercial agent. I did a showcase out here in Los Angeles through people I did know from Dallas that had come out here. It's like a show with a bunch of different actors doing little short scenes. And then from that I met a commercial agent. And then through another showcase, I ended up meeting my manager, Karen. She agrees to take me on. She had been working for a manager as his assistant, but she was going out on her own and then was taking on some clients, but they worked with people like Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell and all these. A lot of comedians and a lot of comedy acts.
And so then there's me. I mean, she's just taking me on because she liked my showcase. And so I was able to get some work. I got some work on some tv shows called guest Star, and I got a part in a kids movie. Sleepover is what it was called, that produce. One of the producers who I'd become friends with, just talking to him on set, you know, was going on to do another movie.
And I believe the name was Pendulum and it had Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins. And he called Karen and asked if, you know, we have just a small one day par, you'd just be at a dinner scene with Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins and do you want to do it? And Karen, I think in the best spirit, thought this is not. It's just like one or two lines. You know, you've done some parts, you've been in a couple now, you've done two movies, and you've had some nice scenes. I think we should pass. This part is too small. Her advice sounded right to me at the time, you know, think bigger things. Seems kind of crazy, but. Okay. Yeah, okay, let's pass. And so I pass, and I have regretted it ever since.
[00:08:04] Speaker A: Was it fracture? Was that the movie? Was it fracture?
[00:08:07] Speaker B: Maybe fracture.
[00:08:08] Speaker A: I'm seeing that movie actually the one you're talking about, but you're getting advice from someone that's trying to coach you on how to maybe promote your brand, improve your brand as an individual, and they're in conflict with one another, is what she was basically saying. Right, right.
[00:08:25] Speaker B: And, I mean, I understood it, and I wanted to believe it at the time. And maybe if it were. Maybe if I were some bigger name at the time, perhaps doing one or two lines on a movie is maybe not necessary. But I think that no matter what, if that opportunity came to me now, I would say yes in a heartbeat. I would do it. Yeah. I have to just say please. And that's my only word I say in the line. Sure, I'll do it. I'll do it. One day of work.
[00:08:57] Speaker C: Come on.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: One day of work with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. I mean, it's just moronic. When I think back on it, it's like, I could have just. I mean, I could have just asked a question to Anthony or, you know, or Sir Anthony. Excuse me? You know, or Ryan.
[00:09:13] Speaker C: You know, you could have a smarty movie.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: I could have been.
[00:09:17] Speaker C: You know, I could have been a ken.
[00:09:18] Speaker B: I could have been a Ken. When I. Now, reflecting back on it, I think no one is tracking my career like I am, like my parents are.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: No, I like that.
[00:09:30] Speaker B: No one cares. No one cares if. Oh, they're not. I don't think anyone is gonna not hire me because they think, oh, well, look what he did.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: He.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: You know, he took that one day of work on with Anthony Hopkins, so he must really be desperate. I mean, you know, we don't need him in our movie.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: No one cares.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: No one cares.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: Can I dig in that a little bit? Because I think that's very interesting, Johnny. I think it. I take that, and I say, we're so wrapped up in the minutiae of what we're doing to get ahead, if you will.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: Right.
[00:10:03] Speaker A: And it's probably the things we're making a big deal. Probably aren't that big of a deal.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: Exactly. And look, I mean, would that one day of that on that movie have altered my life? I doubt it. I mean, it could have. Anthony Hopkins could be like, this man. This is. He's the next.
[00:10:23] Speaker C: It'd be like.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: Yeah, it'd be like the Coen brothers always wanted to work with John Goodman or whatever. Always.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: But realistically probably would not have changed anything. It's just that it would have been a nice experience, you know, and that's it. And I, that's what I regret, is just missing the day, missing the camaraderie and the experience of what I could have learned and what I could have heard, a story I could have heard or anything like that. That's what I regret, I think.
[00:10:52] Speaker C: So did you learn from it? Did you, have you done it since.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Well, I would say that I have learned from that. I have a much more easy going attitude about things, and if it seems like helping a director out or in a commercial or whatever it is, I'm more willing do things that I just don't think it matters. However, I did take some recent advice from my agents about a part on jury duty. So I would like to say I learned, but I sort of have made that mistake again with jury duty.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: You've been in well over 100 different tv shows, movies. Right.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: I mean, commercials and.
[00:11:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, so, so it's interesting that you picked the worst advice you ever got as this one instance. Right. Because, I mean, you, and you've been on things like parks and rec, friends, you know, painkillers, the, the recent miniseries that I think Peter berg. Yeah.
[00:11:53] Speaker B: He directed. Yeah, yeah.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: You played it, played a very important part in that. And so you've met some really influential leaders in both acting and production and directing. But this one sticks out in your mind. I'm curious.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: Well, I don't know why this one bit of advice sticks to. I think it's just, I recognize it as a sort of a misplaced.
I don't think it was arrogance, but it was like a little bit of thinking that maybe what I was doing was more important than I think it really was or something. I don't know if that makes sense. I just look back with regret in that it was, it didn't, it didn't. It doesn't make sense to me now.
[00:12:34] Speaker A: Looking back, that's exactly where I wanted to go with this, Johnny, is I kind of look at it from the standpoint of, of all of us trying to avoid making decisions that one day we wish we wouldn't have done. Right, in other words.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: You know, I mean, because those opportunities.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: Don'T always, they don't come around again. I mean, some of those.
[00:12:56] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, like fever pitch. You know what I mean? Like, what if you said no to that?
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Yes, there's a picture of me with a boss of Red Sox sweater, sweatshirt on instagram. That is my friend that was in LA. My friend Jeff brought that to me that had belonged to this great actor named Jack Kaler, who was in the movie Fever Pitch, and I was in that movie, and we had some scenes together. And Jackdaw, you may know from, if you're a big Lebowski fan like I am, he did that, that interpretive dance where he, where the dude and John Goodman every. There were like four people in the audience. And Jack Kaler was a wonderful actor. You know, he and I talked and he told me of, you know, well, I just took part because I wanted to work with Dennis Hopper or whoever it was. You know, I just wanted to spend the day with that, you know, and that sort of solidified my. I'm like, yes, see, that's the way to do it. That's Jack's the way to do it, you know?
[00:13:52] Speaker C: Well, do you think that. Yeah, maybe you should have listened to Jack. But do you think that Karen would be surprised that we're here talking about her giving you the worst advice you ever got on the podcast?
[00:14:03] Speaker B: She might be. Yes. I know Karen is still a great friend of mine, and it wasn't like that, that I'm angry about it or that I think it ruined something or. Yeah, not that at all. I just think back, I'm like, I should have just done that. That was just silly of me not to. Not to do that.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: Well, it's funny. The worst advice that you're referencing that you ever got didn't necessarily derail your career. It's really just, you look back with some regret on life experiences that you missed out on because you said no to something.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: I think that was the mistake. Is. Yeah, the lens was all about, is this, am I too big for this? And the answer now, I'll tell you, is I was not, and I still am not too big for that. But at the time, I thought, yes, you know, maybe this is too small. I'm moving forward, and I need to only do things that are bigger than what I just did. And that's just a mist. That was, that was my fault.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: You're the first person to really take full responsibility. Like, he really, like, she won't be mad when she hears the podcast now.
[00:15:06] Speaker B: She'll be like, oh, yeah.
[00:15:07] Speaker C: He said, what's my. She's like, look, it wasn't my fault. You're like, no. He said, I told him it wasn't my fault.
[00:15:13] Speaker B: No, I could. I mean, that's the thing is, I.
[00:15:15] Speaker C: Didn'T need to listen.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: I didn't have to listen. She wasn't, it wasn't like a. It was a mutual decision. I mean, you know, she just was offering her advice since, you know, I could have said yes. I mean, she's my manager. She works for me. You know, that's a good point.
So. Yeah, it's all on me. It's all my, it's my fault.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: This has to be common in your profession, though. And people say no to things based upon the concept of what works for them and their brand and what they're trying to build versus the experience. So you're not alone in this, are you?
[00:15:49] Speaker B: I'm sure. I know, and I think. I think I've seen some other actors say I wish I. Same thing. Like, I said no to the godfather or whatever. It's like, whatever it was.
Yeah. I'm sure I'm not alone in that respect. Yeah.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: When opportunity comes, how do you, Johnny, look at it and say, this is the right decision to make?
[00:16:10] Speaker B: Boy, that's. Isn't that, isn't that the crux of it right there? I mean, I think it's your instinct and your gut and your heart.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: Obviously.
[00:16:22] Speaker C: You'Re on parks and rec, and it's like when Aziz Ansari and John Raphael are just like, oh, we said no to everybody right away to seem really important and busy, and so then it's like, oh, no, and now nobody's calling us.
[00:16:34] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Go the other way.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: I think. There's no one perfect answer is the point. Right. And we're going to use our experience, our value system, our isms, whatever our isms are, to make a decision on whether to take that job or to volunteer at that place or to invest in our time. And. And sometimes it'll be quote unquote good, and sometimes it'll be bad.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: And then you realize that, I mean, you can take advantage of. It's still your decision. I mean, you know, you'll get a lot of advice from different people throughout your life. You know, people are always saying, well, you ought to do this, but, you know, you still have to listen to your, your instincts. What, what you, what you feel is, is right.
[00:17:16] Speaker C: And one thing we think about a lot after doing, you know, a handful of episodes of this is, is all advice bad plus that's just giving to you.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:17:25] Speaker C: Like, is there any good advice? Because inherently bad. I don't know. Maybe.
[00:17:31] Speaker B: Right. And here I. Here we are trying to give advice to listeners about advice.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm just trying to tell them, look, everybody's gotten bad advice and how it affects you is something. Look, you learned a ton from this, right? Yeah.
[00:17:46] Speaker B: Oh, definitely.
[00:17:47] Speaker A: And probably, I'm sure young actors and actresses have sought your advice on, well, how did you do this? Or what do you think about that? This impacted it, right?
[00:17:57] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:17:59] Speaker C: If we can get their names, we could see if maybe they want to come on the podcast, talk about you.
[00:18:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:04] Speaker C: Johnny actually told me he gave some terrible advice.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: Terrible.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Johnny, when you look ahead to the. To your family and advising, I know you have a son, right?
[00:18:18] Speaker B: Six year old.
[00:18:19] Speaker A: How does this experience or other experiences, you know, mold the way that you. That you try to try to advise him as he grows up?
[00:18:27] Speaker B: I want to try to listen. I'm going to try to listen to him, what he's saying and not be so quick to say, well, this is what, you know, you ought to do. But I, you know, I want to try to encourage him to get experience and. And try things that out that even if they're challenging to him, you know, if he doesn't feel comfortable to try them out. And we're doing that with, you know, little activities, you know, we can see him not wanting to do something at first, and then he tries it, and then he feels really good after he's tried it, you know, just to be encouraging.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: Well, Johnny, I have to say, for someone that said no to a part with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling to say yes to a podcast with Sean Taylor and JB, I feel completely elevated. Now, JB, like, this is historic moment of my life. Someone said no to Sir Anthony Hopkins and said yes to me.
[00:19:27] Speaker B: How about that? Right?
[00:19:28] Speaker A: You see, I can't thank you enough, Johnny, for joining us. Just the perspective that our listeners are going to get from hearing the worst advice you ever got and how it impacted you is just a great, great thing for them to hear. And so your generosity in sharing your story today is just terrific. So thank you so much for joining.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: My pleasure.
I'm amazed that you would even be interested to hear what I, to say about it, but thank you.
[00:20:00] Speaker A: Thanks again, Johnny.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Thank you. Thanks for having me, JB.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: Johnny is such a nice guy. That was entertaining to get into.
[00:20:06] Speaker C: That was a fun one.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: Friendly, friendly, fun.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: Talking to somebody who's had a great career, has worked with great actors and actresses.
Just, it really wasn't anything more than just regret for a missed opportunity, which.
[00:20:20] Speaker C: I find it wasn't even that one opportunity to, you know, he. He said no to other things. You know, he. He didn't end up being on jury duty, and he had other regrets in his life. I think it was more why he didn't do it was the. Was the big issue is that I'm too big for this. I'm too important, and I'm not going to do it because this isn't going to be good for making me a big movie star. And it's like, just do the one day, man.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: Yeah. In the moment, he thought it was critical. He thought it was important, and he sees that he wasn't as important as he thought he was. Just like, none of us are in the moment. Right?
[00:20:53] Speaker C: Sure. And they, to his credit, too, he's one of the first people that really took full responsibility for this advice. He was like, listen, I didn't. This is my employee. Didn't need to listen to her. I just did. You've heard that before. We've heard people say, oh, trust yourself, trust yourself, trust yourself. But I don't know if we've ever heard people do the secondary. And also, it was my fault for listening to this advice to begin with.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: Such a good guy. He reminded me in our first season a little bit of Chris Cleveland, who said, look, I'm the one that gave the worst advice. Uh, nobody gave me worst advice. And he reminded me a little bit of Danny Werfel, because Danny, don't. Don't say yes to every opportunity. And here was one where he wished he had said yes to this opportunity. So it's funny how there can be such a fine line between the worst advice and a great opportunity.
[00:21:38] Speaker B: For example.
[00:21:38] Speaker C: Sure. And it doesn't have to be the worst thing. That's one thing we say to our guests, you know, when we're talking to them about being a potential guest on the show. Oh, I don't have anything that, like, ruined my life or what. It doesn't need to be. It can just be a kind of an interesting story or something that really stands out in your mind. You know, he. He went back and forth in this. He's like, I don't know why. Just when you guys asked to put me on this podcast, the worst advice I ever got, this just really stuck out.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: And the person he got this advice from remains a great friend today. So the worst advice doesn't have to come from someone who becomes your mortal enemy. It can literally be your. Your spouse or your good friends.
[00:22:12] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:22:13] Speaker A: Well, if you enjoyed listening to our episode here with Johnny, you should also check out a lot of his other work. And if you haven't listened to all of our episodes, look us up where you listen to your podcasts and and go back and listen to some of the episodes you haven't heard yet. Or if you listen to all of them when you're a faithful listener. The good news is we'll drop another episode next Friday of the worst advice I ever got.
