We’ve got another acting podcast today! Actor Courtney Richards (Insecure, Alex, Inc.) joins us on the Box Angeles podcast episode 360. Courtney stops by the bungalow and discusses audition confidence, booking momentum, commercial comedy, mindset shifts, what success really means, and more!
“As the actor, you’re the only one
who can’t be nervous.”
— Courtney Richards
Beats
00:00 – Courtney slates.
00:14 – Introduction.
01:42 – Meeting at a commercial callback.
04:53 – What is success.
08:07 – How much is Courtney auditioning.
09:27 – Secret sauce to booking.
13:03 – Understanding the comedy.
19:18 – Anti keeping track of auditions.
21:51 – Audition rituals.
24:40 – Courtney’s kids acting now.
26:37 – Self tapes.
28:44 – Growing up in Minnesota.
30:50 – Day job sellings houses.
35:52 – Taking classes after moving to LA.
42:56 – Commercial pay going down.
46:59 – Hobbies.
52:28 – Who took a chance on Courtney.
More Courtney
– Check Courtney’s IMDb.
– Follow Courtney on Instagram @courtney_richards7.
– Follow Courtney on TikTok @courtney_richards7.
Transcript
COURTNEY RICHARDS (00:00)
Courtney Richards. Oh.
MIKE ELDER (00:14)
Hello and welcome to the Box Angeles podcast with me. I’m your host, Mike Elder.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening to the show. It truly means a lot to me.
Happy holidays, everybody. From Box Angeles and me, your host, Mike Elder, who I just introduced already. We have a really great episode this week. I talked to actor Courtney Richards. Courtney is a prolific commercial actor. He’s been in so many commercials. He’s on TV right now in a Geico ad.
You would recognize him from something. He’s also been on a bunch of TV shows like Alex Inc., Insecure, Blunt Talk, the Grinder. He’s such a funny dude. I’ve seen him at so many auditions lately. He wanted to come on the podcast. Talk about his experience.
He didn’t disappoint. I’m a very analytical person, as you know, so I wanted to ask him what his secret is, what his sauce is, what’s his it factor, how he’s so confident in auditions. And he didn’t disappoint. He had a lot of advice about his mindset and how he approaches things and how he lets things go and he doesn’t hang on to things. It was fascinating to hear his approach to these things. And I love talking to somebody that books and knows what they’re talking about. He’s also from Minnesota, like me, so we connected on that.
This was a really fun conversation. Courtney is a sweetheart. He’s a funny dude, and he’s a fan of cologne. Who knew? He was so passionate about fragrances, which is a funny little treat at the end. Anyways, I’m wasting time. Let’s get to it.
Without further ado, I give you Courtney Richards.
🎵 ROCKFORD (01:42) 🎵
You wanna talk to me? You wanna talk.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (01:48)
I didn’t know what else to do.
MIKE ELDER (01:50)
Courtney, I am so excited to I’m excited to talk to you, buddy.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (01:53)
I’m excited to be here. Like I was just saying, I was just scrolling through the Instagram and I was like, oh dude, I’m so excited to be on here ’cause I’m the first brother on here. But I found out I’m not the first brother.
MIKE ELDER (02:04)
You might be the first brother in the rebrand. I moved here during COVID and you might be the first one post-COVID.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (02:12)
There we go, I’m the number one.
MIKE ELDER (02:14)
But I’ve definitely had multiple people.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (02:16)
I’m the number one brother then.
MIKE ELDER (02:17)
You’re the number one.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (02:18)
Pre-COVID, post-COVID? Post-COVID.
MIKE ELDER (02:20)
Post-COVID. Courtney, I’m excited to talk to you. Do you remember where we met? You probably don’t.
I believe it was a McDonald’s callback.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (02:26)
Really?
MIKE ELDER (02:26)
At the old Alyson Horn Casting on Santa Monica pre-COVID.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (02:30)
Okay.
MIKE ELDER (02:31)
And you were such a personable guy. I think you might have even booked that spot.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (02:35)
Do you remember what it was for? What the commercial was.
MIKE ELDER (02:37)
No, I don’t remember. I think it was McDonald’s. But anyways, you’re so personable and then after that, I see you in everything. I literally see you in every commercial ever. You and my brain are like a prolific commercial actor.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (02:49)
Dude, I’m just out here trying to work, man. You know what? So this is the funny thing about commercials. Before I moved out to LA, and that’s cool that you remember that, before I moved out to LA– I’m trying to like– no, what’s so hard is you go to so many auditions and it’s like it’s all a blur.
MIKE ELDER (03:09)
‘Cause you don’t. Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (03:09)
Like, I’ll have an audition.
MIKE ELDER (03:10)
All white people look the same.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (03:11)
No, dude. I’ll have an audition, and before I go to the audition, I’m not even joking, somebody will be like, what are you auditioning for? And I will have no idea.
MIKE ELDER (03:19)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (03:20)
Cause I have, ’cause it’s so many, I just know like the situation I’m supposed to be in when I get there and that kind of thing, like I will forget completely. But no, so what I was gonna say is in Minnesota, before I moved out to LA, there was this guy that I would always see on TV, Lamorne Morris.
MIKE ELDER (03:39)
Oh, yeah, yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (03:39)
From New Girl.
MIKE ELDER (03:40)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (03:40)
I would always see him in every commercial and I was like, oh dude, I wanna be, I wanna do just what he’s doing. I wanna be on like all the commercials like him. And it was like so serious, I like back then, I hit him up, dude. I found him, hit him up on Facebook. He was super cool, he responded, sent me his number and everything.
MIKE ELDER (04:00)
Oh, amazing.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (04:00)
So before I moved out to LA, and yeah, so that was like kind of the guy that I would watch and go, okay, I wanna–
MIKE ELDER (04:07)
You’ve kind of taken his mantle, ’cause he booked every commercial before he got on New Girl, and then he was like off and running.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (04:13)
He was in every commercial.
MIKE ELDER (04:14)
I feel like casting directors have talked about him on my podcast.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (04:17)
Really?
MIKE ELDER (04:17)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (04:18)
Dude, he was in everything. He was like, I would see him in– And then BET at first, and then he was like in every single commercial. And I was like, Yo.
MIKE ELDER (04:25)
Do you think you’ve obtained what you were going for to get to his level?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (04:29)
I mean, I think, no, no, because I still feel like he was in everything.
MIKE ELDER (04:36)
You are in everything. I was watching Monday Night Football last night. You came up in the Geico ad.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (04:41)
I’m not in everything. I want to be in everything, but I’m not in everything. Like, I mean, when he was doing it, dude, he was in everything. I would see him like back to back.
MIKE ELDER (04:49)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (04:50)
And so I was like, okay, yeah, I want to do that.
MIKE ELDER (04:52)
That’s great.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (04:53)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (04:53)
Do you consider yourself successful at this point? I’m always fascinated by the gauge of success because before you answer, I was gonna say, From where I’m sitting, you are incredibly successful. Yeah, compared to me.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (05:07)
Really? No, dude. No, I don’t think it’s a comparison thing. I think every artist, to me, is no like, top or success or anything like that. It’s all a part of the journey. Like we’re both artists, so it doesn’t matter like what we’re doing differently. It’s not about that. Like if you’re so are you from LA originally?
MIKE ELDER (05:29)
No, I’m from Minnesota. I was gonna bring that up. We’re both from Minnesota.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (05:30)
So watch. So that’s so for me in my mind, you’ve already won because there are there are a ton of people in Minnesota who like go, I want to be out of Minnesota. I want to move. I want to go like pursue something and they never do. So you, the fact that you’re here, you already win, bro.
MIKE ELDER (05:47)
So why doesn’t that apply to you?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (05:49)
Because it does, but there’s still things every single day that I wanna accomplish.
MIKE ELDER (05:57)
Same for me. I wanna be in a Geico ad. I wanna be in…
COURTNEY RICHARDS (06:00)
But is that the top? So if you do a Geico ad…
MIKE ELDER (06:03)
Oh, okay, so you have a bar that you wanna hit. And you think you’ll be successful when you get there?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (06:08)
No, I don’t think it’s a bar. This is what I think success is. When I’m able to be like, if I want to take a vacation for like five months and I can, and it’s like, it’s all good, and then I get back and I can get right back to work to doing something, to me that’s like the ultimate. I don’t have that yet.
MIKE ELDER (06:27)
Vacation from acting or from a day job?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (06:29)
From everything. A vacation just kicking it with my fam. Like if I want to travel and do everything that I want to do for like five months and then come back home and get back to work, To me, that’s success. And I don’t know what that looks like in terms of like, oh, that’s a certain movie or a TV show or whatever it is, but the freedom is essentially what I think is like success.
MIKE ELDER (06:54)
Yeah, when you’re not grinding, I get out every day.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (06:57)
I have to audition, I have to work, I have to do, like, I’m still doing things, plus, but I don’t think that I’m doing that because I have to, which is another win. It’s like everything that I do, I get to do because I want to.
MIKE ELDER (07:11)
Right.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (07:12)
So that’s a win.
MIKE ELDER (07:13)
You know what’s funny is I just took a six-month sabbatical from my day job.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (07:16)
See, you’ve already– that’s successful.
MIKE ELDER (07:19)
I mean, I was still auditioning, doing the podcasts and everything, but I quit my day job and it was– my mental health just went through the roof. Like, I feel so good now.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (07:28)
But you’re auditioning and you’re podcasting because you want to, right? Success. That’s it.
MIKE ELDER (07:33)
Yeah, of course. You son of a gun. You just like ninja-ed me.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (07:34)
That’s success, dude. You know how many people would love to be able to like do what they want? I got good friends who aren’t able to do what they want.
MIKE ELDER (07:42)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (07:43)
You know what I mean? And it’s like, I understand that, but that’s a part of life. But the fact that we’re artists and we get to play and express ourselves with our art and like we get to use our imagination every day, that’s the ultimate. You’ve already won. Now it’s just about Okay, like, now it’s just getting paid for what you do.
MIKE ELDER (08:05)
Which is the hard part.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (08:06)
It’s hard, bro.
MIKE ELDER (08:07)
How much are you auditioning? If you’re booking so much, like, what’s a good week or month or year for you?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (08:13)
So, we’re in the latter part of the year, and it’s like crazy busy right now. So, like, this last month, I’ve probably had maybe five or so auditions a week, which is a lot to me. But on average, it’s probably at minimum one or two auditions a week.
MIKE ELDER (08:33)
That’s great.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (08:34)
Yeah, it’s fun, but I don’t book every single one.
MIKE ELDER (08:36)
Of course not. You’re getting at bats, which are important.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (08:38)
Yeah, and I love that. And also too, so now with my kids acting, not only am I auditioning and trying to figure that out, my kids are also auditioning. So it’s like I’m making sure that they’re auditioning and their hair is cut and all that kind of stuff. It’s multiple careers going on at my house.
MIKE ELDER (08:58)
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (08:59)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (09:00)
That’s really interesting. Like, five a week is phenomenal. Are those all commercially? Or how often are you going out theatrically?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (09:07)
Probably, dude, not a ton. Probably, like, once every three months, dude? Like, super sparse.
MIKE ELDER (09:17)
Okay.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (09:18)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (09:19)
Do you think, like, I feel like I’m excited to talk to you because I’ve had multiple casting directors on and we talk about you.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (09:26)
Really?
MIKE ELDER (09:27)
At least a couple times. We’ve talked about you. What do you think it is that makes you not successful? ‘Cause you’re not successful apparently. But what do you think is it about you that books, what do you think, have you figured out a pattern of what new book or what is working or is there something that you bring or was there a turning point where you had like, found your voice or your confidence in your voice or?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (09:50)
I think, yeah, so I attributed a lot to my first agent, Kenneth Suarez, at Brick House Entertainment, or it was Brick Entertainment first, and then it merged and became Brick House. And he’s my good friend. I still talk to him to this day. But one of the things that he would always say, because we used to do these little workshops where we would do workshops for actors coming in, and we would do a Q&A. And this was something that I learned from being at the workshop with like sitting next to him and him saying it and I didn’t know, but for him he would always communicate that when they brought me on, they would make sure that I wound up in the best, like in the perfect room for me and the perfect audition for me. So say for example, like I wouldn’t pop up in a Ford audition, a Ford F-150 audition because as soon as I say Ford F-150, I’m picturing this tall guy, beard, rough, flannel, boots, and he’s rough and rugged and he’s driving this F-150.
That’s not me. So I would never show up in that room. And I’m totally cool with that. But I would show up in the room that’s like the friendly neighborhood guy, right? Which is like what I look like. As soon as you see me on TV, I look like I could be somebody’s neighbor. And then it’s, and so yeah, so that’s what I think helped, right?
Like I would show up in the right room, except when you see the casting ticket and it says, not extraordinarily handsome, and I’m like, this is not me. I don’t know why I’m in this room, ’cause I’m not right for this role. And then I book it, and then I’m on set and I’m like, let me find the person who think I’m not handsome, ’cause I’m on the wrong set. And so those were the only ones that I was like, this is not right. I’m not supposed to be up.
MIKE ELDER (11:38)
But was there a turning point for you when you just said, you started booking regularly or do you think there was a moment or anything?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (11:45)
Well, I would say after I booked my first commercial, which I still remember to this day, it was a T-Mobile commercial. And I didn’t say anything in this commercial, bro. I literally was riding a bike across the street in downtown. And I think it happened also for my kids. So you booked this one commercial and then you see like, oh, it’s, it’s not as hard or it’s not impossible and it’s not hard. And so I think after you book one, which I’ve seen it happen to my kids, where my kids like were auditioning for a while, and then once they book one, then they start booking again. Because I think what happens is just in your mind, you’re like, oh, this is easy.
Like it’s nothing like a lot of that pressure goes away. And so it makes it easier to book again. And that’s what I think happened for me where it was like, It’s just unknown. Like if you haven’t booked a commercial, you haven’t been on set and all that kind of stuff, you’re just completely nervous about what’s gonna happen. Once you book one, and it’s like, oh, it’s easy.
MIKE ELDER (12:44)
It snowballs. You get a little confidence.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (12:46)
That’s what I think. That’s what I think.
MIKE ELDER (12:48)
Have you ever gone through a dry spell where you’ve had an extended period of time where you didn’t book something?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (12:53)
I feel like I’m always in a dry spell. I’m not even joking.
MIKE ELDER (12:56)
You gotta get out of your own head.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (12:57)
No, like say for example.
MIKE ELDER (12:59)
You got how many running right now on TV? Two?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (13:01)
One, but then one’s coming.
MIKE ELDER (13:03)
Okay.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (13:03)
But this is, okay, so this is how my mind works. And I don’t know if this is weird or not, but when I go and I have an audition, I always feel like I’m gonna get it.
MIKE ELDER (13:15)
I love that.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (13:16)
And I don’t know, okay, let me fix that. I don’t, if it’s, say for example, if it’s supposed to be funny, right? And I understand that it’s supposed to be funny, I always assume, number one, if it’s just a regular audition, I assume I’m gonna get a callback. And then at the callback, if there’s directors in the room and I understand it, I always feel like I’m gonna book it. And when I don’t, then I’m like, I’m thinking to myself, man, what went wrong? Because as long as I understand the scenario and the situation, and I believe 90% of commercials, they’re trying to be funny somewhere, and so I automatically start figuring that out.
So like, if I understand the commercial, I assume I’m gonna get it. It’s not a thing of where I’m like going like, oh yeah, I’m just gonna book this thing, but it’s just like I understand what they’re trying to say and so I’ll try to do it. And I, number one, I feel like I’m in the room because I’m, because my agents have put me in the position to, and I have wonderful agents right now with Love Talent, Jamie is awesome and she makes sure that I’m in the rooms that I’m supposed to be in. So as long as all that is worked out, I feel like I have a shot.
MIKE ELDER (14:29)
Does that set you up? That’s a completely different mindset than I feel like most people teach, which is be grateful for the audition. You know what I mean? If you got a callback, you did all you could. So you’re coming in from the opposite perspective where it is owed, not owed to you, but you expect to get it. So when you’re not getting all of these, how do you avoid disappointment? You use it as a learning moment, it kind of sounded like, or what’s how do you.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (14:53)
I don’t know if I, I don’t, so say for example, if I don’t book an audition, I don’t know if I’m disappointed. Sometimes I’m kind of like, sometimes I’m kind of like, like I just don’t know why. So, oh, I’ll give you another example. So my, so my son has a commercial right now with Progressive, and he’s kind of sitting on the bed and it’s like one of those like, we’ll call your football player dad in to like a, I forget the thing, what it’s called, but like he’s a bench player and he comes in.
MIKE ELDER (15:22)
Backups, yeah, the backups.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (15:23)
There it is. And so I auditioned with my son for that role, for the dad. And so when I did the audition, I’m like, man, I know, like, I understand it and I know what I’m doing and I know that it’s funny, I understood the comedy and all that kind of stuff. And then my son books it, and so I’m on set with my son. So I get to see the dad.
MIKE ELDER (15:45)
Whoa, that’s interesting.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (15:45)
That happens, bro, that happens a lot. So I get to see the dad who actually booked it. And so his name is Jordan. I’m blanking his last name, forgive me, but very funny comedian, standup, lives in New York. Jordan is the bomb. And so while I’m watching him, I’m like, oh, I see why he booked it. Because it was so much funnier than what I was doing. And I don’t have a problem with that at all either, because it’s like, if I were the director, I would put the funniest person up, if that’s what we’re going for.
You know what I mean? So I don’t have a problem.
I’m not disappointed. And when I saw it right away, while I’m watching him work on set, right away I’m like, that’s it.
MIKE ELDER (16:28)
Sure, but if you don’t necessarily get to see the commercial, you somehow don’t end up in a rabbit hole in your brain where you’re like, what did I do wrong? What could I have done better? I’m the worst. I suck.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (16:39)
Sometimes, yeah. No, I don’t go that far. No, I don’t go that far, because again, And I think I heard Eddie Murphy say this, which Eddie Murphy’s like the top for me. But Eddie Murphy said this and I think it applies to me and what I do, because a lot of what I do, sorry about that, a lot of what I do is comedy.
MIKE ELDER (17:01)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (17:01)
And so Eddie, what he said is like say for example if he’s in a movie that doesn’t work, he doesn’t look at it like he’s got some flops. Like he’ll say himself that like Meet Dave, where he’s a spaceship, was a flop. But he’s like, if the movie doesn’t work, he knows it’s not his fault because he knows that he’s funny. But with the movie, there’s a lot of other things that come into play.
MIKE ELDER (17:23)
There’s other factors.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (17:25)
Yeah. So it’s like, if I don’t get a role or an audition, I don’t look at it like, oh, I’m the worst, because I’ve already done this a lot. I’ve done this a bunch of times. So it’s not like, I’m the worst. It’s just there’s something else that that came into play.
MIKE ELDER (17:41)
I just did a web interview show on manifestation, and I wonder if there’s something to that mindset going in that you’re gonna book this.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (17:48)
I don’t know, dude, because I’m not a big. I’m not into. I’m not a big manifest dude.
MIKE ELDER (17:53)
Well, you kind of are. You’re like, I’m gonna book this.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (17:55)
No, I. But. But then again, you know how many I don’t book? Of course.
MIKE ELDER (18:00)
Of course. But that’s my point, though, is like, those don’t deter you in any way. You still. Are assured in who you are and what you brought to every one of those ones you didn’t book.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (18:10)
I would say it’s more so like the confidence in like what Eddie is saying, where he knows like what he’s bringing is good. You know what I’m saying?
MIKE ELDER (18:21)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (18:21)
And when you don’t book something, it’s not because you’re bad. It’s not because your skills, like all of a sudden you forgot how to act. That’s not, That’s not the case. So I never look at it like, maybe sometimes I’ve had situations where I’m like, Man, maybe I should cut my hair lower or that kind of thing to get to like to try to fix whatever could be going on. But it’s never like, oh, I suck.
MIKE ELDER (18:48)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (18:49)
Never that. I don’t think anybody should do that either. Like if you’re doing that. Okay, you don’t do that, do you?
MIKE ELDER (18:54)
What I do is I take the car ride home. To process, think about where I could have been better or what could have done, I could have done better. And then once I’m out of the car, I don’t think about the audition anymore.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:07)
Well that’s good. That’s good.
MIKE ELDER (19:08)
You know what I mean? I allow myself to process for a little bit, but then I will not let myself linger on it days later.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:13)
We all do that. We all think about, oh, I could have done this and I could have done that.
MIKE ELDER (19:17)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:18)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (19:18)
Do you log your audition? Are you an audition logger? No.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:22)
What does that mean?
MIKE ELDER (19:23)
After every one, I put it in a spreadsheet to count who brought me in the most.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:27)
No, that’s really organized.
MIKE ELDER (19:30)
Well, I come from a math background, right? So I want to figure out the equation to booking. And I try to do everything.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:37)
Really? Why?
MIKE ELDER (19:37)
Because I feel like it’s a puzzle and it needs to be solved and you have the answers as a successful booker. And that’s why I’m asking you for all the little tidbits.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:48)
Does that help?
MIKE ELDER (19:49)
Not really, but…
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:50)
I don’t think you should.
MIKE ELDER (19:52)
Should what?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:52)
I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
MIKE ELDER (19:54)
Do what? Keep track of auditions?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (19:57)
Because do you really think about, like, do you know a lot about how many you haven’t booked?
MIKE ELDER (20:02)
Or… Yeah, well, I know I had 134 auditions this year.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (20:06)
And how many did you book?
MIKE ELDER (20:07)
Zero.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (20:08)
Okay, wait, all right, all right. So, so having that information, do you think that helps you? Like, to, not, I’m saying, like, you could, I know I have had a lot of auditions. I don’t know the number.
MIKE ELDER (20:22)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (20:22)
But I know I audition more than I book.
MIKE ELDER (20:25)
I think it’s helpful in the sense that I can see who brings me in the most and then I can know that they are still repeat customers and want to keep seeing me, so that’s a good sign.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (20:36)
I don’t know about that, dude.
MIKE ELDER (20:38)
Really?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (20:38)
Yeah. Okay, so this is all I’m saying. If I did that, I think it would be weird. Like, I would be thinking about, Oh, I’m going into this person, they’ve seen me seven times and I haven’t done, like, I don’t think any of that, at least for me, would be helpful.
MIKE ELDER (20:55)
Sure.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (20:56)
Because you don’t need any of that, you don’t need any of that in the room. At least in my opinion, I don’t need any of that. Like, I don’t think about any of that as an artist because as an artist, like, that is not what helps the art. At least in my opinion, I don’t think it would help me. Like, if I’m going in for something, I don’t want to, it’s like I rarely know the details until I get in there. And it’s like, let’s have fun. Like, this is what we’re doing.
MIKE ELDER (21:28)
That’s so funny to me, ’cause casting directors, as I said earlier, have mentioned you on this podcast, or I brought you up, maybe one of the two, but they talk fondly of you.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (21:35)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (21:36)
So you have casting directors that are fans of you.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (21:38)
I know a lot of them. And I love all of them, but I have no clue. And I know I go in for them sometimes and that’s like, oh, he hasn’t done anything, but it don’t, I think that would cause me to be like crazy.
MIKE ELDER (21:51)
Okay. Do you have any like rituals you do with commercial auditions? Like do you.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (21:54)
I brush my teeth.
MIKE ELDER (21:57)
Okay, that’s a good one.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (21:58)
Make sure my teeth are brushed. No, like I don’t have any, like.
MIKE ELDER (22:02)
Do you do anything specific in the waiting room or do, Do you do anything else?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (22:06)
You know what? I literally just told my son this the other day.
MIKE ELDER (22:08)
Do you take a deep breath before you go in or anything? Because I want to know, again, I want to ‘Beautiful Mind’ this. I want to see if there’s anything else.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (22:14)
Take away all those puzzles. Take away that logging.
MIKE ELDER (22:17)
Yeah but that’s post-audition. That’s I think that’s the least important to this. I think pre-production is more important. It’s the mindset going in, it’s the confidence going in, it’s the prep work, obviously.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (22:28)
The only thing I do that I just told my son the other day, what helps me, that I recognize that I do before I go into the room, right before I go in is I I try to stand up. I don’t like sitting down before I go into the room, ’cause I just feel like it’s not that I’m nervous, but it’s almost like I’m ready. And so I wanna be standing up. ‘Cause when somebody goes, All right, you’re up. I don’t wanna be done yet.
MIKE ELDER (22:52)
It’s a better posture, yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (22:54)
You know what I mean? So that’s one thing that I noticed that I do, which is super small, but everything else is nothing.
MIKE ELDER (23:00)
Well, I can’t stand when I go to a waiting room and there’s actors on their phone. Like, I’m like, why would you just be staring at your phone and not like coming up with buttons and funny things? Like, I try my best to like focus on what I’m gonna do, so I have a thought of what I’m gonna do.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (23:15)
Yeah. Yeah, I get that. Yeah, I mean, I get that. And sometimes, like, say for example, if I know that, like, I’m gonna have to come up with stuff, like, I’ll try to make sure that I’m doing that, even if I’m on my phone, like, I may write some stuff down sometimes.
MIKE ELDER (23:31)
Yeah. Know the product, like know the sandwich at the fast food shop so you can reference it. Well, I just asked because like last week we were in an audition together and you came in, I was like literally.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (23:42)
And you got the callback and I didn’t and I didn’t log it either. I didn’t even know until you told me I’m going to a callback.
MIKE ELDER (23:50)
What I was gonna say was I saw you walk in, I was like let me go in with Courtney because I want some of that callback mantra.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (23:56)
And then who had that callback?
MIKE ELDER (23:57)
Me. But you gave it to me. I couldn’t have done it without you. That’s why I didn’t book it.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (24:03)
Nah, nah, that’s all right. That’s funny, though. That’s funny.
MIKE ELDER (24:09)
But when you’re in the room, do you have anything? Like, no, you just do yourself. You just are vibing.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (24:14)
Yeah, I’m just chilling. It’s like, it’s all fun. It’s all fun for me. You know what I mean? Like, I really feel like I’m so fortunate to be able to audition and act and use my imagination and talk to cool people. And I’ve been around long enough to all the camera people, I know and they’re friends. Session directors, they’re friends.
And it’s like, oh, I’m just here to have fun.
MIKE ELDER (24:40)
Am I doing what your kid does? Does your kid do this with you? Ask Daddy, what do we do here? How should I do this? Or is your kid the same way?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (24:48)
They do, like, when I help him.
MIKE ELDER (24:48)
He’s just vibing.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (24:49)
No, when I help, With self tapes and all that kind of stuff, they’ll ask and I’ll give pointers and advice and all that kind of stuff.
MIKE ELDER (24:57)
Like what? Give it to me.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (24:59)
No, say for example, again, when I look at, say for example, when it’s a commercial audition, I’ll let them know, hey, this is where they’re trying to be funny. I understand that part of it. When you get some sides or a script and it’s a commercial, I would say, if not all 90% of them are trying to be funny, And this is how I explain it to people. Everybody within this process is nervous. So directors, casting directors, producers, writers, they’re all nervous because they want this to be good. They want this to work out. They want the actors to be good.
And as the actor, you’re the only one who can’t be nervous. And that’s even on set. So when you’re on set and there’s a ton of cameras around and things are going wrong, It’s like literally there was a fire on set the other day when my son was on set and it’s like, so what? Everybody can be going nuts around you. You have to be the one that’s like, I’m unbothered by everything because when the camera’s on, it’s on you, not on all this other stuff that’s happening. So it’s like those kind of things I try to like communicate and teach and let them know, like it’s not about Whatever’s happening around, like just be present, be in the moment.
MIKE ELDER (26:13)
That’s really insightful and hard for a lot of people to do, I would think.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (26:16)
You think so?
MIKE ELDER (26:17)
I think a lot of actors get nervous.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (26:19)
Yeah, I’m not saying not to get nervous. I think everybody still gets nervous. I think there’s even, and I’ve heard stories about even big, top actors on set being nervous. It’s not about not being nervous. I think it’s about still doing it anyway. Be nervous.
MIKE ELDER (26:35)
Showing up.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (26:35)
Yeah, but do it anyway. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (26:37)
You mentioned self tapes. You strike me as a person for everything we’ve just said, to somebody who thrives in the room. You know all the session directors, casting, you know where to be funny, and you probably take their coaching really well. But do you have the same… in what’s the word?
The French word for charisma? Do you have the same charisma in a self-tape? Do you think?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (27:01)
I would hope so. I don’t know.
MIKE ELDER (27:03)
Do you book much off self-tapes?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (27:05)
Again, I don’t log, so.
MIKE ELDER (27:06)
Do you hate self-tapes?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (27:06)
I don’t hate self tapes. Sometimes I like them because it’s just at home. So, no, I mean, I think it’s just a part of it. It’s the same as an audition. I would rather be in a room, though.
I would rather be around people than doing it myself. Just because I hate, like, setting it all up. Like, I don’t have a dedicated room for it. When I have to set it up, which is like, you’re done. Like, if you had a self tape, boom, you just do. I gotta set it up.
MIKE ELDER (27:34)
Well, that’s a trick. I gotta turn on the light. I gotta set up the light. I gotta set up the gimbals.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (27:39)
I don’t, you know, I would rather not. And then I have to do that for my kids and all that kind of stuff. So it’s a lot of setting up. I would rather not set up.
MIKE ELDER (27:47)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (27:48)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (27:48)
Is there anything that does get you nervous or flustered when you’re asked to do it? Because you see in an audition or something, do you have a weakness in your easy going.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (28:01)
My only weakness is if there’s like the comedy, if I don’t get the comedy. And that’s happened before where it’s like sometimes I just don’t get the joke or I don’t get like it doesn’t make sense to me and I know it doesn’t. And it’s like then I’ll do the audition and I’ll go back and I’m like, I didn’t understand it all the way. That’s the thing that gets at me.
MIKE ELDER (28:21)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (28:22)
When I don’t get it.
MIKE ELDER (28:24)
Is that often more when you don’t have a script in advance?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (28:26)
No. No, no, it can happen when I have. Well, most commercials, I don’t really get a ton in advance.
MIKE ELDER (28:31)
I know we never get.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (28:34)
Yeah. So, but it’s like when I don’t get the joke that they’re trying to go for, I’m like, what? So, yeah, that’s the only thing that kind of gets me a little weirded out.
MIKE ELDER (28:44)
Yeah. You mentioned, I want to talk about Minnesota real quick because I’m from Minnesota, too. I didn’t know you were from Minnesota until I scheduled you for this podcast.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (28:51)
So I was born in East St. Louis. But I was raised in Minnesota, so when anybody asks, I’m from Minnesota, because that’s all I remember. I was there.
MIKE ELDER (28:58)
You went to high school in Minnesota?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (28:59)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (28:59)
What city?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:00)
St. Paul.
MIKE ELDER (29:00)
Oh, beautiful.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:01)
You?
MIKE ELDER (29:02)
I’m from Brainerd up north.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:04)
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
MIKE ELDER (29:05)
Did you go to university?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:06)
No, no. I went to Dunwoody for like a year.
MIKE ELDER (29:08)
And then you came right out here after?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:11)
Not right after. I’ve been out here for 15 years, so it was probably a few years in Minnesota still, as an adult. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (29:20)
Are you going, do you go back at all? I’m going back this weekend.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:21)
Sometimes. Are you really? Dude, it’s cold.
MIKE ELDER (29:23)
It’s freezing.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:24)
You got a coat?
MIKE ELDER (29:24)
Of course I got a coat.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:25)
You got a hat?
MIKE ELDER (29:26)
I’m from Minnesota. I got hats out here. I’m bald.
What you talking about?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:30)
Yeah, it’s cold. No, I don’t, I mean, I try to get back every once in a while. I was just there, my high school is actually, they’re doing a documentary about like the acting program.
MIKE ELDER (29:39)
Oh cool, what high school was it?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:40)
St. Paul Central.
MIKE ELDER (29:41)
Oh cool. Wait, did you study acting ever?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:45)
Yes, in high school.
MIKE ELDER (29:46)
Okay.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:47)
I was in theater in high school.
MIKE ELDER (29:48)
And you were performing in Minneapolis or no?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:50)
I did a play.
MIKE ELDER (29:51)
Okay.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:52)
Yeah. Like a play.
MIKE ELDER (29:53)
You just knew you’re like, I’m going to go to LA and act.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (29:55)
Well, yeah. So the, the, I’ll try to summarize it. So I was doing theater in high school. After high school, I started doing music and we had a very cool band. And then I kind of stopped acting a little bit. And then the band broke up. And then I was like, I’m going to LA to be an actor, like I really wanted to do.
MIKE ELDER (30:13)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (30:13)
So that’s how it happened.
MIKE ELDER (30:15)
Got it. I love that. It’s very similar to me. I didn’t do any of the music stuff, but it’s similar.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (30:19)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (30:20)
I was the mascot at the University of Minnesota. And that got me into performing.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (30:22)
Oh, really? The golden gopher? That’s where my wife went.
MIKE ELDER (30:26)
And that’s where I started. Oh, hell yeah. And then I started doing local theater and auditioning. My experience in Minnesota was like I would audition for Target and Best Buy, but they’d always book LA people. There was a bunch of us that were around those auditions and we would never book them, I feel like.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (30:40)
Wow, well that’s cool you were acting there.
MIKE ELDER (30:42)
I was trying, I mean.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (30:44)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (30:44)
Any of us, do you consider auditioning and acting? ‘Cause that’s all I really do.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (30:48)
Yeah, it is. That’s it.
MIKE ELDER (30:50)
And you have a day job, like do you sell houses? How long have you been doing that?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (30:54)
For six years.
MIKE ELDER (30:55)
Okay.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (30:56)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (30:56)
Do you like that as a side hustle while you’re better than like bartending or whatever?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (31:01)
Yeah, 100%. I love real estate just because not for the, like, the income, but just if I weren’t acting or if I weren’t doing anything else, I would be into real estate. Like, the whole thing in terms of, like, passing a, a portfolio down to your kids is, like, what I’m all about, like, generational wealth. I think that’s important. And so, yeah, that’s why, that’s why I like real estate.
MIKE ELDER (31:30)
You’re making General generational wealth off of selling houses.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (31:32)
Yeah. Well, you can do, what you can do is not just selling homes, but. If you think in terms of being an investor and the developer and being a landlord, that’s more so what you want to do.
MIKE ELDER (31:43)
Sure. And you have you pick of the litter as a real estate agent.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (31:46)
Yeah. Well, yeah, you’ll get an yeah, you’ll get some like the heads up on certain things in L. A. but L. A. is not my main focus. I wanted to just learn real estate.
MIKE ELDER (31:55)
Oh, I see.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (31:56)
Yeah. And so like I had an actor partner and we bought a couple of rental properties back in the Midwest. So you don’t have to do do anything in LA.
MIKE ELDER (32:05)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (32:05)
It’s just you want to be able to understand how real estate works.
MIKE ELDER (32:09)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (32:09)
And I think that’s for any actor, because our income is so, it, like, fluctuates.
MIKE ELDER (32:14)
Sporadic. Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (32:15)
You think, like, man, maybe one year you’ll, you make quite a bit of money. The next year you won’t. But if you’re parking your money somewhere and you have an investment that’s like a nest egg or, like, a safety net, I think that’s super smart. Even you’ll, you’ll see even, like, celebrities buy homes and stay there for a while and then sell it for a ton more money. And I think that’s not really like a, it’s not really like a real estate thing. That’s like an investment smart money thing.
MIKE ELDER (32:47)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (32:47)
So I think, especially in our business where it’s so like, you just never know, it’s safe to have something like that where it’s like, okay, let me invest. So I love that. That’s why I like real estate.
MIKE ELDER (33:02)
But are you actively, like, do you go into an office or anything?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (33:05)
I do have an office that I can go to, but I don’t go, I can go whenever. It’s not like I have to be there at a certain time.
MIKE ELDER (33:11)
Sure.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (33:11)
Like I am, like I have my own team, so I serve them. So it’s like I can pretty much do the same with acting. Like I plan my own schedule, I do everything I wanna do.
MIKE ELDER (33:23)
Wait, part of my naivety, do you get a salary as a real estate agent? It’s all commission.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (33:28)
It’s all commission based.
MIKE ELDER (33:29)
Wow, that’s crazy.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (33:30)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (33:31)
So that’s great. Your schedule could be whenever you want.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (33:33)
Absolutely.
MIKE ELDER (33:34)
Yeah. So that you’d recommend that to other actors as a.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (33:37)
I do all the time. 100%.
MIKE ELDER (33:39)
But how hard is it to get in? During COVID I was like, I could be a real estate agent.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (33:42)
You could be a real estate agent.
MIKE ELDER (33:44)
But don’t you have to take like a six month class or something?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (33:46)
No. It’s so easy. You take some classes online, you get like three certificates, and then you do the state exam, and you have your license.
MIKE ELDER (33:54)
And that doesn’t take very long?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (33:56)
No, you could probably have your license within six to eight months.
MIKE ELDER (33:59)
Do you find out your acting skills and comedy skills? You didn’t even let me finish.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (34:04)
Cause I already know. That’s my pitch.
MIKE ELDER (34:07)
I was gonna say, do they translate to being … an asshole.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (34:09)
Yeah, what do you got? What do you got?
But that’s my pitch. That’s my pitch when it’s like, when I helped, I booked a commercial and met one of my good friends on the commercial and sold them a house. And that was great. Yeah, and so like that kind of thing where now they’re like, like property owners and they have an investment property as well. And it’s like, that’s my whole pitch when there’s, because there’s a few actors that I know that have their real estate license. And I’m like, dude, like, I recognize that we do well in real estate because it’s all about communication.
It’s not like a telemarketer or something like that. It’s literally like helping your friends buy a house. Like, it’s the bomb. Actors do well in that world.
MIKE ELDER (34:54)
Yeah. And it’s, it’s conversational, right? It’s like, It’s just selling is, you know, getting to know somebody and making them trust you, getting them to trust you.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (35:03)
Yeah. And it’s not about like trying to convince anybody to do anything. It’s not convincing somebody to sell. Like when you’re communicating and when you’re talking about real estate, it’s almost like, Hey, do you have any goals? Do you want to accomplish anything? Here’s how I can help. Here’s how I can advise you.
That kind of thing. It’s not like, Hey, you want to sell your house or you want to, you should buy a house and you want to, it’s not, it’s none of that. I think anybody, especially if you live in LA, you should have a real estate license. Tom Cruise has his real estate license.
MIKE ELDER (35:31)
Oh, what? Really?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (35:31)
You didn’t know that?
MIKE ELDER (35:32)
No. Why would I know that?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (35:34)
No. Tom Cruise has his pilot’s license.
MIKE ELDER (35:35)
Why would I know. Well that makes sense.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (35:36)
He’s got so many different crazy licenses, like, but he’s got his real estate license. If you live in LA, you should have your real estate license. If you’re just gonna buy a house for yourself, you should have a license.
MIKE ELDER (35:47)
Okay. Do you have to maintain it every year? Is it a fee or something?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (35:48)
Yes. Every four years you have to redo it. Yeah, renew it.
MIKE ELDER (35:52)
Oh, okay. That’s really fascinating. You came out here and took comedy classes, right? Or did you take comedy classes in Minnesota?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (35:58)
No, I took theater in high school.
MIKE ELDER (35:59)
Right.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (36:00)
And then I took, when I moved out here, I took improv and an acting class and a commercial class. And I had a mentor before I moved out here. Her name was Nicole, or is her name is Nicole J. Butler. And so I met her. Funny story. I don’t know how much time we have.
MIKE ELDER (36:18)
Plenty of time we got like 20 minutes.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (36:20)
I met her, on a. We did a reality show for. For music. It was like American Idol, but for bands.
MIKE ELDER (36:26)
Okay.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (36:27)
And so she was, like, on the production side of it. So I met her, told her that I was thinking about moving out here, and she was like, hey, when you move out here, this is what you do. So she told me to get into an acting class and take improv and all that kind of stuff. And so when I moved out here, that’s what I did. So the acting class I signed up for was Aaron Speiser. You heard that name before?
Oh, dude, he’s. He’s so dope. He’s from, he’s this older Brooklyn dude, man, out here, and he’s hardcore, but he coaches, he coached Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez and like a ton of Gerard Butler, a ton of people. And so I signed up for his class, and there’s a funny story about that. So I was going to his class back in the day, and I couldn’t afford classes. And so he was like, All right, well, you just help around the studio, and you can like stay in class.
MIKE ELDER (37:14)
Oh, cool.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (37:14)
And so I remember like cleaning up the studio and I found like this little ledger that he used to keep and it was like a ledger and I don’t know if this is if I shouldn’t share this, but he had this ledger and this was before [REDACTED] could afford classes. And so he would just keep track of like.
Yeah, for [REDACTED].
MIKE ELDER (37:36)
IOUs. That’s amazing.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (37:37)
And so it’s like, but that’s, but he was allowing me to go to class too at that point. Maybe I shouldn’t say that. Maybe we shouldn’t say that. ‘Cause he’s still. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (37:46)
I’ll bleep out the name. I’ll bleep out the name of the celebrity.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (37:48)
Yeah, and I would say, but he’s still teaching class and all that kind of thing too, so I don’t want people to think like, oh, I can go to class for free.
MIKE ELDER (37:54)
Oh, okay. Do you want me to take it off?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (37:55)
I don’t know, bro. I don’t know.
We’ll figure it out later. But he’s so dope, man. And yeah, that’s, he really taught me.
MIKE ELDER (38:04)
What improv did you take?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (38:06)
I took improv at iOWest. Like it was like a workshop or something I took, and then I took Groundlings. And I took Groundlings because specifically.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (38:17)
I don’t know if this is gonna be PC or not, but the reason why I took Groundlings is because growing up, there’s a certain style of comedy. And I would just say, say for example, like Martin Lawrence and all that kind of thing, that style of comedy is what I was raised on.
And I could do that. And I think, like, sketch and, like, SNL is different. And so I wanted. So I could do, like, the Martin Show. I would fit perfectly on that, but I would. I felt like I needed to learn the. The other, like, sketch and, like, SNL style comedy.
So that’s why I went to the Groundlings, because I’m like, let me learn. Yeah. And there it was completely different.
It was hard. So, yeah, I took Groundlings.
MIKE ELDER (39:03)
Yeah. Is that something you wanted to do for a long time? Did you advance through the program?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (39:06)
No, I took like one year.
MIKE ELDER (39:07)
Just the first class?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (39:09)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (39:10)
Do you think any of these classes really helped you figure out how to audition? Did you take any audition-specific classes?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (39:16)
So I took a commercial class and I think that kind of helped me prepare for the commercial audition, but essentially I think just auditioning helped.
MIKE ELDER (39:25)
Yeah, to muscle.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (39:26)
To see what they’re doing, what the moves are and all that kind of stuff. That’s what really helped.
MIKE ELDER (39:32)
Yeah. You mentioned Aaron’s a coach. Do you ever coach on auditions? Like when you get a big TV audition, do you use a coach or no?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (39:40)
Well, sometimes what I do is like my boy. I remember going in with my boy Jonah. He’s on a show called Lioness right now on Paramount Plus.
Super dope actor. But he was also at Aaron Speiser Studio. And like, say, for example, if I got something, I would go in with him and just have him help me tape. And he would naturally like help.
MIKE ELDER (40:01)
Yeah, direct you and stuff. Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (40:02)
Yeah. But I do believe in that. Like if you got something big, like going to a coach, especially somebody like Aaron and get you right, I think actors should always be kind of like learning and growing and like getting better.
MIKE ELDER (40:15)
Yeah, I agree. I find coaches really helpful.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (40:17)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (40:18)
Largely for what you said earlier is finding the funny in it. Like I think I’m good at it, but it’s so much more I’m so much more sure when somebody else reaffirms it or points out something I’m not seeing. Like, I need direction as an actor, so I love coaching for TV auditions. Yeah, I think it’s incredibly helpful.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (40:35)
Yeah, that’s cool. That’s good, dude. No, I was just gonna say, too, like, it’s always, like, I always have both sides of it, too.
Like, I agree. But then I’m like, if you don’t have any coaching for an audition, it’s all good, because I believe that there’s actors that. And I could be wrong, but I believe that there’s actors like you and I who do a role, say they’ll do a movie, and then they won’t act for three or four months. Right. And then they go back and they could do it again. Like, I believe if you’re an artist, like, and you know, like, how to act, which means, like, you have a solid process, you know how to build a character. You can do that over and over again and not necessarily need a coach.
MIKE ELDER (41:23)
Sure.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (41:23)
But I’m also saying, like, coaching is helpful. So it’s like, it’s, it’s all good either way.
MIKE ELDER (41:27)
Yeah. Yeah. For TV ones, I find it, I think commercially, I got it figured out, even though I can’t book anything.
I got it figured it out. But TV wise, I still, it’s such a world that I, it is like what you just said. The best coaching was on, or the best learning was auditioning. Yeah. I don’t do enough TV Auditions. I do maybe.
You know, ten in a year or whatever. Yeah. Kind of similar. You said one every couple months. And so I just don’t feel like I get enough reps in that. So I think a coach is just helpful for that.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (41:55)
Have you considered class?
MIKE ELDER (41:56)
Yeah, I’ve taken a lot of classes.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (41:57)
Okay.
MIKE ELDER (41:58)
Yeah. Are you actively in a class right now?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:00)
Not right now. I just kind of finished up like the stand up thing that I did like a class. But other than that, no.
MIKE ELDER (42:08)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:09)
Yeah. The stand up thing was dope. I loved it.
MIKE ELDER (42:11)
Why are you trying to do stand up?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:13)
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
MIKE ELDER (42:15)
Tell me more?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:16)
Oh, I love stand up, dude. I’ve always loved it. And I think, and I would always have friends that were in stand up that would always be like, dude, you should try stand up. You should try stand up. But since I come from a music background, I never really was like, I don’t want to be on stage by myself and just with no music.
MIKE ELDER (42:34)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:35)
But I guess the need kind of like grew and I was like, dude, I gotta do, I gotta do stand up.
MIKE ELDER (42:41)
That’s great. Have you gotten up at all?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:43)
I’ve gotten up and what I what I’m doing right now is I’m just kind of like writing and figuring my stuff out.
MIKE ELDER (42:49)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:50)
Get back up and start doing some more stuff.
MIKE ELDER (42:51)
Yeah, I could see you doing stand up.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:52)
Oh, dude, it’s the best.
MIKE ELDER (42:53)
You got a vibe to you.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:54)
It’s so fun.
MIKE ELDER (42:55)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (42:56)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (42:56)
Have you seen I don’t book of SAG commercials, so I want I want.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (43:01)
You to take on this.
MIKE ELDER (43:02)
Like everybody’s talking about how the money isn’t what it used to be. Have you seen that too? Do you have an opinion on that?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (43:08)
I’ve seen it.
MIKE ELDER (43:09)
It’s less than no use to me.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (43:11)
Oh, dude, 100%. I mean, in my opinion, yes, it’s a lot different. And I think it’s because there’s a lot of streaming happening. And this is just kind of my thoughts. I think it’s, yeah, it’s a lot less avenues for the major networks and all that kind of stuff for the commercials to buy that, whatever that is, is a class A or whatever it is. Right. But yeah, it definitely seems like it’s a lot less.
It’s more limited.
MIKE ELDER (43:40)
Are you concerned then? As this person that lives primarily off of the commercials? Are you concerned? Like when Netflix buys Warner Brothers, is that gonna help or hurt?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (43:50)
I don’t know. I mean, I forget. I think it’s, you know, in my opinion, I’m not concerned because it’s just like, I don’t get bothered by that kind of stuff. I don’t think it’s helpful.
To like, this world is crazy. There’s so much stuff every single day. Everything. Oh, you know, everything.
MIKE ELDER (44:10)
The entire world.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (44:11)
Yeah. So it’s like, if we get bothered by every single thing, we would go nuts. So like that kind of stuff, like in terms of like the commercial pay and all that kind of stuff, it doesn’t really bother me at all. It’s just another day. And another day for me to like make the best of what that day has. So no, I’m not, I mean, it doesn’t, it’s cool to talk about like, oh man, you see a lot of times I’ll hear a lot of that like at auditions, like, you know, people be concerned about a lot of stuff. For me it’s like, I’m not, it’s cool, I’m not interested.
MIKE ELDER (44:48)
You’re relatively unbothered, unflustered by things, it seems like. You seem like you just have a very perspective.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (44:52)
You know, I’m blessed, man. You know, I am a Christian. I believe that God is in control. I have a great family, dude. Like, I love hanging around my family. And, like, regardless of, like, what happens, like, my family’s good.
MIKE ELDER (45:10)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (45:10)
So it’s like, all this other kind of stuff is just stuff.
MIKE ELDER (45:14)
Yeah. You. There’s more to life than.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (45:15)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (45:15)
And then a Geico commercial.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (45:18)
Yeah, for sure. It’s good when it’s fun?
MIKE ELDER (45:21)
What about? I love that. What about us single guys? What do I have to look forward to?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (45:26)
Brom, you I’m telling you, you already. You got a nice place here. You already winning, man. You winning.
MIKE ELDER (45:33)
I need you to be just me. Not that I need it, because I’m already a straight white male, confident level guy. But, like, I think you’re around just to be positive affrimations.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (45:43)
I’m around, bro. No, I think. I mean, you’re winning, dude, like. You have, like, whenever we talk and we connect, like, it’s so cool to be around. Like, you’re cool and cooler than a lot of people. Are you an actor, dude? You know how fun we are? Super fun.
It’s like, yo, you already won.
MIKE ELDER (46:06)
I wanted to just bespoch myself, but in front of you, you’ll just pick me back up.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (46:11)
But what were you gonna say?
MIKE ELDER (46:13)
I was gonna say, I’m not an actor. I’m an auditioner.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (46:15)
Bro, every actor is an auditioner. That’s the job. Our job is not being on set. Our job is auditioning.
MIKE ELDER (46:23)
But that goes back to your mantra, though, or your mindset earlier. It’s like, if you’re coming from a place where you think you’re going to book everything and then you’re not booking everything, how does that not throw you off?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (46:34)
Because my job is the audition.
MIKE ELDER (46:38)
Right.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (46:39)
I’ve done my job. They got it wrong. No, I mean, I’m just playing, bro.
MIKE ELDER (46:49)
That’s funny. No, but that’s funny. That’s interesting.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (46:51)
But is that is our job. I think I learned that from like, from Aaron Speiser dude, like our job is the audition is the process.
MIKE ELDER (46:59)
Sure. What do you do to get away from acting? Like reset. You mentioned your family and your faith, but is there something you do to like, because as much as your mindset is positive, do you have, I’m sure you have down moments, I would think, but maybe not.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (47:14)
Like down moments? Like what?
MIKE ELDER (47:16)
Just where you’re feeling blue or negative or jaded? Is there anything you do to reset? Any hobbies or anything you do to get away?
From this business? From this rejection?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (47:28)
No, you know what? You know what? This is like a straight up answer.
I do that. I do that. So I think people kind of go like, oh, I need to take like a week to get away or something like that. I get away every day. Like, like once I’m done with an audition or if it’s like whatever it is, I’m doing something completely different with my kids and with my family, like every single day. It’s almost like they have to remind me that I have something going on or like my, I’m so busy with like my kids, my kids have basketball and all that, like today I gotta go get some shoes for my son, he’s got evaluations at at the gym. That’s my middle son.
So it’s like I got a six-year-old that’s hanging out waiting for me to come back home to, like, we’re gonna go get some shoes. I gotta. I’m gonna go to. I gotta.
MIKE ELDER (48:21)
It’s all shoe based.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (48:22)
I know, right? It’s a lot.
So I have a lot of stuff that keeps me from thinking about acting just by, like, default. Like, I can’t.
MIKE ELDER (48:32)
By having a family. Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (48:32)
Yeah. So it’s like, I’m not really thinking about a lot of that stuff. A lot of times.
MIKE ELDER (48:36)
Do you have anything just you like to do?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (48:38)
I love my family. Like, like, oh, that’s what I, that’s what answer. I mean, it’s the best thing, dude. Like, it’s so cool. And I think about this a lot. Like, I don’t remember having. So I was married for six years before we had kids, and I don’t remember that six years before we have kids.
I only remember. Like there’s little things that may pop up where it’s like, oh, I remember that, but I don’t remember a lot before we had kids because now that you have kids, it’s a lot they take over.
MIKE ELDER (49:16)
Yeah. It’s life changing.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (49:16)
Yeah. So that’s what I do for me. It’s like hanging with my fam, which is why I do the things that I do. I act and I’m in real estate and a lot of that kind of stuff. So that I can hang out with my kids, so that I can be with my family. That’s the freedom that I like, you know what I mean?
MIKE ELDER (49:34)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (49:35)
So yeah, that’s what I do for me.
MIKE ELDER (49:36)
That’s beautiful.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (49:37)
And I love cologne. Does that help?
MIKE ELDER (49:40)
What?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (49:40)
I love. Are you into cologne?
MIKE ELDER (49:42)
Sure. What do you mean?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (49:44)
Like, you have like one cologne? Do you have any cologne?
MIKE ELDER (49:46)
Yeah, I usually have two. I have one for the winter and one for the summer.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (49:51)
I got a lot. That’s it?
MIKE ELDER (49:52)
Yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (49:52)
Oh, bro, I gotta put you up.
MIKE ELDER (49:54)
Your hobby is cologne.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (49:56)
Oh, I love cologne, dude.
MIKE ELDER (49:57)
What do you, like, just trying a bunch? The different scents, knowing the different situations for them?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:03)
Yes.
MIKE ELDER (50:04)
Have you, like, studied this stuff?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:06)
Oh, yeah, dude. I’ll be on YouTube watching, like, cologne videos. Like, knowing what?
MIKE ELDER (50:11)
What’s your number one cologne?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:17)
Oh, dude. That’s hard, bro. That’s hard.
Did you smell. Did you smell me when I came in?
MIKE ELDER (50:20)
No.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:21)
Smell bro. Tell me what’s up.
MIKE ELDER (50:24)
Oh!
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:24)
Come on, my boy, come on, man.
MIKE ELDER (50:26)
What is that like a YSL?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:27)
I don’t know if I can say.
MIKE ELDER (50:29)
Polo?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:29)
Nah. But YSL is cool.
Okay, so here’s the thing with fragrance, right? So we’ll have to go. See, that’s what I’m saying. So it’s like, I got a lot of stuff that it’s like, bro, that’s what I be thinking about.
MIKE ELDER (50:42)
We gotta get you a signature fragrance.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:44)
Bro, you know what? That would be a good idea.
MIKE ELDER (50:46)
The Courtney.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:48)
I think that’ll stink. The Courtney would stink. We gotta come up with another name. But dude, there’s a spot right by the Beverly Center.
MIKE ELDER (50:56)
Rich Court, Court Rich.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (50:57)
I sound a little better. Sound like green. There’s a spot down by the Grove, it’s called Lucky Scent.
MIKE ELDER (51:06)
Okay.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (51:06)
It’s not a plug for them, but they have what’s called niche fragrances. So like, you said YSL and Polo. So those are designer? So it’s because they’re a company and they will have a fragrance, they’ll have shirts, to have shoes and all this other kind of stuff. They’re not. It’s like, it’s cool, but a niche fragrance only does fragrance.
So it’s like top tier. So, like, say, for example, we’ll go. We’ll go. And I’ll show you, like, this fragrance. Have you heard of Creed?
MIKE ELDER (51:36)
No.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (51:37)
Or Aventus? You’ve never heard of that?
MIKE ELDER (51:39)
No.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (51:39)
Oh, bro, it’s gonna blow your mind.
MIKE ELDER (51:42)
I just found something. You just got so passionate about cologne.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (51:45)
So good.
MIKE ELDER (51:45)
Do you wear a different fragrance every day?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (51:47)
Pretty much. There’s a couple that I wear like more frequently, but like pretty much every day there’s a different fragrance for like how you feel and all that kind of stuff.
MIKE ELDER (51:56)
Have you ever like made one out of your own tinctures?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (51:58)
No, I don’t really like that. Like I think the people who know what’s up, they do it better.
MIKE ELDER (52:03)
Sure.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (52:04)
Like I don’t want to try to be in there messing something up. Smell like, mine smells like fried rice. I’m not trying to do that.
MIKE ELDER (52:11)
Pineapple fried rice?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (52:13)
What?
MIKE ELDER (52:13)
A little sweetness to it?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (52:14)
No.
MIKE ELDER (52:15)
Oh, pork fried rice.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (52:16)
Now we’re talking. Now we’re talking. You get a special fried rice. I would smell like that, ’cause it’s bomb.
MIKE ELDER (52:24)
Courtney, the last question I ask people is who took a chance on you?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (52:28)
Man. Dude, everybody takes a chance on me, man. Everybody has taken a chance on me.
MIKE ELDER (52:34)
Do you have some specific examples?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (52:37)
Well, let me see. I mean, I think what I would say, since we’re in the context of acting and specifically commercials as a through line to this conversation, it would probably be my first agent, Kenneth. When I sat down and met with them, I didn’t really have anything to prove or to show I could do this or any of that. I met with them and they were like, All right, let’s go. And so they took a big chance, showed me the ropes, and here we are.
MIKE ELDER (53:09)
That’s awesome. Why is he not an agent anymore? You said you still talk to him.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (53:12)
He’s doing some different things. Yeah, he’s doing some different things, some consulting, and they’re traveling a little bit. And he used to be an actor and all that kind of stuff.
MIKE ELDER (53:23)
Yeah. When you got out here, did you just email a ton of agents basically and just try to find it? Anyone?
COURTNEY RICHARDS (53:28)
Yeah, I think I did. After I took some classes, And yeah, I had already like signed up for like an improv class and like this commercial class. And so when I met with my agent, they took a meeting. But yeah, I emailed a bunch of people. Like I remember emailing Lemon Lime.
MIKE ELDER (53:45)
Sure.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (53:45)
You heard of them?
MIKE ELDER (53:46)
Oh yeah.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (53:47)
I emailed them. There was a couple agents that I emailed, but Kenneth brought me in.
MIKE ELDER (53:51)
Hell yeah, I love Kenneth. That’s great.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (53:53)
He’s super cool, man. He’s super cool.
MIKE ELDER (53:56)
Sounds like it.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (53:57)
That’s my boy.
MIKE ELDER (53:57)
Courtney, this was a great conversation.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (53:59)
Dude, this was awesome, man. I’m so glad that I’m the only brother on the podcast.
MIKE ELDER (54:03)
I’m glad that you wanted to come down. You asked me at that audition and then I saw you at another audition. I want to see you at every audition now.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (54:09)
Let’s go bro.
MIKE ELDER (54:09)
Because you’re my callback secret.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (54:11)
All right. Well, let’s do it.
MIKE ELDER (54:12)
If you’re at it, I get a callback.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (54:14)
And then we got to get some cologne, too.
MIKE ELDER (54:15)
Yeah, we can go get some fragrance.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (54:17)
It’s going to look like I’m cross-eyed because I keep looking at the mic. I don’t know why I’m looking at the mic, but yeah, we’ll get some fragrance.
MIKE ELDER (54:23)
You’re an actor. You’re not used to having a microphone.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (54:25)
No, I know.
MIKE ELDER (54:26)
You got to get used to it, though, as a stand up now.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (54:28)
I know, bro. This is cool. Fragrance, man.
MIKE ELDER (54:31)
Courtney, I appreciate you. You got a tail slate here.
COURTNEY RICHARDS (54:35)
Oh, tail slate. Yo, Courtney Richards, fragrance connoisseur. I’m out.
MIKE ELDER (54:42)
That was great.
🎵 ROCKFORD (54:45) 🎵
MTV and the channel E!. A thing for a celebrity.
