We’ve got an acting podcast today! Actor Adam Shapiro joins us on the Box Angeles podcast ep. 345. Adam swings by the bungalow and discusses how he stands out in this industry by bending the rules, what he learned working as a casting assistant, his passion project turned side hustle Shappy Pretzel, and more!
“It’s just that you’re enough. You are enough to book this role, to play this character, to sit in that waiting room with all those other way, more famous people.”
— Adam Shapiro
Beats
00:00 – Introduction.
01:35 – Adam slates his name.
02:05 – How Jason Winer changed Adam’s career.
09:25 – An Adam Shapiro type.
13:04 – Modulating voice.
16:21 – Adam’s slate trick.
17:24 – Working as a casting assistant.
22:29 – Breaking rules.
26:13 – Carnegie Melon*, small resumes and demo reel commentary.
35:55 – Getting offered The Bear.
38:45 – Side hustles, passion projects and Schappy Pretzel.
50:06 – Shifting into a business and dividing time.
57:53 – A Kate Winslet SAG awards story and buying Leo’s house.
1:03:22 – How the Oscars started buying pretzels
1:07:15 – Who took a chance on Adam.
More Adam
– Check Adam’s IMDb.
– Follow Adam on Instagram @shappyshaps.
– Taste Adam’s pretzels on Instagram @shappypretzel.
Transcript
MIKE ELDER (00:00:08)
Welcome to the Box Angeles podcast with me. I am your host, Mike Elder. Thank you for being here. It means so much to me. You have no idea. What would also mean a lot to me is if you follow me on social media, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, all that jazz @BoxAngeles. Give me a little follow over there. Why not?
And do all the podcast stuff. I never promote the podcast stuff. Like subscribe, share, comment on Apple podcasts, Spotify, wherever you’re listening. Put down a rating and a review. I did my due diligence. Now let’s get to the episode. We’ve got a really fun one this week that could have gone on forever.
This guy is so funny. He has so many funny stories, so many things to talk about. I had so many questions unanswered because it was such good stuff we were getting out. But who is it I’m talking to?
It’s actor Adam Shapiro. You know Adam from shows like ‘The Bear’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘The Rookie’, ‘Never Have I Ever’. He was in the movie ‘Steve Jobs’. He’s been in tons of stuff. He also started a pandemic side hustle called Shappy’s Pretzels that has since blown up and we talk at length about that as well. A person, me, fascinated by side hustles, had to talk about that. Adam’s so funny. This was really, really fun conversation.
I think you’re going to dig it. I don’t want to waste any more time. I don’t see why we should wait any longer. So without further ado, I give you.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:01:35)
Hey, what’s up? I’m Adam Shapiro, currently in New Zealand.
MIKE ELDER (00:01:39)
Adam.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:01:40)
Yo.
MIKE ELDER (00:01:40)
I’m so excited to talk to you for many reasons.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:01:43)
Yeah, let’s get into it.
MIKE ELDER (00:01:44)
The reason I reached out was I had Jason Winer on, and I don’t know if you listened to his episode, but he shouted you out in it.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:01:49)
Is that right?
MIKE ELDER (00:01:50)
Yeah, somehow it came up about side hustles or something, and he was like, oh, Adam Shapiro, my guy.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:01:56)
I often shout out Jason Winer when I’m speaking. Often. I have a lot of Jason Winer stories. I love that Jason, like, he, like, totally changed my whole career trajectory, actually.
MIKE ELDER (00:02:10)
Oh, tell. Tell me how.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:02:10)
I’ll get into that. So I. And this is like a whole thing. This is like a. This is like an exercise in as far as an actor, but just like, as in finding like one’s authentic self. Right. Which is something that I feel like is a really hard, challenging thing to do, especially when you’re an Actor.
Because a lot of times we get into this acting thing because we don’t necessarily either know who our authentic self is or we don’t want to show that. We want to just be a different character, you know. And so I feel like for me it was a really hard thing to do. And I remember I went into for an audition for a show called Rebounding.
This was like a pilot at Fox. It was about like a bunch of guys who have like a pickup basketball team. One of the guys is an early in life widower. His wife passed away and the rest of his basketball team like helped him a rebound. Right. And I’m like the quirky guy on the basketball team. I’m like the most neurotic guy on the basketball team.
And so I go in and I audition for it and I show up as like the nerdy quirky. And it was good audition. It was good. It’s good.
MIKE ELDER (00:03:24)
It was good.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:03:24)
I’m gonna say it like that. Like good. You know, not like good, but like the high pitch good. Like it was good. And. And I’m leaving the audition and Winer was the director of the pilot and he pops his head out and he’s like, Shap. Now, we had been friends at this point, but not like besties like we are now.
I officiated his wedding. Oh, yeah, yeah. To the lovely Jackie. Jackie SteidenWiner. And so I stopped and he’s like, hey, I’m gonna bring you in to test for studio tomorrow for this, but I have a note for you. And I didn’t want to give it to you in there in front of every ball of producers and stuff like that. Cause it’s more of like a.
It’s not like an acting note. It’s more of like a life note. And I was like, a life note? What. What does that mean? Right? And I was like, okay.
He’s like, I’ll call you later. And I’m all right, you know what? So I like, go home. I’m like, what is this going to be? And he calls me and he’s like, hey man, I. I don’t want you to take any offense to this, but you are nerdy enough. And I was like, okay.
And he’s like, he’s like, I’m just saying you don’t need to come into this audition putting anything on.
MIKE ELDER (00:04:34)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:04:35)
You don’t have to wear the outfit with the glasses in the thing and try to be nerdy or try to be something that you think we are looking for in this character. We don’t know what we’re looking for in this character, right? And we hear that all the time as actors, like, they don’t know what they’re looking for. You come in there and you show them what you know what they’re looking for. And he’s like. And what I’m saying is, like, it’s not that you’re nerdy enough. It’s just that you’re, you’re enough. You are enough to book this role, to play this character, to sit in that waiting room with all those other way, more famous people, you know, that are in the waiting room.
He’s like, I just, I see when you come in, I know you and I. And then I see when you audition and it’s like a, it’s a different version. It’s like you’re playing at the role as opposed to. It’s like you’re layering on as opposed to revealing who you are.
MIKE ELDER (00:05:28)
Interesting.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:05:29)
And he’s like, I think if you could bottle what Adam Shapiro is and you could actually give that to us in the audition, I think that you would work forever, you know? But if you’re gonna come in playing at this nerdy character, if we’re looking for a huge nerd bigger than you, we could find 10 of them. We’re in Hollywood, you know what I mean? Like, we could find somebody who’s gonna trip over their shoelaces unironically on the way into the audition and fall and slip on it. You know what I mean? And we could find that guy, right? So we’re not calling you in because we want you to be that guy.
We’re calling you in because we want you to be you. And so he’s like, listen, I used to be an actor and that’s why I’m a director now. I could never take this note. But he’s like, I feel like you could take this note. So if you want to try it, do it tomorrow because I’m going to be there and I’m not going to let you fail. And it’s a safe space to try it. And if you hate it and it sucks and it feels too vulnerable and too scary, then don’t, you know?
You know what I mean? You’ll get your one liners in your small parts. You’re in there forever and that’s fine. But if you want to, like jump up to this level, you know, so I’m like, oh, my God, this is insane. So, like walking through the Fox lot for that audition the next day, and I’m feeling like I’m about to go, like, bungee jump or, like, skydive or something, you know?
Like, it was scary. That is not my mo.
Revealing my true self. You know what I mean? And the actual mood I’m in in that moment, like, I go in. I used to go in for auditions and just, like, do stand up.
MIKE ELDER (00:06:53)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:06:54)
You know what I mean? Not even good stand up. Just like, whatever I thought of in the lob.
Me, like, hey, four or five. So crowded on the way here, you know? Could we park any further? Not good. You know what I mean?
I’m almost talking myself out of the role. So I go in there and I’m like, I guess I’m just doing this jeans, T shirt, me. And I walk in. No. No shtick, no nothing. I do the scene and it gets like, these real laughs. Not like those canned audition laughs, but, like, real.
I thought it went really well. It was a good, good, good audition. Not good. It was good.
And I leave. And he comes out of the room and he’s like, chat. And I turn around, he goes like that.
Huge thumbs up. Huge thumbs up.
And I’m like, well, thanks, man. He goes, listen, you’re not getting this role. You’re not getting it. It’s already been offered. Then I offered it to a guy from Saturday. Dude from Saturday Night Live is taking. It was offered to a couple days ago.
He’s like, what I wanted to give you the opportunity to do is to show everybody in that room from the studio, the network, everybody who you are. Because what you just did in there didn’t just get you that they.
You didn’t get the gig. But. But fuck the gig, right? You just got yourself, like, a career. You keep doing that, you’re gonna work forever, right?
MIKE ELDER (00:08:05)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:08:07)
And it was just the most monumental, crazy. And it’s so funny because I had been taking acting classes since college, and acting teachers and acting people at coaches, whatever, always tell me, make it smaller, do less. Yeah, smaller. But as an actor, you don’t know what that means.
MIKE ELDER (00:08:27)
Yeah, it’s tough.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:08:29)
I’m like, do I just keep my arms, like, attached to my side so I not move my face or not move right? And, like, what they were trying to tell me was just be more authentic. Be more. You stop doing so much acting on top. Stop putting so much on to every line.
Just be you. But as somebody who has a big personality and I’m.
And I’m very expressive. Make it smaller, do less. I just don’t even know where to go with that.
Kind of note. Thousand percent, you know, and it took the right person at the right time using the right words to make me understand what that note meant.
MIKE ELDER (00:09:02)
That’s awesome.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:09:03)
And that was whiner. And that was that audition. And no, I didn’t get it. But like, I’ve like, worked non stop since then and now.
MIKE ELDER (00:09:09)
Yeah, you’ve changed how you’ve approached 100. That’s so cool.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:09:13)
100
MIKE ELDER (00:09:13)
I feel like just listening to you talk there for a bit was like, I got what he was saying. Like, I see who you are just being yourself. Yeah, I could, I, I, I understand what he was.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:09:23)
Yeah, he’s like coming.
MIKE ELDER (00:09:24)
You have a clear perspective. You have a clear point of view.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:09:26)
Coming as you.
MIKE ELDER (00:09:27)
Adam Shapiro. Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:09:29)
And then the funny thing is, is like I’ve, I’ve almost gone overcorrected with the authenticity thing. And like the last three roles I’ve played have all been Adam Shapiro.
MIKE ELDER (00:09:37)
Yeah. Like the bear. Right?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:09:38)
Like the bear. I’m literally like, I thought I was worried about getting typecast. I’m literally typecast. I only played Adam Shapiro with a messenger. I mean, it’s crazy.
MIKE ELDER (00:09:49)
They’re gonna put out breakdowns now that.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:09:50)
Are just Shapiro Shapiro type. You know what’s so funny? My first job ever, I played Adam Shapiro in these T mobile commercials. And it wasn’t like I auditioned for a character named Adam Shapiro, but it was an improv sort of commercial of me going across the country on a road trip. And the whole point of the commercial is to show that T. Mobile phones can work anywhere you are. Which is.
It’s dating the commercial.
MIKE ELDER (00:10:12)
Sure.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:10:12)
Because that’s like, now we think, well, that’s the point of a cell phone.
MIKE ELDER (00:10:15)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:10:15)
But at time it was like, no, this film could work anywhere, even in Minnesota, you know, and, and the irony.
MIKE ELDER (00:10:21)
Is I’m from Minnesota.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:10:22)
Yeah, Minnesota.
MIKE ELDER (00:10:23)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:10:24)
Timberwolves.
MIKE ELDER (00:10:25)
Good team.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:10:25)
I’m a fan. I’m a fan.
Big Anthony Edwards fan. I just got my son a little Anthony Edwards jersey. The little one. The City Series 1 with the snow and the ice.
So I improv. Hey, it’s Adam Shapiro. I’m on a road trip. I’m in your town, whatever. And then Adam Shapiro made its way into these commercials for a while. And then my, I finally got a manager and the manager sent me a breakdown, like a, you know, old school fax breakdown that says, looking for an Adam Shapiro type. Wow. And I was like, do they even know?
I mean, how do they even. How would anybody know who that is? But I went in for that audition.
And it was for Mike White.
MIKE ELDER (00:11:01)
No way.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:11:02)
Yeah, it was. Forget it. No, I didn’t get it.
It was so funny. It was for a pilot that Mike White wrote this is 25 years before white Lotus. But it was about. Geez. It was about a family. I think Molly Shannon ended up doing it. Okay. I didn’t get that role, but the casting director brought me in later that day for a co star role on a show called Oliver Bean.
MIKE ELDER (00:11:26)
Okay.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:11:27)
And I got that. And that was my first. That was my first TV role ever.
MIKE ELDER (00:11:31)
That’s amazing.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:11:32)
Isn’t that crazy?
MIKE ELDER (00:11:33)
And Mike White put out that breakdown because of your T Mobile commercial?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:11:35)
I guess so. That’s so it said that from the T Mobile commercial. It said that on the breakdown. Wow.
MIKE ELDER (00:11:40)
Did they hunt you down for that or did you just.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:11:42)
No, my manager was like, wait, you don’t need to find an Adam Shapiro type. You think this guy’s too busy to do your show? He’s never even booked a TV show or a movie before. You don’t need to look for the type. Just call in Adam Shapiro.
MIKE ELDER (00:11:54)
What’s wild is you’re the second person on my podcast that that’s happened to. Do you know Dan Gill? He’s like a taller commercial actor. He got one where it was a Dan Gill type and he didn’t book it either.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:12:02)
And he was like, that’s me. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (00:12:03)
And he was also like, who read this and thought, who’s Dan Gill? Just like, yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:12:07)
Who would be like, oh, he’s not going to be available, so let’s get someone like him.
MIKE ELDER (00:12:10)
So weird.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:12:11)
I actually had a great. I got really close on a show this year called Rainmaker that shot in Dublin recently. And I auditioned for a PJ Byrne type. And PJ’s a good buddy of mine and he’s amazing.
And I worked with PJ a lot. And I’m like, there is no PJ Burn type. There’s one PJ in the world, you know? But I auditioned for it and I got really close and then I was sort of on the hook for it. And then I.
Eventually I called pj. I was like, dude, why aren’t you doing this? Yeah, like what? You know what I mean? Like, I know he’s a busy actor, but this is like a big show. And he’s like, I didn’t know. He’s like, oh, I am.
Oh, I am doing it. Why? And I was like, nothing.
He’s like, wait, are you. Did you. Are you like, still on hold for him? Like, kinda he’s like, oh, man, I’m so sorry.
I am doing it. I’m just still working out the deal. And I was like, well, congrats, pj. You make a great, great pj.
MIKE ELDER (00:13:04)
Wait. To the Jason Winer note thing, I feel like I get similar. And I’m like, I just started an acting class, and I wonder if you get this note too, because I feel similar to you. And don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m often told to modulate more. And as I’m listening to you, like, I turned on your mic to start, and you’re loud and projecting, and I love it. And I do the same thing. I, like, project to an audience.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:13:24)
Yeah, man.
MIKE ELDER (00:13:25)
Did you get that note ever, like, to modulate your voice?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:13:27)
Yeah, totally. I mean, you know, it’s one of those things. I mean, I think, like, we should all learn theater before we learn how to act on TV and film, because you can go from theater to TV and film. I don’t know how easy it is for people who do just worked in film to then jump into theater. I mean, that. That’s like, how do you know what I mean? That’s a huge leap.
I think it’s easier to pare it back down.
MIKE ELDER (00:13:46)
Right?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:13:47)
But yeah, I like, for sure. I’m sure there’s been a lot of boom mic guys who have been, like, making adjustments, you know, pulling the mic back. Definitely don’t have to worry about having the boom in frame if I’m in the frame, because the boom is going to be way, way further away from me. But I know. I don’t know. I think I totally do. I mean, I’ve always just, like, turn it down, you know, but I’ve gotten used to it. But I.
Yeah, I mean, I. I pr. I literally practice doing that and watching really great actors. And, like. Yeah. I remember the first time I was on a film set, I was just like, I can’t even hear the guy I’m in the scene with.
MIKE ELDER (00:14:23)
Right.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:14:24)
I’m like, what? What are you down the line? You know what I mean? Like, I’m like, there’s some quiet actors out there that really bring it down really small. And I mean, that’s. That’s definitely not my personality or my thing, but I get it.
MIKE ELDER (00:14:37)
Yeah. Yeah. So for, like, that and like, the Jason note, when you go into, like, an audition, do you, like, try to consciously remind yourself to do that beforehand.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:14:44)
Or have you now it’s sort of become, like, habit. It was weird. It was like, the first time I Did it? It was a little bit like learning how to ride a bike. Like that moment you finally are like, oh, oh, I push this pedal and then I lean this way and I push this pedal and I lean this way. And now I’m done. Like, you don’t have to relearn that skill or that move because now you know how to ride a bike.
Yeah, like, that’s how it felt for me. Like, I mean, and I’m not gonna sit here and say I don’t get nervous that I don’t. My first reaction to reading an email about a appointment that I might have that says the character’s this or that, that I think I cast myself out of it. I think every actor has that moment where they’re like, this is not my part. There’s no way I’m playing this, you know, but yeah, then I sort of go, oh, that’s my old tendency to think about what they want or what they think or what, you know, and then I just go back to like, they’re not calling me in, knowing who I am. There’s enough footage of me out there. They’re not calling me in, thinking I’m going to do something different here, you know.
And you know, I hope to get to the point in my acting career where I get to take those giant swings and you know, someone’s like, trust me to play like Abraham Lincoln or something like that. And I’m like, not Adam Shapiro, but like, you know, steps. I’m thinking like, maybe I could move into like playing like Adam Schwartz or like Adam Greenberg and then sort of like go into like some non Jewish last names like Adam Johnson and then maybe not even Adam and like grow. And then eventually I could play like a historical figure step one step at a time.
MIKE ELDER (00:16:23)
We were talking as you walked in here because you’re commenting in my self tape setup.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:16:26)
Good setup, by the way.
MIKE ELDER (00:16:28)
Speaking of like. Well, first off, you say that in every. I. I always want to try to figure out how to stand out and self tape stuff. Try to figure out a way you said. And I don’t want to put you on blast. But you say you’re in New Zealand every self tape now.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:16:40)
Yeah, well, I mean, you know, I don’t, I don’t want to give. I don’t want to give the way the. All the tricks to the trade. But yeah, yeah, when I’m. When. When they say to say where you are, I always say I’m in New Zealand because a.
The production value is there because it’s just a Gray background. You know, a gray background is a gray background here in Hollywood or in New Zealand. And so I don’t have to show those big mountains or anything like that. And I think, like, when an actor’s in New Zealand, they’re shooting something kind of huge, and you can’t expect the actor to tell you what they’re shooting in New Zealand because they’re shooting in New Zealand. It’s probably a project they’re not allowed to talk about. It’s funny because I, like, I kid around, but I’m serious. I do say that I’m always in New Zealand, but I also.
I remember when I first moved out here, I had a million jobs, and one of my jobs, I was a casting assistant for Mary Verneau at Betty Mae casting on Abbot Kinney. And at the time, they had this, like, tiny bungalow on Abbot Kinney, and they were casting all these really cool comedies. And Orange county was what we were casting while I was in the office. And then there was a movie called Waiting about all these waiters. I don’t think the movie ended up being made for another five or six years after we were initially casting it. But I remember one of my jobs was to. To file the headshots into categories.
So a headshot comes in, throw it into, like, whatever their category is, age range, whatever, male, female. And then when auditions were happening, I would manually type in the name of the person onto the camcorder. So it set it on there.
MIKE ELDER (00:18:15)
Sure.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:18:16)
You know, it’s just like, I remember Seth Rogen coming in and typing in, like. And you have to hit the button a million times to get to E9 or whatever. Yeah. And then you have to hit the million button to get to E and then to T. And I was like, oh, it took me so long holding up Seth Rogen’s audition, because I was like, only on R, you know? And he was like, no, it’s okay. And anyway, so, like, Seth, like, he was so funny, and he was so cool, and he was so authentic, and he was so himself.
Like, I remember just being like, whoa. Because at this time, I had never seen a Hollywood audition. I was. I was actually still in college studying musical theater. I’d only seen, like, musical theater auditions where, like, people are, like, dressed to the nines, and they come out and they project and they sing, and it’s like a whole different thing.
MIKE ELDER (00:18:55)
Oh, this was like a summer internship.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:18:57)
This was like a summer internship. Yeah, that I came out here the year before I go graduated University of Maryland, and I. And I Was like, in this office, I was. During the week, I was Andy Dick’s assistant. That’s like the worst job in all of Hollywood. So I only went up from there, and then during the weekends, and when I had time, I would go into Mary venues and be an assistant in the casting office. But I forget what I was telling the story.
One of the things I noticed was every time, like, a baller actor came in for an audition, we never had, like, a nice headshot, a nice color headshot made out of, like, that, like, harder, thicker paper stapled to, you know, on the back. A nice stapled resume. It was. If it was a baller actor, it was like a fax of a fax of a fax of a photo of them at Sundance, you know, with a scarf on. And then there was a resume on the back that the actor didn’t make. It was like, UTA made that resume, and, like, it was, like, stapled on to the paper, and it wasn’t, like, cut to fit the headshot.
You know what I mean? Like, I used to think, like, your headshot’s got to be immaculate and perfect, and then your resume is printed on paper, which is not an 8 by 10, so you have to, like, cut the edges off and, like, same thing.
MIKE ELDER (00:20:11)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:20:12)
And I was, like, so crazy about that. And then every time a baller actor would come in for an audition, they didn’t have a headshot. We I took, like, a photocopy of a fax that came in from the agent and stapled it so that the casting director had it there.
So I remember my first time. So that became a goal of mine is to, like, never not have a headshot. I don’t want a headshot because I don’t want to look like a green actor who’s got a headshot. I want to look like Seth Rogen, who’s, like, killing it, you know? So I remember the first time I ever went to a film festival. My goal for the whole festival was get a photo that I can then take, like, in one of those portrait booths where the actors get, like, these really nice, cool film festival photos. Take that photo, take it to Kinko’s, photocopy it, take that photocopy and photocopy that and make it as shitty as as I could make it look, and then staple a resume to it that looks like it was made by an agency, and then use that as my headshot and resume, you know?
And so I did a short film called short term 12, which ended up being a feature which was Incredible. And it was destined. Daniel Cretton’s, like, first movie he ever made. Now he’s doing Spider Man. And we went to the Las Vegas Film Festival with short term 12 before we went to Sundance. And it won best short at Sundance and several festivals. And while we were at Vegas, I found like, the Getty Images photographer who had this portrait booth.
I was like, yo, can I get a picture? I have this. I’m trying to be like Seth Rogen or whatever. And so Seth Rogen has become like a dear friend of mine. By the way, he’s like the best guy ever. But at the time I didn’t know him at all. And I.
And I said to this part, and the guy’s like, ah, sorry. Like, this is for the actors that are like, in the feature films. It’s not for like the short films. I was like, man, I’ll do anything. I’ll come. I’ll come before, you know, your first portrait of the day or whatever. He’s all right.
If you come and like, 7am Tomorrow, I’ll like, take your picture. I’m like, done. So I show up at 7am the next day with Destin. I’m like, destin, you gotta come get a picture with me. So we both got pictures together and separate or whatever. And it was like our first, like, cool, like, portraits. Now I took that portrait in Las Vegas.
I went to this Kinko’s and I started making copies of it and I made it look really crappy. There was no. It didn’t say my name on it. And that was my headshot for like the next, like, I don’t know, five years was this really crappy picture.
MIKE ELDER (00:22:29)
See, what bugs me about that is because I feel like you were talking about cutting the resume and everything. I think there’s rules that need to be followed.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:22:36)
Oh, of course. And then did you get a lot of A’s in school and you, like, you study?
MIKE ELDER (00:22:40)
Yeah. I’m like, okay, if I follow these rules, they’ll appreciate my word. Sure, but rules don’t matter. And that’s what my point is about. Like the self tape thing.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:22:49)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (00:22:49)
You’re like, I’m in New Zealand because you just want to sound appealing and sexy and it works. And it’s like, but he’s breaking the rules.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:22:55)
I know, it’s funny. I think it’s like all about breaking the rules out here. Like, I really do think that, like, if in order to stand out, you have to break the rules a little bit. And I think, you know, the best actors Break rules all the time. I agree.
MIKE ELDER (00:23:08)
That’s what I’m trying to figure out.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:23:09)
And every great actor. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (00:23:12)
It’s like you go to 200 south the Brea and the guy that books it is if it’s like a construction worker is the one that’s wearing a.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:23:17)
Suit, you know, doesn’t look like a construction.
MIKE ELDER (00:23:19)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:23:19)
He’s standing out because everybody’s there wearing a reflective vest. And this guy just showed up in a jean and T shirt.
And I think, like. Yeah, I think that’s one of the hardest things that I had to learn moving out here as a rule follower, as somebody who, like, comes from an academic background. My mom is a teacher, My father’s a professor. It was all about following directions and sitting in the first row and asking the teacher questions. And I got out here and that’s what I thought was gonna make me a successful actor. And I think that you keep that, but you keep that in your pocket. Yeah, Right.
You don’t want people to see all that work. I saw a video of Meryl Streep the other day and she was saying, like, listen, like, you. You show up prepared, you do your work, you do all that A plus homework, all that stuff that you and I feel like we need to be doing, right? But that’s the thing that fuels your work, right? That’s your.
That’s your lunch. And your lunch is in your belly and that’s fueling you for the rest of the day. But we don’t want to see the lunch in your belly. Right. That’s disgusting. We don’t want to see the work. You do the work.
But now when you show up, you just want to be a real person with the flaws and the rule breaking and the pimple on your cheek and all that stuff that I thought everything needed to be covered up. It’s the revealing of all that that’s going to make you unique and stand out. Right. And I think there is no one like each and every one of us individually.
MIKE ELDER (00:24:57)
Right.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:24:57)
So if you’re looking to stand out, the closer you can get to being you with all your flaws and your imperfections is. Is that is going to create a better chance of you standing out.
MIKE ELDER (00:25:08)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:25:09)
All the great things in my life that I’ve ever had came from me being more authentic and certainly not less.
MIKE ELDER (00:25:17)
You know, I don’t want to keep harping on this, but with the New Zealand thing, do you think that. Do you think it actually works and makes you sexy? I think it’s the appeal. Or do you think it. It’s the same for you psychologically and gives you maybe more confidence or something.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:25:30)
There’s. It could work on a million levels or it could not work. I find it funny, so I’m gonna do it. That’s authentically you. That’s authentically me. The other thing is, is, like, somebody else might find that funny. Somebody else might know everything.
I’m obviously not in New Zealand and just find that funny, like, on my resume, right? And I don’t know if my resume still, like, goes to places I don’t know, because I. I don’t have it anymore. I. There’s no more in person auditions, Right. You know, I used to show up to audition, give the headshot and the resume to the cast director. They’d be like, looking at it, you know?
Or then I would show up a little bit later in my career, and I would show up, and the cast director would already have my head shot in resume. I’m like, oh, okay, that’s another level, right? On my resume, it says really big at the bottom, Carnegie Mellon University. Now, I didn’t go to. I didn’t go to Carnegie Mellon University, but. But it says right above Carnegie Mellon University in really small font. University of Maryland, but wanted to go to colon big.
Carnegie Mellon University, you know, because all those geniuses went there. And so a few times I was in auditions and directors were like, carnegie Mellon.
MIKE ELDER (00:26:38)
You’re just like, social engineering. This entire thing. Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:26:41)
And they’d be like, carnegie Mellon. And I’ like, try to suss out if they were being serious. And I’d. And I just say things like, Pittsburgh, man, Pittsburgh. You know, because I don’t know anything about Carnegie Mellon. Or they would go ask me something specific, like, carnegie Mellon, who was your acting professor? And I go, oh, no, no, look.
Look a little closer. I went to university. It says the University of Maryland, but wanted to go to Carnegie Mellon. And then that’s hilarious.
Then they go, oh, my God, that’s funny, right?
MIKE ELDER (00:27:10)
Oh, see, this gives me slight anxiety, though.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:27:13)
Sure. This isn’t my foot in my mouth. You know, this is not for everybody. I. What I do is I live with my foot in my mouth. So it’s. It’s really just a matter of just reveal.
Taking the foot out. I don’t worry about putting my foot in my mouth because I wouldn’t go anywhere if I was worried about that.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. But I.
There were a few instances of people asking me about Carnegie Mountain, and then I say, oh, look a little bit closer. I Think you’re. You’re not reading the fine print. There’s. And then they see it, and then they’re like, this kid’s hilarious. I mean, there was. I would do this stuff all the time.
Like, I remember when I first met here, everybody would just tell me how small my resume was. They’re like, oh, you have, like, a really. You know, it’s very small resume. Like, you’re not going to be able to get in for that because it’s a very small resume. So what I ended up doing was. And this is when I had a headshot resume. I. I printed out my headshot real small.
Like, you know, like a one inch like that. Like, maybe you could print 100 of them on one.
On one piece of paper. And I cut them with, like, a paper cutter. And then I made my resume exactly that size, too. And I used mini staples to staple them together. So I would go into auditions, give people my headshot resume, and they were like, you know, they were one inch big. And I would take it out of a really small pocket in my jeans, like, the small pocket. And I would give them my resume and keep going.
And they’d be like, what is this? And I’m like, oh, that’s my resume. It’s like a really small resume. And now that’s, like the dumbest thing in the world. And it’s so cheesy, and it’s like prop comedy, I guess you could call it. But, like, it was really funny. And, like, I remember being at a bar and somebody came out to me.
We were at Barney’s Beanery on Santa Monica in West West Hollywood. On Santa Monica.
And this guy came up to me. He’s like, yo, I’m a casting assistant at an office. And your tiny headshot is, like, on our wall. That’s like. We put it next to our desk. We, like, tacked it up. Your little headshot.
Oh, and that’s the point.
MIKE ELDER (00:29:09)
Yeah. Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:29:09)
You know what I mean? Like, that’s the. My. I want my headshot to be tacked up on the casting office wall. And making it really small made it really memorable and hilarious. And if they needed it bigger, they could find it bigger. I mean, I.
I also did the same thing with my. I remember my. My agency at the time was apa and they were like, you need to get. You need a demo reel. We need, like, something to send out on dvd. And I was like, oh, man. I tried, but, like, I’m just in that T Mobile commercial, that one line in Oliver Bean.
And that one line in Gilmore Girls, you know, my demo reels are like 34 seconds long with all my stuff. And that’s including the whole commercial. Even at the end where Katherine Jaden Jones is like T mobile, get more right. Like I’m like keeping everything in there. The lines before I talk, the lines after I talk. And so what I ended up doing was I made the dvd, I made the reel and. And then this is my favorite thing ever.
And I kind of want to do another one. But you remember how DVDs had like commentary on them? You could like choose to watch the movie with commentary. So I made the demo reel where you could choose to watch the demo reel or you could choose to watch the demo reel with commentary by Adam Shapiro and his roommate Dave Offenheiser. And Dave and I did a 35 second really funny pass at commentary on my demo reel. And it made the demo really funny, like actually funny. So what I did on the DVD was just basically make the link that said click demo reel. Like unclickable.
You couldn’t watch it without the commentary.
MIKE ELDER (00:30:43)
That’s hilarious.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:30:44)
You know what I mean? If you clicked watch demo reel, it’s social engineering, everything. You’re just gaslitting. This is what I’m doing.
MIKE ELDER (00:30:50)
Manipulating people.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:30:51)
Manipulate. And so you had to watch it with commentary. And that was really funny, you know, and that was like.
MIKE ELDER (00:30:58)
Well, it comes back to like, you gotta stand out somehow.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:31:01)
Yeah, sure.
MIKE ELDER (00:31:02)
All you, all you. It sounds like you’re doing is standing out in, in the rules. Because like.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:31:07)
Well, I just think if you’re trying to stand out, if you’re even considering standing out, you might be barking up the wrong tree.
MIKE ELDER (00:31:15)
What do you mean?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:31:16)
I think if you are doing what is authentically funny to you or good to you or, or like I never thought, like, I’m gonna do this demo reel with the commentary because I want to stand out from the other demo reels. I thought I want to do the demo door with the commentary because it’s hilarious.
MIKE ELDER (00:31:34)
Right. But you’re my.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:31:36)
It’s like when you’re making a movie, it’s like you want to make a movie that you find funny. You can’t guess if it’s going to stand out amongst the other comedies.
MIKE ELDER (00:31:45)
I guess my point is I want to compliment you doing it within the scope of the rules.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:31:52)
Sure.
MIKE ELDER (00:31:52)
You’re almost doing extra credit. Right.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:31:54)
Because how can I struggle with is.
MIKE ELDER (00:31:56)
How can I make this square self tape with a gray backdrop stand out in the rules of that without going out and Shooting the movie myself and making a fake explosion, all that. Yeah, yeah, you’re still doing it in that great backdrop, but you’re adding in a little teasing.
Ooh, maybe there’s more to it. I’m in New Zealand. You’re doing a demo reel, but you’re adding commentary in that form of. You’re not saying, I don’t need a fucking demo.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:32:18)
You know what I mean?
MIKE ELDER (00:32:18)
You’re following the rules. And then you’re adding onto that. You’re printing off your headshot and resume, but you’re doing it as well because it’s like following the rules, but you’re.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:32:26)
Exactly.
MIKE ELDER (00:32:26)
And like, that’s great.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:32:27)
And I.
MIKE ELDER (00:32:28)
Really clever.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:32:28)
And I can’t point to any of, like the. The self tapes where I’ve done all this, these hijinks and be like, I booked that one. In fact, I don’t know if that’s the case. Like, I. I’m trying to think of like, self tape.
MIKE ELDER (00:32:41)
It doesn’t matter though, right? Because it goes back to what Jason Winer said. It’s like, you’re. You’re standing out now. And then that might be.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:32:47)
The person that finds the New Zealand comment funny on my self tape is probably the person that should cast me, right? And then I. It’s probably in the project I should get cast in. The person who’s like, wait, is he really in New Zealand? I don’t understand what this. And they don’t cast me probably for. We probably don’t share the same statue.
MIKE ELDER (00:33:07)
It’s the casting assistant at Barney’s that becomes a casting director later.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:33:10)
He’s like, this is hilarious.
MIKE ELDER (00:33:11)
Exactly.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:33:12)
Yeah. And I think, like, that’s the other thing is, like, this keeps self taping fun for me. And that’s another thing. Like, I would rather spend five self tapes, six self tapes that I literally throw into the garbage because the people don’t understand why I’m saying I’m in New Zealand. And they don’t get that in order to keep it fun. So that when I do that seventh self tape, I’m having a good time with it. And that person gets me and that’s the job I should get, you know?
And so that’s the other thing is, like, I gotta keep it fun for me because this business can feel really serious and like, you gotta be doing one thing or another. And I don’t know, I feel like for me, personally, if I’m having a good time and I’m in a good headspace, then the work is usually better because of it.
MIKE ELDER (00:33:55)
Yeah, I love it. You’ve sort of inspired me a little, you know, but.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:33:58)
But I do think, like, these things are ridiculous. They’re very personal to me that not anybody could show up and give a mini headshot and pull that off, because it may not be in their personality, but there is something in their personality that would be similar to that. Something unique to them that is going to. I don’t know. You ever watch Love on the Spectrum?
MIKE ELDER (00:34:20)
Oh, yeah, yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:34:21)
I’m watching the new season right now.
MIKE ELDER (00:34:23)
That guy’s the biggest character.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:34:25)
And like, if I just think, like, I watch that show and I don’t know if you feel the same way, but I’m. Not only is it just so heartwarming and beautiful and just incredible, but talk about an exercise in authenticity.
MIKE ELDER (00:34:40)
Thousand percent.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:34:40)
Everybody on that show says exactly what’s on their mind.
MIKE ELDER (00:34:43)
Yep.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:34:44)
You know the girl last night, I was watching the episode, she says to the dating expert, how many toys is it appropriate for me to bring on the date? Right, right. Because I want to bring all my dolls and all my beads and stuff. And the experts sort of like, well, what do you think about two, you know, two dolls? Would that be enough? And she was like, yeah, I think that. I think I would be able to, you know, because normally I bring a lot more than that.
But yeah, two is fine. Right. And I’m thinking like, that that’s just real. All of us have something like that. That’s not. You don’t have to be like, on the Spectrum. Autistic to feel like you want to bring something that brings you comfort into a situation, you know?
And so she’s just being so authentic and real and like, I watched that show and I’m like, I’ve never liked people more than I like the people on this show.
MIKE ELDER (00:35:33)
Yeah, I agree.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:35:34)
They’re so real and so funny and they’re getting.
MIKE ELDER (00:35:37)
And how funny is it on, like, TikTok and stuff? And I love.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:35:40)
And also from a comedy standpoint, how funny are those guys?
MIKE ELDER (00:35:43)
Connor’s hilarious.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:35:44)
The comedy. Connor is so funny. And like. And. And they’re.
And a lot of the stuff they’re saying is funny and they. They. And they’re intending it to be funny and it is fun.
MIKE ELDER (00:35:54)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:35:54)
You know?
MIKE ELDER (00:35:55)
Yeah. Wait, how much are you actually self taping, though? Like, honestly? Because to me, it’s like, at which point do you really do. Are mostly. Does most of your stuff come from auditions still?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:36:05)
Yeah, I rarely get phone calls and offers. It’s pretty rare. I mean, I had auditioned for the Bear earlier on in the series, I think. But the. But the role I got on the Bear was an offer. And. And I couldn’t believe it.
And I said to Chris Storr when I was leaving after my first episode, which I thought was gonna be my only episode, which I was. Which I was. Which I was thrilled about.
MIKE ELDER (00:36:31)
Yeah, what a.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:36:31)
And I mean, you know, there’s nothing more amazing when you book that one episode guest star, and then they call you and like, hey, we’re gonna have you back. And all of a sudden you become a recurring character and you’re like, yes, that’s awesome. Because it’s so easy to not bring someone back after one episode, but to bring them back, you gotta figure out how do you add them to the story and write them in. So there’s a reason that they’re bringing you back. And I’m like, oh, that’s so cool. It’s such an honor. And I think the Bear.
I was leaving after my only episode in season two, and I said to Chris, dude, thank you so much. I never just get a phone call out of the blue. I audition everything, you know, and he’s like, well, we’re so obsessed with the pretzel thing. We had to get you in here. And I was like, the pretzel thing? The pretzels. I’ve been auditioning for, like 25 years. The pretzels.
So that’s another interesting story about sort of how this industry does sort of obsess, and I think rightfully so, over, like, what else actors might bring to the table.
MIKE ELDER (00:37:33)
Yeah, thousand percent.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:37:35)
You know, I. I know when I sit down at a dinner party and I’m with like those actors who just talk about acting the whole time, I just want to be anywhere else in that moment. Yeah, right. I just like. I’m like, not the kind of. It’s. I like being on a show like this because I.
We could just talk about acting stuff. We could talk about, like, the business, but if we were at a dinner party right now, the last thing I would be mentioning is self taping and appointments. Like, I. It drives me crazy, especially hearing about other people’s.
I’m like, I don’t even want to. You know.
MIKE ELDER (00:38:07)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:38:07)
And. But when I meet those actors and you’re like, whoa, this dude’s like a race car driver. This guy, like, sells this or this. This guy, like, he. You know, when he’s a woodworker.
MIKE ELDER (00:38:22)
I interviewed the Capital One guy. You know, the.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:38:24)
Yeah, sure, sure.
MIKE ELDER (00:38:25)
He’s tall, drink of water, he Is a United airlines pilot by day.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:38:29)
And that’s so fascinating, isn’t it? It’s amazing.
MIKE ELDER (00:38:32)
Spokesman for 10 years.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:38:34)
Yeah. And he’s so good on those spots. He’s such a great spokesman.
MIKE ELDER (00:38:37)
Like, that’s interesting as hell.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:38:38)
I know.
MIKE ELDER (00:38:39)
I want to talk to you, though.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:38:40)
So. Yeah, I do audition normally, and it’s rare that I get an offer for anything.
That’s for sure. But the pretzels has helped.
MIKE ELDER (00:38:47)
And I want to talk to you about your side hustles, Because I’m fascinated by the idea of side hustles. I have a lot. I just quit my day job. I had a tech startup day job for, like, 10 years, and I just quit it. So I might need more side hustle. Sure. So I want to talk to you about the pretzels.
How, like, this was a COVID side project while you couldn’t act. Right.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:39:07)
So here’s.
MIKE ELDER (00:39:09)
You know, also, you run a theater with your wife, which is awesome.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:39:12)
Yeah. So a theater company that’s like 18 years old now. I’m more like a grandpa. I’m not, like, running it anymore. I did that for a long time. When the pretzel thing started, I sort of, like, stepped back in. The theater company was like, listen, I’m here for, like, anything and everything that theater company needs, But I need the theater company to hire people to do what I’ve been doing for the past, like, 15 years.
Because I was doing all of our marketing, websites, social media, ticket sales, graphic design, video editing, everything for the company. Because I was, like, the one guy in the company that I knew how to use a computer.
MIKE ELDER (00:39:43)
Right.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:39:43)
And then that developed into this, like, giant job, and I was like, guys, when the time comes and I gotta step down, it’s gonna be two people for sure. At least. Because I’m doing ticket sales and marketing, but also graphic design. Like, I don’t know if you’re gonna be able to find. Not that somebody can’t do what I can do, but nobody would want to do that in their right mind. Take a job where they’re doing all these things, you know?
MIKE ELDER (00:40:06)
Well, I love it too, because, like, I think a lot of actors think, oh, the dream is to work steadily and just be an actor. But I think even good, successful actors like you, and even bigger, famous, more people than that have side up. Well, it’s very important to have.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:40:20)
And the other thing is, I think acting, just being an actor in a vacuum, let’s say you’re just doing small theater in a small town somewhere in the world. Your only skill that you need to do that is the acting part. That’s it.
MIKE ELDER (00:40:36)
Right?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:40:37)
Right. You want to be an actor in Hollywood. You’re a CEO of a company, and that company has all the departments that any larger company would add. Marketing, social media, sales, outreach, hr, accounting, all the vice president position operations. You have all that. And you need to fill every one of those seats. And if you don’t have any money, you’re doing all them.
You’re doing social media, you’re doing your publicity. Then your career grows and you’re like, I can hire a publicist for $7,000 a month. I can hire a business manager to handle all my finances and getting those bills paid and getting the paychecks in. I can hire a manager to manage my time and I can hire all sorts, an assistant to do the running around so, like, you can start to actually create that company. But the moment you move to Hollywood, the moment you say you’re an actor in Hollywood, that that company now exists and you are the CEO, right? And you have to be responsible for all those other parts. So I was so grateful for my time as the marketing and social media manager at, I am at our theater company, because I learned how to edit photos and how to edit video and how to graphic design and all that stuff.
And those things helped me as an actor tremendously. Now as an actor, if you don’t know how to use a computer, you’re fucked. I mean, you’re all your, all your auditions you need to submit and edit and shoot and light and all that stuff. And when I first moved out here, that was not, that was not a thing. You know, you paid like fifteen hundred dollars for a good headshot. It’s like now it’s like, dude, take a picture of yourself. What are you doing?
You know what I mean? Like, there’s so many things as actors we could do if we develop those skills. And again, I think like, like I said with like those, the little things I used to like to do to promote myself where I wasn’t necessari it to stand out. I was doing it because I thought it was funny. Shappy Pretzel wasn’t necessarily started because I wanted a side hustle. It was started because I thought it was great.
MIKE ELDER (00:42:39)
Oh, I thought, okay, sure.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:42:40)
I didn’t think like, I need a side hustle. I need to like make some money on the side here. I need to like have something when times are like, are like tough. It was not like, I want to make a side hustle. It was, I Want to learn how to make a Philadelphia soft pretzel so my 2 year old can eat one during this lockdown?
MIKE ELDER (00:42:56)
Yeah, yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:42:57)
It was not like, how do I make this into a side hustle?
MIKE ELDER (00:43:00)
And that’s the best way. Out of passion.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:43:03)
Out of passion, you know? And I think, like, now there was something. And I. Henry Winkler and I did a movie together. And he’s become, like, a really good friend and like a mentor to me, and in a big way. And I remember the first time I ever went to the Winkler household for dinner on a Friday night. And Katie and I are there, and there’s all these people there, and it was this amazing dinner.
It was so incredible. And I. Henry Winkler is like my idol in so many ways. I think he’s a brilliant actor. I think he’s an amazing comedian, and I like that. If you bring up Henry Winkler’s name in this town, people say he’s the nicest guy in this business. I want to be that.
That’d be awesome. That’s what I like to. I don’t want to not be nice. Like, and I’ve always thought, heard, like, nice. You don’t make it in this town if you’re like, not, like, ruffle a few fucking Henry.
Mick doesn’t ruffle feathers. He’s like the nicest dude ever, but he’s not the nicest dude ever because he’s faking it. He just is, you know? And so we’re at this dinner with him, and he pulls me aside and we had just finished this movie. And he was like, adam, I have good news for you and I have bad news for you. And I was like, okay. And he’s like, the good news is you’re good at the acting thing, and I think you’re gonna work forever.
I was like, oh, my God, that’s amazing. He’s like, the bad news is that you’re good at the acting thing, and I think you’re gonna work, like, forever. And I was like, oh, what does that mean? He goes, well, when you work forever in this town as an actor, you come across periods of time with huge gaps between working.
MIKE ELDER (00:44:26)
Yeah, right.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:44:27)
If you don’t work forever, eventually you just go and you do something else, right? Something else that you might love more, that’s more suited for you. But when you’re an actor and you do work forever, you go through it all, the tough times, the good times, the big stuff, the small stuff, when there’s nothing. He’s like, find yourself.
He’s like, after I played The Fonz. No one wanted to hire me for 40 years because all anybody could see me in was the Fonz. And he’s like, thank God for Adam Sandler. Put me in the waterboy. But that was like 30 years later, you know, and he’s like, you know, I had little things here and there, and I tried little things. But what I want to tell you and the advice I want to give you is because you’re going to work forever, find something that has nothing to do with acting, that is creatively fulfilling, that fills your time and fills your passion, that doesn’t have to do with the miracle that is someone writing something that ends up being perfect for you, that you end up getting the audition and knowing the guy who they wanted isn’t available. That miracle that happens to book a role.
Find something that doesn’t depend on that, you know? And so for a decade, I thought about what Winkler said. I was like, what am I gonna do? Maybe I’ll do website design.
Maybe I’ll do. But I didn’t love making websites for people.
And then I. You know, I just was like, I don’t know what this is. Cut to the pandemic. I start making soft pretzels with my little son just at home in your stove. At home on my. You know, in my oven. And then whenever Kelly Ripa goes on vacation, my wife gets hired to, like, replace her on the show.
Like the substitute host. Well, during the Pandemic, we were shooting her episodes on Zoom from our house, and Seacrest was at his house, and it was a whole Zoom broadcast. So at 6 in the morning, I’m setting up lights in our living room, and the camera.
I’m getting Katie ready. She’s in hair and makeup, which is her just doing her hair and makeup. And then, boom, we’re live on air national television with Seacrest in his house, and the two of them are doing their host chat in the beginning of the show. And then Seacrest one day randomly says, what have you guys been snacking on, you know, during this lockdown time? And Katie’s like, oh, my husband’s obsessed with making a Philly soft pretzel. And I just jump on tv, and I’m like, yo, Seacrest, I’m bringing you some soft pretzels tomorrow. So I make a little bag, and I.
And at 4 in the morning, I make some pretzels. I give it to his assistant. She drives it out to him on the west side. He eats them on the air national tv, and it’s like, These are amazing.
Everybody needs to buy Shappy’s Pretzels. And I’m like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I get back on tv, I’m like, there’s no Shappy’s Pretzels. This is just me and my son. He’s like, well, there should be a Shabby Spaetzle, you know? And I was like, okay. And so they go interview the celebrity of the day or whatever.
I go into the kitchen and I get Shabby Pretzel Instagram and I get the Shappy Pretzel website. And I know how to do that stuff super fast because of my time at I am A. And I just make a quick one page website just so nobody steals it because he said it on national television, you know, and just so nobody steals it, I make a quick website that just says, yo, your mall’s Pretzel can go fuck itself. Shabby Pretzels here. And then if you click on Shappy Pretzel, it takes you to the Instagram. And on the Instagram is a video of me saying, we’re not a real pretzel company. This is just for fun.
But if we do become one ever, you’ll be the first to know.
MIKE ELDER (00:47:24)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:47:24)
And all of a sudden, There was like 2,000 people following this pretzel company. And I was just posting videos of me making pretzels or trying to make pretzels. And then people started DMing me. Let me buy one, Let me come over and get one. You know, I’m dying for a Philly Pretzel. Whatever. And so I said to Katie, I’m like, should I sell a couple of these?
She’s like, I mean, it was lockdown. She was like, whatever gets you out of sort of my space would be incredible. And I’m like, okay. And so I started. People started DMing me and venmoing me. And I’d sent them my address and they would come to my house and they would pick up pretzels. And all of a sudden this business started.
And now five years later, it’s a side hustle. But when I started it, it wasn’t. It was just. Just a labor of love in the truest way. All I wanted to do was make people happy during the pandemic. And I couldn’t do that the way I normally try to do that, which is do plays and laugh. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (00:48:18)
Did you have like a family recipe or.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:48:21)
No, I just created my own recipe.
MIKE ELDER (00:48:23)
Like a soft spot from a youth.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:48:25)
Trying, no pun intended, a soft pretzel spot. I love Philly Soft pretzels. They’re a very specific type of soft pretzel. Everybody in Philly knows what it tastes like. Everybody knows in Philly how it feels when they get one and where they first used to eat them. Whether that was the pretzel day at school or the guy on the corner of their street that sold them on the. On the shopping cart, or that place on Broad street where you could get it right out of the oven at 2 in the morning when you get out of the clubs.
I think I knew exactly in my head, my North Star, of what it should taste like. So I just kept. Kept trying different things until I found one that tasted. And then it wasn’t until we started selling so much of them that I learned how to shape it. The ones I sold early from my house, I couldn’t get them to stop proofing. And no matter how good the shape was when I shaped it, I didn’t have a freezer. I didn’t have a facility.
So the pretzel would eventually just keep proofing and proofing and proofing until I baked. Was the dead of summer in the valley.
It was 110 degrees. And I’m like. And I’ve got my oven on 24 7. Cause I’m making 500 pretzels a day. And so it was like 115 degrees in my kitchen. So the pretzels were just these giant, puffy, overproofed, like, buns. You could kind of see that they were once shaped.
MIKE ELDER (00:49:46)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:49:47)
People didn’t care because they tasted exactly like the pretzel from their childhood.
MIKE ELDER (00:49:51)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:49:52)
And then once I moved to a big bakery and started working with bakers, I learned how to like, like, do all the things in baking you have to do in order to keep the beautiful shapes of all the pastries that we love, you know, and all the breads that we love.
MIKE ELDER (00:50:04)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:50:04)
So now I. Now they look like Philly pretzels and they taste like.
MIKE ELDER (00:50:07)
So at this point, how big is the company?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:50:09)
Like, we got a bunch of employees. We did.
MIKE ELDER (00:50:12)
What bunch? Like 20?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:50:13)
No, we’ve got. I think there’s 10 people who work at Shabby Pretzel now to sort of work on a more full facility. And then we have a facility actually right above Canners Deli. There’s a big bakery up there. And from about starting around 5 in the morning, it’s pretty much empty up there because they do all their breads and pastries and cookies and everything from like midnight till about five in the morning.
MIKE ELDER (00:50:36)
Oh, so you rent it out from.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:50:38)
Yeah. So from about five in the morning till dinner time, that place is open for shabby pretzel. Which is great. Like today or yesterday we had a order of 2,000 pretzels for a school district. The day before that we had an order of another 2,000 for a pretzel day at Universal celebrating the office’s 20th anniversary.
MIKE ELDER (00:50:55)
I saw that. That’s so cool.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:50:56)
And we do, we do Gold Belly. We ship the pretzels nationwide overnight. We do a lot of pickups at canners and then we do just a ton of set catering, bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings. Tying in the knot.
MIKE ELDER (00:51:09)
It’s crazy. So I’m fascinated then by how do you split your time then? Or how do you like split your time?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:51:15)
Right now it feels like it’s just two full time jobs. There’s, you know, the side hustle is whatever one I’m not working on actually.
MIKE ELDER (00:51:22)
Okay.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:51:23)
So it’s like today I get to talk to you and talk about acting and stuff. So the pretzel thing needs to get the slack needs to get picked up by my staff today. And I’m not on my email right now. And so that’s the side hustle. But tomorrow I might be all pretzels all day and then the act. Cause there’s nothing happening on the acting front.
MIKE ELDER (00:51:41)
Right.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:51:41)
So it’s really like just doing two full time jobs.
MIKE ELDER (00:51:44)
But like you just came back. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this. You just came on the bear for like a week. So are you like, like you’re running lines? Oh, I’m fully on set. And then you go to your trailer and you’re just like responding.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:51:53)
I mean I remember I was doing Never have I Ever. And we were about to do a scene and they and the camera department in Never have I Ever was like coolest guys ever. And the, the camera op on the camera that was on my closeup was on a dolly and he’s really close to me and we’re about to start taking.
He’s like, yo Sha. Just really quick, I ordered a sweatshirt, Chevy pretzel sweatshirt. Do I pick that up at the popup or does that get shipped to me? And. And I was like, this is the best man.
I just love having both things. Honestly, I think you know this as an actor. It’s like there’s a lot you can be doing as an actor all every day. You are the CEO of your company. So there’s a ton you can be doing. There’s also a Ton of downtime as an actor.
Like a lot. And I think, like, there’s a room in our lives for other stuff and the other stuff is what makes us a more interesting actor. So a lot of times I’m where I’m like, what am I doing with this pretzel thing? Like, it was not a profitable month or I lost money this year or whatever. It’s like I go back to like a what Henry Winkler said, which is like, find yourself something that you love and that fulfills you when there’s those lean times, which now I’ve gone through the pandemic with this pretzel company and the year long strike with this pretzel comedy and like, thank God I had it. Yeah. And then the other thing I go back to is just I think this makes me a more interesting actor.
And I also think it makes me a more comfortable actor because before I take that shot and never have I ever before, the pretzel company might have been like, in my head about what I’m about to do now I’m answering this guy’s question about the sweatshirt he ordered and then they’re calling action. And I’m going right into the scene and it’s real and it’s live and I’m not in my head. And I think it makes me a better performer too, because I’m not so wrapped up in my own fucking face. Yeah, and you’re not as an actor, you could get sort of lost in your own. In your own bullshit, right?
MIKE ELDER (00:53:51)
And your desperation. Because you’re like, oh, I need this gig. But you don’t.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:53:55)
Every actor knows the moment you book a flight home is when you book a gig. Or every time you. Yeah, every time you say. I can’t tell you how many actors I’ve worked with that are amazing actors.
And I’m like, whoa, dude, you’re so good.
MIKE ELDER (00:54:12)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:54:12)
What show were you on before this? And they’re like, oh, no, I like quit acting like four days before I booked this. I wasn’t on a show before this, right. I was shooting a show called the Continental in Budapest. And we had this amazing Icelandic actor playing one of the villains in the show. And his name was Armandur. And he and I hung out a lot.
He was just. He’s the man in Iceland. He’s a singer, songwriter, he’s an actor, he does theater, he does breath work. He’s like a physical trainer. Like he does so many things right? And he’s like, yeah, man, you can’t like make a living just Acting in Reykjavik, there’s not enough projects. He goes, but our government pays for our theater.
So the government subsidizes so much art in Iceland that you can make money as an artist and then also have time. He’s like, for example, during the pandemic, when I couldn’t do theater, the government was still paying me as a resident theater actor at the National Theater. So I used that money to learn breath work, and I learned martial arts. So I did everything else I could to fill my cup as an actor, because I was getting paid to be an actor. And you don’t all. You can still do things to be an actor that don’t necessarily have to do with acting. And I was like, dude, this guy’s brilliant.
Anyway, he’s now on a. He’s a regular on a show called Going Dutch on Fox. Oh, yeah, the Dennis Leary comedy.
MIKE ELDER (00:55:39)
That’s great.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:55:39)
And he’s so funny in this show. And I. He wasn’t a comedic part in my.
He was like a villain. And I. I whatsapped him literally two days ago. And I was like, dude, I just watched your first episode of Going Dutch. You are so funny in this. You’re killing it. It’s amazing.
And he sends me a video back, and he’s like. Like, I was done. Like, I. I fully was like, I guess I’m not going to be an actor.
MIKE ELDER (00:56:01)
Wow.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:56:03)
And then I booked that, and I was like, I’ve heard that so many times. And, like, it doesn’t mean quit acting so you can get a role, but what it does mean is there is something to that. Flight you book out of town takes your mind off of things. It takes the desperation away. It takes. And. And I think every time I’ve had to act amidst some sort of crisis or drama or whatever, it’s so much better.
And so find a way. I think what Henry Winkler told me was so valuable in those lean times, but also so valuable because in doing so, I think it made me a more interesting person.
MIKE ELDER (00:56:47)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:56:48)
You know, for sure. And for myself, too. I used to. Just when I was just an actor and all I thought about acting. Like, I would think I’m so boring to talk to right now.
Like, who cares? You know?
MIKE ELDER (00:56:57)
But now you got all this fun.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:56:58)
Now you can talk about pretzels.
MIKE ELDER (00:56:59)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:57:00)
The best way.
MIKE ELDER (00:57:00)
Can I ask you some Shark Tank questions about the pretzels?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:57:02)
Yeah. Yeah, sure. All right.
MIKE ELDER (00:57:04)
So are you profitable?
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:57:05)
Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (00:57:05)
Okay. I would hope so.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:57:06)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know. But I could give you Shark Tank answers, which is like, well, But I. But I put all that money back into the company, of course. Right. So I’m not.
I’m not taking all that. That profit and spending it on cars and stuff.
MIKE ELDER (00:57:18)
Well, you’re paying yourself a little bit, or.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:57:21)
No, no, I put all the money back into Shabby.
MIKE ELDER (00:57:23)
Really good.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:57:24)
I’m like, I’m buying a new pretzel cart. I’m buying a new van. I’m. I’m hiring a new employee. This person says they need work, let’s get him hired.
MIKE ELDER (00:57:30)
Those are the best founders or people that don’t pay themselves in support.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:57:33)
Yeah, I mean, luckily, like, it’s been. This year was really lean for me, acting wise. Like, I just did the bear, and then I got to go back to the bear, but I didn’t do anything really, in between. I did a short film. I did some theater stuff, but it was nothing that paid. So, like, I was like, I might need to start paying myself from Shappy Pretzel, but that’s a good option to have, you know?
MIKE ELDER (00:57:54)
How’d you get the Oscars? Was that. Did they approach you, or did you just, like, think this would be a perfect.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:57:59)
The Oscars was the best. And, like, this is one of the things I love about Shappy Russell. It just opens these doors that there’s no way. Like, I was never been to the Oscars. I know a million amazing actors that have never been to the Oscars. Like, in order to go to the Oscars, you need to be in a film that gets nominated, and then as an actor, you need to be nominated. It’s like, there’s only a couple actors that are in a film that gets nominated that get to go to the Oscars if they’re not nominated as an actor.
MIKE ELDER (00:58:27)
Right.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:58:27)
Like, it’s tough. It’s tough.
Even with the SAG Awards. I remember when I was in that movie Steve Jobs, and, like, we were gonna get nominated, and I was like, yes.
Like, I’m get the cause. SAG is the whole ensemble, you know? And then my agents were like, you’re not in the ensemble. And I was like, the fuck? I’m not in the ensemble. I’m in the. The opening credits.
They’re like, yeah, but you have a shared card with Sarah Snook. And I’m like, sarah Snook is not in the an. They’re like, you have to have a single card, opening credits to be nominated for a SAG ensemble.
MIKE ELDER (00:58:57)
That’s wild.
ADAM SHAPIRO (00:58:58)
And I was like, God, it just never ends with this business. But you know what’s so funny is that now I know that a.
Which that’s good. So I could be like, tell my agents, like, yo, try everything you can to get a single card in the opening credit. Although if you’re gonna share a card, Sarah Snook’s not a bad one to share with just the best actress in the freaking world. But I actually did end up sneaking into that SAG Awards anyway because they hired my wife as the social media correspondent for SAG for the awards. So I was in there anyway, and a thousand amazing stories came out of that night, one of which. This was the SAG Awards, one of which was Kate Winslet was like, my best friend on that movie. She was my movie best friend, which now I’ve learned is, like, not real best friend, which sucks.
I miss them. Noni Lynskey gave an interview the other day that I read where she was like, I remember growing up in this business and thinking that my on set best friend was gonna be my real best friend. It was, like, really heartbreaking.
MIKE ELDER (01:00:01)
I feel that way about the podcast.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:00:03)
You’re like, no, call me. Yeah. And I just. And I reached out to Melanie after that, and I was like, dude, that felt that interview so much, because I have had best friends on movies. And, yeah, they’re your friends forever, for sure. If I run into Kate Winslet, it’s on. But, like, she lives in England, and we don’t see each other and we, like, don’t talk ever, you know?
And I’m like, anyway, so Winslet’s like, let’s get dinner after this, after the SAG Awards with my husband and Katie. And I was like, great. I was like, let’s take you to one of our favorite restaurants. This is our town. She’s like, ah, it’s easier if we just eat where I’m staying. And I’m like, oh, what hotel are you at? She’s like, well, whenever I come to la, I stay with Leo. And I’m like, the dude who just won best actor for the Revenant.
And she’s like, yeah, we’ll go there, and he’ll get food. He’ll just order food, and we’ll just eat there. And I was like, I’m, like, looking at Katie like, we’re gonna go eat dinner at Leonardo DiCaprio’s house with Winslet.
The Titanic reunion’s gonna happen at dinner. And so we go. It’s the best night ever. Everybody you’ve ever wanted to meet in Hollywood is sort of stopping by as the night goes on. It Turns into, like, a little bit of a party. Studio heads, movie stars, everybody’s there. I came. Leo left.
He went to, like, a club. I was like, this is the craziest night ever. And the next day, I text all my boys, you’re not gonna believe this night I had. I ended up at DiCaprio’s house and meeting him. He’s showing me his artwork and all this beautiful stuff in his house. It was, like, the most amazing night. And one of my buddies writes, oh, look, I think this is the house.
And he sent me, like, a link to a house on that was he was selling online. And I was like. And I clicked on the link, and I was like, no, that’s not the house. That must just be another house that he owns that he’s selling. The house that we were in was not this house. It was like a $50 million unbelievable bachelor pad made using AI. It was like, the most incredible house I’ve ever seen.
Then I clicked on that link again later in the day, and I’m like, wow, this house is kind of amazing. That’s kind of where Katie and I were looking to buy a house. She was pregnant with Alby. We wanted a flat house. House with a flat driver because we were in the hills with all these steps, and we were not going to take a stroller up all these steps. So I went and looked at the house, and I FaceTimed Katie, who had just left for New York. I’m like, katie, this house is amazing.
And she’s like, put an offer in, like. So I FaceTimed her, I showed it, I put an offer in, and I find out from the real estate, there’s another offer in same exact amount of money, but it’s from a developer who can, like, pay, like, in cash or whatever. And I was like, oh, man. That’s the way it happens, I guess a lot in real estate. And so I just text Kate Winslet.
I’m like, why not? Kate, tell Leo that we have an offer in.
This is the next day.
MIKE ELDER (01:02:37)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:02:38)
After the party, I’m like, while he still remembers who I am, text him and tell him I’m the person who actually is real. Real person that has an offer in his house that’s going to live in the house as is. We’re not going to tear it down. No carbon footprint.
MIKE ELDER (01:02:49)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:02:49)
It’s good for the environment. Hey, Leo’s the environment guy.
MIKE ELDER (01:02:53)
Social engineering.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:02:54)
We get the house.
MIKE ELDER (01:02:55)
What?
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:02:56)
We live there now. We’ve been living. We’ve been living there for.
Since we had Our first baby. Abby’s grown up in that house. I never spoke to Kate or Leo ever again.
MIKE ELDER (01:03:06)
That’s wild.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:03:06)
Never again. I can’t wait to run into either of them again and be like, yo, we got the house.
MIKE ELDER (01:03:11)
We’ll put this clip on social media.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:03:13)
Leah watches the show.
MIKE ELDER (01:03:14)
He’s a big fan.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:03:15)
So, Leo, we end up in the house.
MIKE ELDER (01:03:17)
Seen it come on the podcast. I keep saying I’m busy.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:03:20)
We’re in your uncle’s house now. It’s amazing. All we did was paint it.
MIKE ELDER (01:03:23)
Wait, we’re running out of time.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:03:24)
Oh, sorry. The Oscars come to you. I dropped off pretzels to Jimmy Kimmel because he’s, like, a longtime Shappy Pretzel supporter, and he orders pretzels all the time to the show. And for the Super Bowl, Eagles, Kansas City. Not the one that we won, but the one that they won. He ordered Kansas City barbecue and Philly pretzels. And so I dropped him off to him at his house, and as I was leaving, he and his wife Molly were like, yo, we’re hosting the Oscars this year.
We should do Shabby Pretzel for the Oscars. And I was like, yeah, sure. Done. I figured they meant, like, 40 pretzels backstage for the VIPs or something like that. So I get on the phone with the Academy producers, and they’re like, yeah, so we want to do a pretzel under every seat. And I’m like, how many seats are at the oscars?
They’re like, 5,000. I’m like, what? What time you need the pretzels? You know? And they’re like, 8:39am I’m like, oh, my God. So that was like, Shappy pretzels. The longest night, we just.
Just baked from, you know, 10:00pm all the way till I delivered them. And now we’ve done it three years in a row, and it’s. We got the process down, and now we can just bang it out, drop it off, get them under the seats.
MIKE ELDER (01:04:25)
Kimmel takes a lot of chances on people. Kimmel hooks a lot of people up.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:04:28)
Kimmel’s the best dude ever. Yeah, he’s the.
And he’s so funny. And Molly produces his show and is a writer on the show, and they did the Oscars together, and, like, they’re just the best.
Talk about taking a chance. Like, no, no. We had never made 5,000 pretzels before, and he’s gonna put it under every seat.
A Shappy Pretzel.
MIKE ELDER (01:04:49)
That’s awesome.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:04:49)
Not like a Annie Ann’s or a Wetzels or something like that. My other favorite thing is I was like, what am I gonna do with these? So the Oscars asked, how much would this cost? You know, And I said, listen, I’ll pay for the pretzels, right? This is on me. Which is a lot of money, but you gotta give me and Katie full access to the red carpet at the Oscars, like, interviews, pictures, whatever. And they were like, that doesn’t really happen at the Oscars.
Like, kind of a coveted red carpet. And. And. And they were like, I.
You know, it was. I wasn’t getting yeses or no’s. And so we went to, like. I was like, katie, can you call, like, the people at ABC from Ryan and Kelly or the Scandal people, anybody to try to, like, make this work? Because the Oscars people were like, you could come to the Oscars. We just can’t promise the red carpet thing. It’s super secure.
You need to be Covid tested, and you need to, like. It’s a lot, you know, and security. And anyway, we finally got to, like, the person who was in charge. And this is why you keep your contacts and you don’t piss anybody off and burn bridges. Because we ended up getting to the person who was in charge of the red carpet at ABC was someone who worked in PR at Scandal when Katie was on Scandal. And they were like, oh, we got you guys. So we ended up there.
We’re taking pictures on red carpet, eating the pretzels, feeding each other the pretzels, doing all the interviews. We got a million dollars in advertising for the $5,000 I spent on the pretzels. It was the best thing ever. And then they called the next year, and I was like, oh, this year you guys could just pay for the pretzels, and I don’t need to come to the Oscars. And so now that’s what they do. They pay, and we drop them off, and I’m out. It’s the best gig ever.
MIKE ELDER (01:06:28)
That’s so cool.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:06:29)
And my favorite thing about the Oscars gig is that on the bag, there’s a little note from Jimmy or this year, Conan. And on the back, there’s a QR code that it says Shappy Pretzel, and there’s a little QR code, but the QR code doesn’t take you to Shappy Pretzel. You know where it takes you your Instagram. My demo reel.
MIKE ELDER (01:06:48)
Oh, with the commentary, really straight to the demo reel.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:06:54)
I’m like, it’s the Oscars that’s so Smart.
MIKE ELDER (01:06:56)
Yes.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:06:56)
I don’t need all these. I don’t need all these people going to shappyprezel.com. i need these people seeing my demo reel, my acting demo reel. Spielberg’s there.
MIKE ELDER (01:07:06)
Yeah. That’s so clever and smart.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:07:09)
So that’s what it is.
MIKE ELDER (01:07:09)
Within the rules. I love it.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:07:11)
Yeah. Yeah.
MIKE ELDER (01:07:11)
Hey, we gotta. I got one more question.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:07:13)
Two more hours. Let’s do two more hours and then I’m outta here.
MIKE ELDER (01:07:15)
So make it quick. Who took a chance?
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:07:17)
I don’t make anything quick.
MIKE ELDER (01:07:18)
Who took a chance on you is the last question I like to ask. It sounds like a lot of people, but. Including Leo. But who took a chance on you?
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:07:27)
Well, my wife took a chance on me.
MIKE ELDER (01:07:29)
That’s funny and applicable.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:07:32)
Yeah. You know, my wife and I have this amazing partnership in so many ways. We are married, we have children, we take care of the kids together. But she has made me like a, like a way better person in a lot of ways and introduced me to, like, concepts I never heard of. Like therapy, acting class, preparing for things, being on time for things. Maybe like not talking for a second. Things I had never really considered.
Not that you. If you’re listening to this podcast, you’re like, this dude never stops talking. But no, I think, you know, I. Neither of us. She was a waitress, you know, she wasn’t a big TV star like she is now.
And I was. I had a million jobs, but I was doing a lot of commercials.
So like she. I was like the richest actor she had ever met because I was like doing all these national spots and stuff. And she had just coming out from New York and Tish. And you know, I think like I once. I was doing a series of Captain Crunch commercials where I was the nemesis of Captain Crunch, Jean Lafitte. And I was. It was the best job ever.
It was like a campaign. I did it for a couple years. It paid really well. It was awesome. But I made a documentary behind the scenes of being Jean Lafette in the Cap’ n Crunch commercials. And it was the first thing I ever sold. I made this documentary and I sold it back to General Mills because they wanted to use it in house and show it at this big conference.
And they’re like, we’ll pay you for this, but we’re gonna like, re edit it and make it a little tighter. And I was like, yeah, like I sold this little documentary, but the documentary is a tongue in cheek documentary about being the world’s greatest actor who happens to also be in these Captain Crunch commercials. And how Serious. I’m taking the accent and the stuff and all this. I showed her that video right when maybe after our second date, I showed her this. Hey, this is what I’m doing. I made this video, and she saw that video and was like, this guy’s great at what he does.
He’s not wealthy. He’s not super successful. There’s no promise of a future here. But she took a chance on me like I did with her, and I think our partnership has made us both better people, better actors. And every time she’s booked a role, it’s boosted me in a big way. The day she booked Scandal, she said, if you don’t want to audition for commercials anymore, you don’t have to. Oh, you know, this is happening. Scandal’s happening.
MIKE ELDER (01:10:00)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:10:01)
We didn’t know I was gonna get picked up.
MIKE ELDER (01:10:02)
Right, Right.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:10:03)
But Shonda said it would.
MIKE ELDER (01:10:04)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:10:06)
And Shonda we Trust. The middle name of both of our children’s is Shonda. And. And. And I was like, okay, I’m gonna stop doing commercials. Not because I didn’t love auditioning for commercials or doing commercials, but because, as you know, when you audition for commercials, it takes up a ton of your. Really ready to focus, like, really focus on TV and film and what I could be doing to be doing more TV and film.
And so her booking Scandal was the thing that changed my career just as much as it changed hers.
MIKE ELDER (01:10:31)
Yeah.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:10:31)
You know, so talk about taking a chance on somebody.
MIKE ELDER (01:10:33)
That’s great.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:10:34)
She was like, you don’t have to make any more of that commercial money. That’s great for the family. We could just do the Scandal for a while.
MIKE ELDER (01:10:40)
That’s beautiful. And a lovely answer.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:10:42)
Yeah. Huge chance.
MIKE ELDER (01:10:43)
And you probably got bonus points for that answer, so nice job.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:10:45)
Yeah. If she sees amat the guest, she’s not listening to this podcast.
MIKE ELDER (01:10:50)
Adam, you are so fun. This was such a delightful.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:10:52)
Oh, my God, you made it. I’m glad we could do this.
MIKE ELDER (01:10:54)
My guests make this easy for me and thank.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:10:56)
Well, thank you for having me. Yeah, yeah. You could just ask me one question, and then I talk for an hour and seven minutes.
MIKE ELDER (01:11:02)
Adam, this was a delight. You gotta tail slate now at the end.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:11:05)
Hey, check us out part two, and check us out on the live tour. We’re gonna be in New York. Are we gonna do a live.
MIKE ELDER (01:11:12)
Oh, you.
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:11:12)
Yeah, yeah. Check us out. When we come to your city, we’re just gonna do this podcast over and over again.
MIKE ELDER (01:11:17)
Do the exact same thing. Yep. This was scripted
ADAM SHAPIRO (01:11:19)
Tail slate. Adam Shapiro, 5’ 11”. Live in Los Angeles. Currently in New Zealand.
