Alex Diehl

[00:00:00] Welcome to Season 8 of The Big Sci-Fi Podcast with Adina, Brian, Chris and Steve. The biggest sci-fi podcast in the galaxy. We love talking all things science fiction from film, television and literature. Join our crew and find a seat quickly because we're blasting into a universe filled with adventure and fun. All hailing frequencies are open for this week's episode of The Big Sci-Fi Podcast.

[00:00:29] Hey, welcome back listeners of The Big Sci-Fi Podcast. So Steve and I are sitting here and we are all excited for Trek Long Island because at Trek Long Island we get to meet a whole bunch of people that we don't know yet. And that's one of the reasons that today we are welcoming Alex Diehl to the podcast. He's going to be a guest at Trek Long Island and I can't wait to talk to him because he has proved that you can go from ballet to Borg. And originally I wrote that as part of my intro because I like alliteration,

[00:00:59] but technically you didn't play a Borg, you played a synth. Not the same thing. Slightly different. Right. Very different. But I couldn't find another. I could not. I was killing my brain to find some other word that like went from ballet to that. And that's fascinating. I can't wait till we can talk about some of that because I think you are the first practitioner of ballet we've had on the show. Well, thank you guys so much for having me. And yes, I'm so excited for Trek Long Island this year. It's going to be my first year there.

[00:01:29] So yeah, I can't wait. I couldn't see John Billingsley in the tutu. I couldn't see him doing ballet. No. So that's not fine. Yeah. Well, so tell us a little bit about your background because I mean, you've got you've done so many things, stage, screen, again, ballet and yoga, and you have a yoga app. I mean, there's got to be a thread through there, but maybe not. So what all?

[00:01:56] Yeah, I think it's kind of just being very curious. Ever since I was a kid, I was always very interested in art and I spent a lot of time alone as a kid. My mom would say that in my room, I would set up different stations. So I'd have like, okay, this is the painting station. Then this is the reading station. Then this is the music station. So I think even from a very young age, I was just interested in a lot of different arts. And so, yes, I have lived a bunch of different lives.

[00:02:25] I did start out in visual arts. I was very into that. Then I got into creative writing. Then I ended up leaving my high school early to go to a boarding school specifically focused on acting called Interlochen Arts Academy. And then through that, I had to take a musical theater dance elective. So I ended up getting into dance, which I dabbled into a little when I was younger, but I didn't really take it too seriously.

[00:02:53] And from there, basically, they were like, you have an insane natural flexibility. We should really get you into some ballet classes. So that took me off the acting path for a second into ballet. And luckily, being a boy, they're always desperate for boys. So I was able to kind of jump through a couple steps. And I did end up actually dancing professionally in a company for a while right after college. But then I got a small injury, and it wasn't enough to end my career, but I had to take a small pause.

[00:03:23] And I gave myself time to reflect. And I realized ballet is kind of all or nothing, at least in my case it was. So that sent me back into acting. But now I'm getting into writing again, too. So I don't know. I'm kind of all over the place. And yoga also came out of that rehab from the ballet injury. And I feel like that was a really good balance. Now I'm based in Madrid. I'm still back and forth a lot with LA and New York.

[00:03:49] But when I was living full time in LA, that was a good balance. Because there's so little stability in the acting world. It's always like all or nothing, up or down, everything at once or nothing at all. So yoga was a great way to kind of find my own center throughout all of that. That's interesting. And gosh, I can't. I want to go in all directions at once. I know. I'm sorry.

[00:04:18] No, it's great. It's great. Well, the funny thing is that's when you when you mentioned like having different stations, I feel like that's what I have in my house right now. Because I do have where I do painting and some arts and crafts. I do have where I have exercise. I do have where I do music. And so I resonate with that and having all these different things that you can kind of like focus in on here and focus it on there. Yeah. Yeah, I think a lot of times people, I mean, and it's natural.

[00:04:46] Some people end up shifting towards one single thing and focusing a lot of energy on that. But I think it's also really valuable to try your hand at a lot of different stuff. You don't have to be a professional at every single thing you do. But it's really cool to like try out different things. And, you know, I'm never going to go back to being a professional dancer on the level I was. But that's something I'll always carry with me. And I actually was super helpful while I was playing the synth characters because I was

[00:05:13] able to really go to that kind of neutral physical space. So that, you know, it always helps, I think. So good for you for supporting all that creativity. So, yeah, let's talk about the synths. And it's hard for me to say that word on Star Trek Picard. How did you get involved there and how aware were you of Star Trek before?

[00:05:37] So I was quite aware of Star Trek because it's kind of the thing that was always on in the background when I was growing up. To be completely honest, it's one of those things that when your parents are so into it, you kind of like ignore for a long time. So I was like, oh, Star Trek, whatever. But my grandparents were super into it. My parents were into it. My mom is Spanish, which is why I ended up in Spain. Thank you.

[00:06:03] But it's one of the shows that ended up being brought out there and was dubbed into Spanish. So that was one of the few culturally connecting TV shows that my mom and my dad had in common when he met her. Oh, nice. And specifically really interesting, my grandpa, whenever he would have like a moral dilemma, he would have a couple characters that would appear in his mind to kind of be like, help talk him through the situation.

[00:06:29] And one of those was data, which of course, my synths are not exactly data. But if you go down deep into the lore, you know, it would be maybe considered like a much more primitive version of the programming that would later lead into data like synths. So I feel like it all kind of came around full circle in that way.

[00:06:52] And the way that I got into Picard, I actually had no idea I was auditioning for it at the beginning. It was initially called, you know, they always put code names on these things. So I think it was called Royal Flush at the time. That's a stretch. Yeah, it was very weird. It was Royal Flush. And then they had a second code name that they switched it to. But it was literally, or go ahead. What were you going to say?

[00:07:21] I was going to say the best code name is one that makes no sense. Because if you're really trying to obscure and hide something, then you don't want a code name that anyone could potentially figure out, you know? Exactly. Yeah. You're not going to name it Earl Grey, you know? You're not. No. Right. Earl Grey, huh? Exactly. So it was weird because I definitely do not consider myself a model at all.

[00:07:45] But I randomly lucked into a modeling job for the 50th anniversary of the Star Trek original series. Okay. They did a partnership with Mac Cosmetics. And in that, I was modeling, quote unquote, I don't consider myself a model, but I was playing the role of data. So they basically would use me and they'd show how they apply all the makeup and they would do all this stuff. And I would kind of have to lightly do a little bit of character work.

[00:08:12] So I was, you know, I'd done some more research in how to replicate that type of thing. And that happened maybe a year before I got this audition. And all I knew was it was a quote unquote Android. They didn't even use the word synth, I think, because maybe that would give stuff away. And I was like, well, you know, I just did this stuff kind of using the physicality of data. I don't know what this project is, but why don't I go into it kind of using that as my inspiration?

[00:08:39] And then I did one audition. A couple months went by. I didn't hear anything. And then they bring me in again for the same audition and they have like sign in sheets a lot of times. And I noticed, you know, you're always overthinking these things as an actor. So I noticed I was the only person there for a callback. Everyone else was there for their first audition, which maybe some people would be like, oh, great. I'm already like one step through. But I was thinking, oh, no, they hated everyone from the first time. And they're going to bring me back to give me a second chance.

[00:09:10] I'm probably totally off the mark, but I don't know what other direction to go. So I'll just keep going even further in this direction. And as soon as I got into the room, they were like, we absolutely loved what you did in the first round. We just want to make this one little tweak. And then we did that one tweak. I left. Again, I thought they're going to go with one of these other people who haven't even gotten around the callbacks. And by then, I still didn't know it was Star Trek, but I was kind of like, you could feel

[00:09:37] that it was either Star Trek or something akin, like something really a big deal, a big franchise. So again, I was like, there's no way this is going to happen. And then one day they called and they were like, you got it. And I still didn't know what it was. It was still called Royal Flush. I actually found out from the contact lens fitting because I had to go get contact lenses to get those yellow eyes. And the girl there, I'd already had like a prosthetics fitting because they weren't sure

[00:10:04] how they wanted to characterize this synth. So they were playing around with like maybe giving me some completely different physical thing. But I think based on my performance that was inspired by data, they ended up going the route that they did. But once, so I'd already had prosthetics. I'd already met with costume people, but everyone was not saying what this project was until the contact lens woman was like, by the way, you know, this is Star Trek, right?

[00:10:33] And I was like, oh my God, I didn't believe it. I thought it was, I wasn't sure. Wow. Oh my gosh. That's amazing. So really, I mean, there was no script. There was no details. There was nothing given to you. And if this woman who did the contact lens had not whispered in your ear, it's Star Trek. If they had not done that, when do you think you would have learned what you were doing,

[00:10:59] what you were playing a role for, what the series was, and who you were going to be acting with and alongside? You know, so for the first season, when I came back for the second season, obviously then it was not a mystery anymore. And then I had scenes with Picard, with Patrick Stewart. But in the first season, it's still on the call sheet when I went to set said, I want to say it

[00:11:25] was Royal Flush still, but I think they changed the name again, but it was still a code name. And on that, since I'm just in the flashback with the Mars space station, I was like the quote unquote main actor for the day. None of the cast was there. So I still didn't know who was number one on the call sheet. If people aren't, listeners aren't familiar with what that means, like number one on the call sheet would be the star of the movie. And then two, three, four, it would go down and descending order of importance.

[00:11:53] So all that information is kind of blacked out for people who are coming in for a day who are not like major important stuff. So I thought I'm clearly in some flashback or some alternate world or something. I don't even know how relevant this is to anything. I might totally just get cut out of this project. And then little did I know once episode two of season one comes out, which is the one I'm going to do with the movie.

[00:12:20] It kind of is what a lot of the season is pivoting around is this whole thing of why synthetic life has been outlawed and why Picard is, you know, trying to undo that ban. So I had no idea that it was going to be this show if that woman hadn't whispered in my ear. But even until the moment I saw it actually air, I had no idea that it would be important at all to the story. That's amazing. Like filler stuff. Right.

[00:12:49] And it's amazing to think that you could have if she hadn't said something to you, you could have filmed your part without knowing it was Star Trek at all. That's wild. That is completely that's totally wild. So what did your family think when you told them? Oh, my God. In the clouds in heaven. Oh, my gosh. The biggest thing they now always say is like, he's a real actor. He was in Star Trek. That's what it took.

[00:13:19] Yeah. So now I think they finally take me seriously. But no, they were so amazed. And like I said, this not Star Trek Picard, but the next generation was crucial to a lot of my family. So it really was like a full circle moment of, you know, my dad is a trademark lawyer and my mom is a scientist.

[00:13:44] So it was a big gamble for me to go into acting and dance and yoga and all this stuff. And of course, they were very I'm so lucky to have extremely supportive parents. That's wonderful. But I'm sure scary for them to be like, this is such a different career path. So I think they were not only ecstatic and over the moon, but also it helped like give them a little sense of peace of like, this is not a terrible decision that our son has made.

[00:14:12] But it just seems like for your parents, everything that you were working towards in your life, dance, creativity, artwork, all of this was now being channeled into this one thing that you're doing, which is something they love, which is Star Trek, and you're a part of it. I mean, how could they not be just so ecstatic and supportive of you?

[00:14:39] Because you're like, you know, what the six degrees from Patrick Stewart, you know? No, no, one degree. Or now actually one degree at this point. As of the second season. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great way to put it. I had all kind of synthesized, synthesized. Oh, very good. We see what you did there. Yeah. See, there's that creativity coming out. Absolutely. Was it intimidating to work with Patrick Stewart? Or how did that go?

[00:15:09] I was definitely very intimidated when I first met him. But sets are so slow, especially these bigger budget things. So we would maybe do one walkthrough of all this stuff. And then we'd pause for 45 minutes while they're changing lighting and changing stuff. And the standards would go and stand there. And we would just be sitting next to each other. Because it's not... We were shooting out in Santa Clarita studios. So that...

[00:15:39] The studio is, like, quite large. So the trailers were on the opposite side of the lot from the soundstage. So it didn't make sense a lot of times for us to go all the way back to the trailer. So we'd just be sitting on those typical director chairs, like, you know, kind of in a corner. And for a couple scenes, it was just me and him. So there's no other actors sitting there waiting. So it very quickly became the type of situation where we were just chatting and, you know, catching each other up. And I was not in that many scenes.

[00:16:08] But I was there for a while. I was there for at least 10 days shooting, all in all, especially because we had some COVID scares. And we stopped partway through and then we started again. And then everything went way slower when COVID was going on. So we just had a lot of downtime to chat. And what I love about him is that he is very much an actor's actor. There's a lot of actors who have his level of success.

[00:16:39] And the last thing they want to do is talk about the craft of acting. Oh, God, so boring, whatever. But he was so down to talk about the difference between stage and screen, how there were certain actors who when he was shooting season one, he was like, I don't think you're hitting the nail on the head. But then he watched it and he was like, oh, my God, now I see what she was doing.

[00:17:05] And it was just really he really got down on just like a down to earth, human to human level right away, which that put me way at ease. By the time we shot the first take, the actual first take, we'd already been chatting for a couple hours. So I felt very comfortable then. Then again, it was also a whole different thing of like, I'm actually acting with him now. Oh, my God. Whoa. So I had a better experience with him. It was so fun.

[00:17:33] I've heard some actors describe that when they are getting into their headspace of the character, you know, they don't want to be disturbed. They can't be brought out of that. So I'm trying to imagine. So the character that you're playing, though, given it's not human, that is very different from them having that chatty conversation. Was is it hard to then make the switch when they say, OK, you guys got to stop talking. We got to get on with this. Or did you find that? How did you find that? Eventually, I found the good balance.

[00:18:03] I feel bad because at first the first day of season two, I don't know what or when I was shooting season two, I don't know what I changed with something about my skin care or maybe it was just natural changes or the time of year or something. The makeup was setting differently. So they were very James McKinnon, the makeup artist, was like, gesticulate as little as you can and make as few facial expressions as you can.

[00:18:31] So people like important producers were coming up to me at times and be like, hi, so nice to meet you. I'm so and so. And I'm like trying to not smile. And I'm like, yes, thank you. So I just felt so I'm like, they must think I'm so rude. But I like to say, like, hi, so nice to meet you, because that's also so weird to say without smiling. So there was literally one time. Oh, my God, I felt so bad.

[00:18:59] Michael Chabon came up and I literally said he was like, hi, Michael Chabon. And I was like, OK. OK. Did they think? And I imagine that's hard for you just seeing you're so smiley. And I can I can see that. I can imagine that's for anyone who doesn't know you or hasn't talked to you for five minutes like we have. I mean, you're clearly a smiley person. Well, my ex-boyfriend's family used to call me smiley, actually, as my. Oh, that's sweet. I like that. I was going to just think that, you know, they thought, man, this guy is so intense.

[00:19:28] He's not getting out of character. He's just going to be an android and a robot. And that's it. Let's pray that's what they thought. But but so that was tough at first to find that. But then we I don't know what they changed with the makeup or if my skin changed or something. But then we were no longer having that problem. So I didn't have to worry so much about maintaining the physicality when we weren't acting. And then it was pretty easy to be like.

[00:19:58] OK, when we're sitting in the chairs, we're casual and we're chatting. And then we actually go on to the set, then we're kind of in the zone. Right. But Patrick's also very good at kind of like stopping and starting. And, you know, he'll sometimes like redo a line in the middle of a take. So he had a very almost like a rehearsal style approach to it instead of having like this must be perfect the very first time.

[00:20:25] So that also made me feel comfortable of like, OK, you know, if I don't do it amazing in this one take, if I let a little more human slip out, that's fine. And they just won't use that take, you know. So it's interesting because, you know, you look at Patrick Stewart as he was in Next Generation TV series and movies. He was Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the Enterprise.

[00:20:50] But it seemed like when he got into this series, he was more like, hi, I'm Jean-Luc Picard. I'm I was captain of the Enterprise. He seemed like he was much more easygoing at his in the way he was playing it. I mean, my my favorite scene is what I think it's in the very first episode where he's running up the stairs and he's acting like a man his own age. Was he he was out of breath and it was very natural.

[00:21:18] And so, you know, you're great that you got to work with him at this point in his career where he was like, hey, I'm Patrick Stewart. How you doing? You know, he always seemed like that every interview I've seen with him or when he's done guest shots or whatever. He seems a lot more easygoing. And maybe that maybe was that something you noticed that he seemed more approachable?

[00:21:42] I mean, I can't speak to how he was prior, but he definitely made a big effort to make me feel welcome and to make me feel equal to him. And he would also be very open with giving compliments. Like he would say, like, that was an amazing take. I really love what you did in that one. Or like, whoa, the way you just did that was crazy.

[00:22:08] And that really, you know, I think that he's really again, I can't speak to what his experience was or people's experience being working with him prior. But he seemed super grateful for this opportunity and grateful to step back into this role. And he wanted everyone around him to enjoy it just as much as he did. And I really think he was successful in that.

[00:22:34] I can tell you, I was in the audience at the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas when he stepped on stage and said, Jean-Luc Picard is back. And the place went crazy. So he really wanted to do this again, which is what makes it so good all through all three seasons of Picard. He really wanted to do this. And that's what everyone wanted as well, to get to see him again.

[00:23:02] But and besides, besides Sir Patrick working with, did you work with Jerry Ryan closely? Did you work with Michelle Hurd closely? Did you spend time with both of them? I didn't get to work closely with Michelle. We had one scene where we were together, but we didn't interact much. She was also super, super fun.

[00:23:23] Jerry, I did get to work with a little bit more because in season two, once we're in the alternate reality that Q has created, I'm kind of the valets, quote unquote, or like the assistants to a lot of different people. Okay. One of them was that I was the valet to president. Yes. President Hanson. Exactly. Yes. Yes. And so that was really cool.

[00:23:52] She was super fun and another very chill gal. What I loved about her is she really stood in her power and she knows this character like the back of her hand. And she really found a way to make herself heard and contribute to a lot of stuff in ways that only the actress playing Seven of Nine or Annika Hanson could. Mm-hmm.

[00:24:21] And that really, seeing someone do that really empowers you to also take risks and make creative choices like that as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, it just seemed like, you know, through all three seasons, it was Patrick Stewart, but then it was Jerry Ryan. And she carried herself through all three seasons as a very exceptional character, you know, and glad she was able to make it be in all three seasons because it was fantastic.

[00:24:49] She was another one who was very, very excited to be back. And I think both of them are so aware and grateful to the fandom that they just, you could feel oozing out of them. Just gratitude for the ability to step back into these roles and to know that they're going to be hugged by the people who love them, like all the viewers and all the fans and everything. Mm-hmm.

[00:25:16] And, yeah, I just am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with them in the small capacity that I did. Have you done – go ahead, Adina. No, no, you go ahead. Go. I was going to say, have you done other conventions leading up into Trek Long Island this year? This is going to be my very first one. Oh. Yes. Wonderful. Wonderful. Oh, I'm very excited.

[00:25:42] Now, have you ever attended a convention as a fan, any kind of convention? Not as a fan, but when I was doing that random Matt Cosmetics Star Trek thing, we did go to Star Trek Las Vegas and to Comic-Con. Okay. And then for another show I was in, we did Comic-Con LA. So I've seen some of how wild things can get, how intense people are, but I think it'll all be really, really fun and I can't wait.

[00:26:12] Oh, it's going to be great. You're going to have so much fun because the fans, they believe you are the character. You are this person that was on scene in the screen and some are going to interact and only want to talk to that character. And others are going to want to know who Alex is, you know, as we're doing right now, getting to know who you are. But you're going to, oh, they're going to love you. They're actually going to love you.

[00:26:42] I can't wait. It's going to be great. So you mentioned something interesting. You brought up the fact that you were shooting that during COVID, so during the pandemic. And what I've noticed is a lot of people had the opportunity to step back and do a lot of introspection onto, you know, who they are and what they're interested in and just learning about themselves and their craft. Did you come away from the pandemic with any of that, any takeaways in that?

[00:27:13] Definitely. Yeah, yeah. That's actually kind of what led me to Madrid. So I, during COVID, I was living alone. I had my cat who has now moved to Madrid with me. Very good. But I was besides her all alone. And I'd kind of made it to this phase in acting where, you know, I've kind of, of course, there's always a lot more you can grow.

[00:27:41] I'm not saying I'm an A-list celebrity actor. But I've worked, like, with Patrick Stewart. I've worked on Star Trek. I've done this. I've worked with Ridley Scott. I've done this. I've done this. And I was like, I've accomplished the things I set out to do. And there's still more to go. But there's something that is missing. And I'm not sure what it is. So I initially came out here just because I wanted to do some, like, soul searching.

[00:28:07] And I was like, I have this dual citizenship stuff because my mom is Spanish. And I've been to Spain a million times, but always with her organizing the whole trip and saying, now we're meeting my friends. Now we're going to do this. Now we're going to do this. I've never been there on my own, really, or developed my own relationship to that side of my heritage.

[00:28:29] So I really, again, I wasn't sure what was missing or what I needed or what was misaligned in my life. But taking that time to pause during COVID did make me aware that there was a gap there. So I came out here thinking initially I was just going to spend three to six months and then go back to LA. But one of the beautiful things that came out of COVID is that almost all auditions nowadays are self-tapes.

[00:28:56] So you just tape yourself at home, send it in, and then sometimes they'll do the callback in person. Or if there's a chemistry read, you can do that in person. But at least the first round of auditions are mostly virtual. So that gave me the flexibility to elongate my trip out here. And then when I book stuff, I'll fly back. And that's kind of what I've been doing for these almost four years. I moved out here in July of 21.

[00:29:27] And yeah, I've just been going back and forth. And I really love it's such the stereotype, but that Americans live to work, but Europeans work to live. So you only work to work so that you can live and have a good life. And you're not as obsessed with the grind. Like I feel like in the States, obviously my personal experience, not everyone is this way. But it almost was a status symbol to show how busy you are.

[00:29:55] Oh, I'm doing this and this and this, but I can't handle it. Oh my gosh, I'm so overwhelmed because I'm so in demand. I'm so busy. And here I've found that people, if you're busier than you need to be and you're working more than you have to in a way that doesn't fulfill you, people almost look at you like, what's wrong? Why are you doing that? What's going on? So I'm still on that journey.

[00:30:21] But I think that this has been a great way to kind of slow myself down, focus on what are my new priorities and be able to realistically living on a primarily U.S. salary. I am working on some shows here in Spain now as well.

[00:30:40] But living in Europe on a U.S. salary, it gives me so much financial freedom to be able to take more time off and dedicate more time to my own projects, write more of my own stuff, have free time to go on a little bit more vacation. Mm-hmm. It's not something I can advise other people to do because I know I'm in a unique situation that I have dual citizenship and I have residuals coming in from TV shows.

[00:31:07] But I think it's really been a blessing for me to be able to come out here and take this time. Yeah. No, that's great. And I definitely agree that the stereotypes of the Americans work too much and Europeans know how to live. In my experience, that is absolutely true. In the industry that I work in, I'm an engineer in aerospace. Yes, we've dealt with a lot of that, right, people think it's a badge of honor if they're working a million hours. And I was in that.

[00:31:37] I got sucked into that too and burned out at a young age. And I'm thankful for the burnout at the young age because I was able to address it. And then the last two decades have a much healthier relationship with the job so I can live and do my things and everything like that. I mean, it's still hard. And I still work a lot. But yes, I agree with your assessment for sure. Alex, again, your mother was Spanish.

[00:32:05] Your father was a Yank, right? Correct. And you carry dual citizenship between España and the U.S.? Yes, correct. How easy is it for you to transition between English and Spanish? I always like to ask this question of people who speak dual languages. Which one do you think in? Do you think in English or Spanish? Or does it alternate based on who you're having a conversation with? And what do you dream in?

[00:32:34] That's a good one too. Thanks, Adina. So I will say it really depends on what I am consuming. Not as far as food or liquids or anything. I almost did a spit take over that one. But as far as like social media or TV shows or movies or even the friends that I'm talking to.

[00:32:57] Because nowadays with stuff being so digital, living in Spain, I can still very easily have an entire day where my entire day is in English. Because I'm doing some auditions in English for English. Then I have a phone call with my friend from L.A. who I miss. Then I watch some TV in English. So if that's the case, I'll definitely be thinking and dreaming in English.

[00:33:26] But especially once I'm working on stuff in Spanish, I really like to try to, you know, really douse myself in everything. And just dang it. I'm doing that annoying thing where I was, I'm looking for a word that I can only think of in Spanish. Which is like to soak it up, soak like bread in a liquid or something. But that's what I do.

[00:33:55] I really try to, okay, I know I'm going to be working in Spanish for this thing. Let me only watch Spanish TV shows. Only go to like Spanish social media stuff. Really try to focus on just hanging out primarily with my like Spanish friends and stuff like that. Like immerse yourself in it. Immerse. Oh my gosh. Thank you. Oh my God. I'm so sorry. I hate when people do that and I just did it. But yeah, so it really depends.

[00:34:24] And I will say that I am lucky that I'm able to kind of flip back and forth pretty easily because I did grow up speaking both languages. Okay. Yeah. But my, I was born and raised in the States. So that was always my number one primary language. So if I default to something English, like for example, if there's something that's very technical and difficult to explain, English will probably be a little bit easier.

[00:34:51] On the flip side, I'm remodeling this house that I'm in in Madrid and I've never remodeled anything in the US. So there's a lot of terms I've only learned in Spanish that have to do with remodeling. So now if I have to talk about like, I don't know what that word is in English, but I'm like, so it really depends on the context, I would say.

[00:35:16] I would say just right there, when you spoke the Spanish words, your whole tone of your voice changed completely. That I would never have guessed if you just spoke entirely in Spanish, I would immediately assume you're a Spaniard completely. And because of light skin and, you know, the true Spaniards look like you, you know, that you fit in very well.

[00:35:43] So that's been my interesting journey moving here. I thought when I came here, because with my resume, it was pretty easy to find representation. And I thought, great, I'm going to be the Yank. I'm going to be the American that they grab for every show that they need an American for. Apparently, I don't look American enough. I look too Spanish. Yeah. By me as the American, even though I'm speaking, obviously, with my perfect American accent. They're like, we're going to go with the guy who's got blonde hair and blue eyes.

[00:36:11] And maybe he's Swedish, but like the Spaniards won't be able to tell the difference of the American accent because they don't speak English. That's been interesting. But yeah, I think most people here, when I speak to them, they, unless every single person is lying to my face, which I doubt, everyone would never guess that I'm not Spanish. But what they can't pick up on is because Spain is kind of like the UK. Like you can almost figure out where someone is from based on their accent.

[00:36:41] Mm hmm. I think the US is a little different, but the UK, at least stereotypically has like, you can pinpoint, oh, you're from Liverpool. Oh, you're from wherever. Right, right, right. So not, I think the US has the same, but it's at a greater scale, you know, like, so for here from the East Coast, I mean, I can tell the difference between someone from New York versus Boston, you know. You know, you talk like this, you know exactly where you're from. Right, but not necessarily Long Island from New York City, from New Jersey, you know, like those kind of blend together.

[00:37:10] But yeah, Boston is clear, you know, Ohio in the Midwest is clear, you know, there are definitely things. I think it's just at a bigger scale. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. Yeah. So with me, what everyone can never place is where I'm from in Spain. Everyone's always like, oh, are you from Galicia? Are you from Andalusia? No, you can't be. No, but your S's sound a little bit like that. Hmm, where could you be? You're from Catalonia, right? Because your R's sound a little bit like that. So it's a fun little guessing game.

[00:37:39] People are always like, oh, are you from my place? And people are always claiming me. They're like, oh, he's got to be from my town. He's got to be from over here. That's great. And you said you're working on some Spanish shows or? So I did, I've done two shows out here. Both of them should be released this year. One is for Ena, La Reina Victoria Eugenia, which is, there was a queen, a very famous queen.

[00:38:06] So it's basically like the story of her life, like a biopic, but in series format. And that's on RTVE, which I believe is only going to be available in Spain. That's basically like the CBS or ABC of Spain. Okay. I hope that they can get it onto other platforms so other people can watch it. But if not, when you're in Spain, you got to definitely like download that app if you can't get it live watching that.

[00:38:32] Another show that I did for Disney Plus Spain, so that hopefully will be available globally. Is called La Increíble Historia de Julia Pastrana, which that one's really fun. It's about this woman, another biopic based on a real woman who had this condition. I can't remember what it's called, but she grew hair out of her whole face and not like a beard, but like hair.

[00:38:59] And she ended up starting off in these kind of circusy performer things. But she had an insanely amazing singing voice and ended up becoming a famous singer who was well respected for that. And she traveled all through Spain and Latin America. She was originally Mexican, but she traveled through the U.S. So that's a really fun show as well. Yeah. Neat.

[00:39:26] I also did another show that's in the U.K. That one's called The Rumor. And that's based off of a really fun book about a child who supposedly partook in a murder. And then they like had to reinvent their lives and stuff. And no one knows what's going on, really. So it's been fun to be out here. I mean, hopefully people in the U.S. can have access to these shows someday. But it's been really nice to kind of like spread my wings in that way.

[00:39:55] It seems like you've been able to get a lot more opportunity, both U.S. base and European base, to keep your life very busy and acting. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think what's great is I obviously still have my agents and managers from the U.S.

[00:40:14] So I have not closed that door, but I would have never even been considered for any of these projects had I not made the leap out here, which I think any acting coach or any agent or anything would probably not advise anyone go and move to Europe. But it's been working out for me, and I'm so glad that I did. That's great. That's great. And then you also, you know, so across genre, you do work in a lot of genres. You have some horror work coming out as well.

[00:40:44] So I'm developing something, actually, my own project that I'm writing, producing. I want to star in. And then we'll see if I end up directing, but I'm leaning towards no, because it's sometimes tough to when someone does all these jobs, it's kind of like sometimes it's very obvious from the outside. Oh, that would have been an easy fix. That would have been a good thing.

[00:41:05] But this is something that's going to be in English and Spanish based a little bit in Spanish folklore around this creature called the sacamantecas, which literally translates as the fat remover. I need one of those. I was waiting for that line. I know. That's too obvious. Yes. Is that Spanish for liposuction or something? Liposuction? No, no.

[00:41:33] Honestly, this guy, if this creature was around nowadays, he could actually be super successful with lipo. Yes. But supposedly it's this is like an old wives tale where this creature, if you leave the town after dark, he would kidnap children and feed off of their fat. Because back in people times, fat was thought to have a lot of medicinal properties. It was used for ointments and creams and soaps and stuff like that.

[00:42:00] So my project is about a disgraced skincare guru who, in his disgrace, has to basically become obsessed with this myth and try to find the way to turn into the sacamantecas and, you know, steal children's fat to get eternal youth. It's just right there.

[00:42:51] Well, there's definitely creativity for that and a market for it. Yeah. If you want to get into something, you want to develop the first thing, it seems to be a horror film or something of that nature can get more out there in production and financing, which is the big thing, the financing. Yeah. Of course. That's always the hardest part. Yeah. Right. Well, okay. So we've covered a lot, but we haven't circled back yet to is the yoga and the yoga app. Yes.

[00:43:20] Because it's not that I've heard many, you know, we've talked to many people who practice yoga and that's not an uncommon thing. But to then have your own app made or make your own app. How did all that? Because, again, that's a very huge departure from anything in the acting space. So that started right at the beginning of COVID. Because when stuff opened back up, by the time we were able to shoot season two of Picard, a long time had passed. I'm sure you guys remember.

[00:43:50] So there was a long, long time where we couldn't do anything. And I was teaching yoga classes online just a little bit, like with my clients and stuff. And through my years of having taught yoga, I really realized it is pretty formulaic. You know, you always want to start with this. If you're going to focus on this part of the body, you want to warm up X, Y, Z. If you're going to do this, you want to do Z, Y, X.

[00:44:16] So I thought, what if instead of having to start this whole class from scratch every single time, I shoot these different sections separately that then an algorithm can combine in a way that personalize it to whatever you want. So say I want a medium difficulty thing for 45 minutes focused on upper body. You've got all the elements there.

[00:44:42] They're already designed so that they will weave together perfectly and the algorithm sets it up. So that was pretty much my pandemic project at the very beginning. And now I'm in the process. I'm going to this year be re-recording the videos because since it was pandemic project, I was doing it all by myself with no resources. Now I think it's time to just like the still functionality will be the same and it'll work basically the same, but just the videos will get updated.

[00:45:10] But I think also that came at a time where I realized I wanted to take yoga back into just being my personal practice because I was managing a yoga studio. I was teaching teacher trainings. I was teaching yoga nonstop. And there comes a time where no matter how much you love it, it starts to feel like work.

[00:45:35] And as soon as you're working for a large corporation, even if it's yoga, it feels like a large corporation. And it separated me a little bit from what drew me to yoga from the beginning and my whole love of why I love yoga.

[00:45:50] So I thought this would be a great way to maintain that side of teaching people and being able to offer this stuff to people and still saying my part, but without feeling the need to constantly be producing new content that's yoga related or constantly be like, oh, if I know a lot of people have YouTube channels for their yoga videos. I don't have to post three yoga videos every month or something like that.

[00:46:18] I kind of give everyone all the tools. They can choose what they need. They don't have to understand how it works. You just give the very simple filters of I want this body part, this difficulty, this length, and then it's out there and people can use it for however they want. Nice. Nice. I like that. I like that. I've not met someone who has created an app before. Yeah, you have. I didn't do the programming. I didn't do the programming. Did you do that, Adina?

[00:46:48] I mean, nothing that I've deployed, but I mean, I am a software engineer. I have made things for personal use, yes. Okay. So then you two can talk shop about how that goes about because I'm interested because I've never done it, but I've always amazed by there are so many apps out there. Mm-hmm. I'm definitely not a programmer, so I can't speak to any of that. Okay.

[00:47:11] I'm lucky that being in LA, I taught and teaching at a major studio, I had a lot of students, and one of the students happened to be an app developer and a software developer. Okay. Good. Okay. So he ended up basically helping me out with that. Of course, I paid him and everything, but yeah, I really was more on the creative side and how the algorithm should function.

[00:47:39] But as far as making that dream turn into a reality, probably Adina can speak more to programming. I can't speak to any of that. Yep. Yep. And actually, so what I noticed when I was looking at your app, it's available for Apple products, not Android. I'm generally an Android user, so hopefully you'll- Android. I know.

[00:48:00] I need- that's something I want to get on, but at least at the time, there was some weird thing where basically, again, I'm not the programmer, so I don't know. Maybe I'm going to butcher what this is, but there was some sort of base code or something that would have to be drastically different if you want to release it on Android. So I basically have to pay my programmer, not the entire full rate all over again, but a much larger sum if I wanted it both on Apple and Android. Yeah.

[00:48:31] So at least temporarily, yeah, just Apple. But hopefully one day I'll branch out to Android. Nice. So basically, you say- Are you practicing a lot of yoga these days? I mean, do you keep up with your own practice? I do, yeah. I have a really nice yard out here, so I'm always in my yard whenever the weather's good. The street that I'm on has like a little gym that we have yoga classes that I love being the student as well.

[00:48:58] And then my friend Madeline and I, another expat who married a Spaniard out here, she and I a lot of times will go to hot yoga together down like in the city center. But it's really nice to take back my own practice and really, you know, let myself get the benefits out of taking yoga and not just teaching it, which is also very valuable, of course. But I needed some time to, you know, focus back on getting those benefits myself.

[00:49:27] So if people ask you, why is it only available on Apple, you need to say, I play an Android. I just don't offer my services as an Android. Exactly. Exactly. It would be a conflict of interest. There you go. Exactly. For now anyway. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But that's great to be able to offer something like that for people to be able to, you know, customize what they want to do.

[00:49:54] And this is a pay for app or is it one of the many free ones that are with advertising? So it's a free one. There's no advertising at all. It's free and it gives you access to a limited section of the library. And then you find that, okay, cool. This style works for me because some people, I'm not going to say this is going to work for every single person. People have very diverse interests and diverse likes and preferences.

[00:50:22] So I don't want people to have to pay right away before they even know whether they like the product. Sure. So once you've tried it out and you can always also stay a free member forever. But then if you realize you like it, then there's the paid version, which is just five bucks a month. And then that gives you access to the full library, which we did the calculations. I think there's over 70,000 possible classes you could take.

[00:50:50] Well, if you can share that link or the app, because I'm an Android, but my daughter, Steph, loves yoga. She loves doing that type of activity and she is an Apple phone user. So, yeah, I'd love to be able to share with her about that. Yes, we'll put the links and everything in here. So, again, given you've done so much, are there things that you still know that you want to do?

[00:51:20] Have you haven't tried yet? The thing that I'm really getting into now is writing. Like I was saying, I'm going into this horror fantasy project now and I'm feeling way more excited about it than I thought I would. Initially, as an actor, sometimes you write stuff just because you're like, I want to write something for myself so I get the chance to act this.

[00:51:42] But then as I've been writing it, I'm realizing that – so in Spanish, when you talk about acting, you say you're interpreting something. And I really think that's true because we're just interpreting the words that are in the script, which is an amazing art form. And there's a lot of interpretive art form. Music, people who play violin or whatever, that's also an interpretive art. But writing is a creative art where you're really creating something out of nothing.

[00:52:11] So I'm definitely not letting go of acting completely, but I would love to spend more time writing and directing and really being in charge of what is it that I'm saying? What is the commentary that I'm making? What is the thing I reflected on that I think is really poignant? So, yeah, I think this is my first foray into that.

[00:52:37] And I anticipate I'm going to be doing a lot more of it because I'm really, really enjoying it. That's great. Excellent. Excellent. Writing is fun. Both Steve and I have done some. Some of us – I actually have several books out. That's a story for another – Oh, my God. Yeah, that's a story for another day. There's a lot of robots involved. So we'll talk about that at Trek Long – when we see you at Trek Long Island. Yeah, we can have a chance. We'll talk about that.

[00:53:04] We're looking – that'll be the great because it's – I mean, you are an ocean away from us right now. But you're going to be there and we'll be able to sit down and have a chance to chat with you, which is really looking forward to. And might I also just – while you're at the convention, if you notice that the people that come up to you are Spanish-speaking, if you speak to them, they will be so appreciative because they won't expect that. Of course.

[00:53:31] And the fact that you can shift gears pretty quick, you'll be able to notice. It is very kind when we're able to talk to people their own language, you know, and it makes them feel so comfortable. Definitely. I will do. Will do. Cool. Alex, thank you so much. We are – I can't believe this, like, hour, like, flew by. Yes, it did. It really – yes. It has been an hour. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Thank you so much for coming here today and being with us.

[00:54:00] And I'm going to say that this is wrapping up another episode of the Big Sci-Fi Podcast. Thank you for sharing your journey. Thank you for telling about yourself and how you are creative on and off the screen. We loved hearing about it. And we cannot wait to hear more at Trek Long Island. And listeners, thank you, you amazing folks, for tuning in.

[00:54:23] If you enjoyed this episode, of course, do all the things, liking, sharing, subscribing to the Big Sci-Fi Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and find us on Facebook. And everybody, don't forget to stretch your limbs, reboot your emotions, and maybe download a custom yoga class or two while you reflect on this episode. Until next time, keep living long, prospering boldly, and tuning in for more sci-fi fun with us here at the Big Sci-Fi Podcast.

[00:54:53] Thanks for listening to this week's episode of the Big Sci-Fi Podcast. If you're having fun and enjoying the podcast, we ask that you would share the love by liking, following, subscribing, rating, and writing a review for us. That helps get our podcast in front of more potential listeners. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. Once again, we're a part of the Trek Geeks Podcast Network.

[00:55:17] And you can find our podcast, along with other fantastic podcasts, by visiting trekgeeks.com.