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[0:01] Ilana Levine: Oh my god, it's time. Oh my gosh, our first live and video episode. I can't believe it. First of all, I can't believe I'm getting to see you. Hello. Hi. Hi. Hello. Hey, everyone. Welcome to our first How To Be More Chill live. I would love to say I know the episode number. I think it's 13, but it doesn't matter because it's live and video, which changes everything. So it's number 1 and 13. Exactly. For anyone who might not know, How To Be More Chill is a podcast about the Broadway and off West End musical in Chicago productions of Be More Chill, a musical that Alana and I both claim to be super fans of. I was also a producer of the Broadway production, and Alana has incredible podcast interviewing skills.

So together we have teamed up to make How To Be More Chill. Alana and I have been chomping at the bit to get some of these London cast members interviewed, and we are so excited today to tell you that we are bringing in our hero himself, Jeremy Heere from the London production of Be More Chill. I wore my creep shirt just in case he wants to perform the musical with us today for Mr. Scott Folan. Welcome Scott Folan to our show.

[1:22] Scott Folan: Hi. Oh my god, you're here. Yeah, lovely. You're in London.

[1:32] Ilana Levine: I am in London. I'm very comfortable, I think. I would say what's the vibe there? Although when people ask me, you know, from like my home state of Georgia, what's the vibe in New York? I'm like, I don't know. I can tell you the vibe in my apartment.

[1:40] Scott Folan: Yeah, I know. Yeah. I think it's all right here, actually. Yeah, I think, I mean, generally, I can only tell you my, yeah, the friend groups I talk to, but I think generally morale's not super low. I say that. I might say morale's high, but it's not super low like it was at the beginning.

[1:58] Ilana Levine: Yeah. So have you been quarantining at home? Do you go out at all? What's your daily life like?

[2:10] Scott Folan: So I live with my mum and dad, and my girlfriend has just moved in with us because she was in a flat around the corner, and she thought, I mean, she was, it was either she came to mine every day, which is you shouldn't be doing, or you just become part of my household and then quarantined with us. So she and I do the shopping with full gloves and mask, and my mum and dad don't really, except my dad goes for a walk every day. Otherwise, they don't leave the house, and my, in fact, Kirstie goes for a walk every day, and I don't like walking, so I just kind of, I play table tennis in the garden. That's my exercise.

[2:42] Ilana Levine: Ah, good. Are you like a homebody at heart? For some people, this is actually not that hard. Are you one of them?

[2:50] Scott Folan: Yeah, this is heaven for me. This is, I mean, I'm, yeah, I'm an introvert as well, so I've seen so many memes, and it was like extroverts when they told stay at home going mental, and introverts going, what, so we have to change, do exactly what we were doing before. Right. Okay, yeah. I mean, I do playing a lot of FIFA, writing a lot of songs. I mean, my dad has a home studio. I'm trying to, the thing's flipped. It flips. I'm trying to, no, no, no. My dad has a home studio. Yeah, exactly. It's behind, yeah, so we just recorded a song. We filmed, we recorded a song and then filmed a music video for it in six hours because we had nothing else to do, so we just.

[3:35] Ilana Levine: That's cool. It was around the house. I tried to make a studio in my house, but the furthest I got was this backdrop, and that's it.

[3:42] Scott Folan: Oh, it's good. No, it's good. Yeah, it's a good start. It looks very professional.

[3:47] Ilana Levine: Yeah. My ring light is actually locked in a building that can't be accessed until after quarantine is over anyway, so we've got my ring light and this backdrop.

[3:52] Scott Folan: Okay, there you go. So the London production of Be More Chill was shut down, I think, the West End was shut down after Broadway, right?

[4:04] Scott Folan: It was. It was a week or two after, right? We were, I mean, actually, I don't know about everyone else, but I, except I obviously did not want to stop doing the show, but we were quite confused why we hadn't.

[4:16] Ilana Levine: Were your audience getting smaller and smaller as.

[4:22] Scott Folan: Actually, no. The last performance we did was almost sold out. Wow. It was a Sunday night. No, but I know it was a Sunday because we, the West End closed on the Monday and everyone else was at work, but Monday was our day off for some reason. We just did Sunday performances. So we, all of our stuff is at the theatre.

[4:39] Ilana Levine: So you haven't even emptied your dressing room yet?

[4:44] Scott Folan: No, we didn't get, we, it's all there. Wow. Yeah, so I mean, I have like quite a lot of clothes there. We had a, I'm not going to name names, but we did have a cast member admit that she left, she, I shouldn't even say she, but she left cheese in the dressing room. So there is some cheese, some really moldy cheese when we return.

[5:05] Ilana Levine: You know, I was thinking about this. There's probably so many buildings in these big cities that like, how do like rats in them and stuff? Like if humans aren't in there for weeks and weeks at a time, like who knows what's going on in some of these buildings?

[5:19] Scott Folan: I'm going to assume that the other palace, after you guys left, there was someone in charge of cleaning who may have come in after you, because often actors need people to come in after them.

[5:32] Ilana Levine: Often is not, always, always is the word.

[5:36] Scott Folan: Maybe there is not like a cheese.

[5:39] Ilana Levine: Yeah, I don't think that's, I don't think it was on the floor. I think it may have been in a packet, but I know for sure that the other palace stayed open for a few days. They did give us the option to go in, but obviously you then have to travel on the tube. And it was just at that time, that was in the height of people being like, I can't, I can't even leave the house, you know.

[5:59] Ilana Levine: So are you guys getting so close to the actual Buckingham palace? Don't want to get the queen sick?

[6:05] Scott Folan: Well, I think, I mean, I don't know, but I think didn't some, there was a rumor that someone in the royal family had it.

[6:11] Ilana Levine: Prince Charles.

[6:12] Scott Folan: Yeah.

[6:14] Ilana Levine: All right. So we've started the end of what was an incredibly thrilling run for the universe. But Sam and I, if you don't mind, we would love to go back in time a little bit to this question, which is when did these three words enter your brain in any way, shape or form? Be more chill.

[6:37] Scott Folan: Be more chill. So I had, I would say that I heard, I heard the music on Spotify, like probably every fan ever heard it on shuffle because of Dear Evan Hansen or Hamilton or something that they were listening to at the time and thought, oh, this is good. But I was, I must've been on the tube or somewhere with no wifi. So I just heard it when, oh, that's really good. I saw the artwork of the original car. So it was really colourful, like nothing you would ever forget. And then it just swiped by and I never, I never heard it again until I got on auditioning for it, saw the artwork when I went to listen to it and went, that was that show that I was like, that sounded great. What is that? And I never found it. And then I had to learn, I obviously, I actually only by chance heard, my screen is flickering. Is yours flickering?

[7:30] Ilana Levine: It is not.

[7:32] Scott Folan: Oh, sorry about that. I heard Michael in the Bathroom because it was the first song on the audition list for songs you had to learn, but I didn't realise it, I didn't have to learn it.

[7:46] Ilana Levine: Were you always asked to audition for Jeremy or did they ask you to choose a part?

[7:51] Scott Folan: So I had a funny audition process because they'd cast the entire show before they cast me. Yeah. So they, they came over to London, cast everyone except Jeremy, not by choice. I think they just couldn't quite find someone.

[8:05] Ilana Levine: They couldn't find you.

[8:06] Scott Folan: Yeah. And then I sent, I sent a tape over to America because I don't, I mean, I don't, I don't know why I didn't hear about it when they were here, but I heard about it afterwards and, and they put out a call for self-tapes. So I sent a 15 minute tape of me singing, like five songs and doing two scenes. It was the longest self-tape I've ever done in my life. And oh God, yeah. It was, it was really funny because that was what we were saying while filming it because it took so long to film. It was about four hours on a Friday night. So I was, I hadn't eaten because I was planning to eat at seven and I thought, well, we'll film this and I'll eat at eight. And obviously you grossly, I grossly underestimate how long it takes to film a 15 minute self-tape that includes songs I didn't quite know. So it took four hours and I ate at about 11 o'clock. My stomach was hurting so much. But all I was saying was if I get this, it'll be so worth it. So worth it. I did get it, luckily.

[9:15] Scott Folan: I got, well, apparently I did. So I mean, I believe it was this podcast that told me I did. I remember when we talked to Steven about this.

[9:28] Ilana Levine: For people joining us, we have an episode on the How To Be More Chill podcast where Steven Brackett, the director, goes through all the different London cast members and how it had to be those people. And his love fest about you is quite apparent.

[9:45] Scott Folan: It was very fun to listen to, I must say. I hadn't heard of it. And then Blake sent it to me and said, if you'd like an ego boost, listen to this. And it was amazing. It was probably one of the greatest nights of my life. Can you tell people who Blake is?

[9:59] Scott Folan: Oh, Blake played Michael in the London production. He was my player one. And I was, I believe, I haven't done this show in a while.

[10:09] Ilana Levine: Did you guys know each other before?

[10:12] Scott Folan: No. We connected on social media. It was quite an awkward thing because the cast was announced. We met once to take photos. And then we didn't meet for two months. So, there was awkward, started bits of awkward conversation going, ha, ha, ha. Have you seen this? Ha, ha, ha. Oh, isn't this nice? The fans are being so lovely. But then over about two months of that kind of conversation, it starts into being more of a friendship. And then I went round to his house for dinner the week before we started rehearsals. And that was it. And then we started. So, we bonded a little bit.

[10:52] Ilana Levine: Did you play video games after you went to his house for dinner?

[10:55] Scott Folan: He threatened me with, his boyfriend is a big gamer. And he had a VR headset. And I said, I have to play with, I've never used a VR headset. And I was like, I have to play. But then we ended up playing, like, Bananagrams, I think.

[11:16] Ilana Levine: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

[11:17] Scott Folan: Which really is a let down.

[11:18] Ilana Levine: Me and the entire Be More Chill fandom would not give to have footage of Jeremy and Michael, the London Jeremy and Michael playing video games together for the first time ever.

[11:26] Scott Folan: It was amazing. And Bananagrams was, but he cooked dinner. He was a phenomenal chef.

[11:33] Ilana Levine: Yeah. Jam, oh, I can't remember what it's called. It was a chicken dish.

[11:38] Scott Folan: Jamamaya?

[11:40] Ilana Levine: No.

[11:40] Scott Folan: Yeah, that was it.

[11:41] Ilana Levine: Wow.

[11:42] Scott Folan: It was really nice.

[11:43] Ilana Levine: So you send a tape in, and then they come to London, the creative team, and then you come in for them directly.

[11:48] Scott Folan: Yeah. So I, they obviously didn't, so in your podcast, Stephen said that he decided he wanted to cast me. He didn't tell me that. Thank you, Stephen. So I came in really thinking, oh, I mean, if I get, even if this is it, even if this was the end, this would be great. You know, I've met, I've been seen by some amazing people. You watch the other things and actually think, oh, this, you know, even if it gets, even if it stops here, this would be great. But they, apparently I didn't disappoint.

[12:20] Scott Folan: I think that's what Stephen said. He just wanted to come over and make sure I was like real or I hadn't like, like auto-tuned my voice on that tape or something.

[12:29] Ilana Levine: Right.

[12:29] Scott Folan: Apparently I didn't disappoint and I was cast.

[12:32] Ilana Levine: How long after that day did you find out officially?

[12:36] Scott Folan: Two or three days. And only because they were in such a rush, because the photo shoot was on the Monday and I'd auditioned on the Tuesday. So six days, they had to tell me, me sign the contract and then agree to do a photo shoot. And so they were literally like, please, please, please just tell us now.

[12:55] Ilana Levine: They're like, well, if you really need to know quickly, I have a few demands I want to share with you.

[13:02] Scott Folan: Can you talk a little bit about like that around that time, like you're getting cast, rehearsals are starting or even in that two month period in between some of the, like, what were your thoughts about the fandom? The fact that they were probably blowing up your phone and all of a sudden your likes, your follow counts going up, you know, it's a big responsibility. All of a sudden the world has a new Jeremy. Can you tell us how that went? Like any specific interactions you remember from fans during that time?

[13:30] Scott Folan: I do remember freaking out because my phone had never done that before. I've been working, I've been an actor since I was 12. So that's eight years now. And in eight years, I've never been in something that my phone has done that. I mean, on that very first day, in fact, I didn't even post anything until I wanted to make sure I was allowed to. I retweeted one tweet from like what's on stage. And my Twitter went up 300 followers instantly. And then, but it was my Instagram that I'm not going to say exploded because it's not crazy numbers. But compared to what I had before I did this show.

[14:10] Ilana Levine: Can you share the story of how you found out and what you did when you found out you got the show?

[14:18] Scott Folan: It's such a London boy. I mean, I barely, my life barely changed. I didn't do any. I mean, my agent was in Italy and she wouldn't let her assistant tell me. She wanted to be the one to tell me. So I had to wait a couple more hours because she was in the Vatican at the time. So she couldn't go on a phone because they don't let you on your phone. So she was like trying to get signals sneakily. And then she called me. She like played it down. She was like, oh, just a quick call. And when your agent says that, you think, oh, it's bad news.

[14:51] Scott Folan: Yeah, you got it. And I was like, sorry, what? What? And then she handed it over to Francis. And I was like, mate, I'm chatting to my age. I don't know if you can. Yeah, it's quite an important phone call. But obviously, I was quite loud. So my dad came out and was like, like that. And I was like, and he jumped around and went mental. But my mom wasn't in. And my mom, my mom's lovely, the most amazing woman in the world. But she I opened the door and went, I got it. And she went, Hey, we're going to the bank. That was so that was I did was a trip to the bank. Nice. Yeah, yeah. I was literally I mean, I was going like, and my mom was like, so I need you to hand this in and then give this over and I'll sign this.

I was going, Mom, Mom, I've got I'm Jeremy here. I don't do this anymore. Well, humility, humility is important. It's true. My I mean, my parents will, I don't think I'll ever get to the point where anyone could ever think I'm arrogant or anything like that. Because my parents will just go like, if I start raising my feet off the air, they'll be like, Yes, do the laundry. Do the laundry. This quarantine I've spent, I've learned how to clean a toilet. That was I couldn't do that before. What else? What else? What else is new? It's all clean. I mean, it's all cleaning stuff. I learned how to. I did a show last year where I I'd never moved out. I moved. I had to move to Chichester, which is a couple of hours on a train. And I did over three months, I did two washes of clothes.

[16:40] Sam Maher: Wow.

[16:43] Scott Folan: So that's what I learned. Yeah, okay. So you're the first rehearsal starts. Can you tell us about that day, that first rehearsal? And the question is, you know, actors have differing opinions on what they like to do in these situations. Were you like, listening to the cast recording and researching it? Or were you like, No, no, I don't want to listen to that and go into rehearsal. So the first day was absolutely incredible. We it was super nerve wracking. So but I was one of the I am one of those actors who over research as I do. So I listened to every instead of doing like, I don't want to copy anyone. So I won't listen to anyone. I do. I'll listen to everyone who's done it. Watch I watched.

The fans will be pleased to know the first thing I did was consume every bit of meme content about the show possible. So I typed in be more chill into YouTube and went through every single upload. I must have consumed about 12 to 13 hours of be more chill meme content, just to understand because the fans understand it better than anyone. Yeah. I mean, I could, you know, I could have a long, long intellectual conversation with the two joes for hours, but get more from a fan in five minutes. Yeah, I feel like for be more chill specifically, the fans run the show, the fans, fans are what this show is. Yeah, that's what I wanted to know what the show was like from their perspective. So that's what I did first.

Then I, I did listen to both soundtracks about 35 times each. And, and then, and then I went through, we weren't allowed to see the script, because it was a new, a new West End script. So what were the changes? There's quite a lot. There was quite a lot. Well, I mean, the story doesn't drastically change, but there were definitely loser geek, whatever was a was, was drastically different. It was almost, almost a London version. It was a whole not almost a whole nother song, because it cuts out a bit in the middle added a bit to the end. It was the shape of the song totally changed. And then bits were taking up taken out bits were added in. So there was quite a lot of changes that they just hadn't, hadn't put in a full script yet. So we got the Broadway version. So I was listening to the both cast recordings. Were there American references that you didn't understand? Or do you remember any of them?

[19:08] Scott Folan: Yeah, we took quite a few out. So obviously, yeah, because you have a London audience. And, and we had an American director, so they wouldn't have known. Like Stephen and Joe wouldn't know what we wouldn't know. Do you know what I mean? So they did a lot of like, in the read through that I could see them when the American jokes came up. They would sit there and go. Is anyone laughing? No one's laughing. Okay. So Hot Pocket, we have to change to Pop-Tart, because it is an American show. So it has to be an American thing. Sure. But no one in England knows what a Hot Pocket is. But everyone knows what a Pop-Tart is from Friends and How I Met Your Mother and things like that. So that that, yeah, Mr. Reyes says he needs a Pop-Tart rather than a rather than a Hot Pocket. You didn't know what a Hot Pocket was?

[20:01] Sam Maher: No, I would never have known. I still don't. I don't think I do.

[20:04] Scott Folan: Do you know what Pink Fairy is?

[20:08] Sam Maher: No. Is that Frozen Yogurt Shop?

[20:11] Scott Folan: Yes. Oh, okay. So when Brooke and Chloe, so do they not say Pink Fairy anymore in the London audience?

[20:16] Sam Maher: They do, because it's kind of I only know that because it's kind of the line before is like, we need to stop and get Frozen Yogurt first. You kind of assume it's either a flavour of Frozen Yogurt or a shop. And I don't think because that was a sung line, it's much harder to change. Sure. Pink Fairy in New York, we had them do a special Be More Chill flavour. There's a Pink Fairy location only two or three blocks from the Opera Theatre and the Broadway Theatre. And they did one with a cup and everything. I might be able to step off camera and dig it out. Actually, no, it's in the box that's holding my computer up. So we can't do that. But it was very cool.

[21:00] Sam Maher: Very professional studio.

[21:02] Scott Folan: Yeah. Were you doing music rehearsal first?

[21:06] Sam Maher: Yeah, so we learned all the songs. The first two days of rehearsals were song, it was like a song workshop. Two days, two full like, I think it's 10 hour days of songs. And then we did a full, it was so that we could do a read-through, sing-through as well, a rough sing-through, read-through. And I'm not a very experienced actor. I'm only 20. So I'm very young. I haven't been to drama school, which means when it comes to a read-through, I think that means go all out and do your... And so I like almost stood up to sing the opening. And then you're like, oh, oh, we're not doing it. Yeah, it was. But then when Loser Geek or whatever came around, I was proper like, I like sat like this on my seat.

I was like fully up. And I think I heard someone talk about it on social media or on interview or something. And it was like when Scott got up halfway through the first read-through, we all kind of went, oh, so it's like that. And then everyone kind of like stepped up, which is nice. It meant that everyone had to be like...

[22:13] Sam Maher: They were like, Scott, relax.

[22:15] Scott Folan: Yeah, relax, mate. Relax. A good drama school would teach you to embrace those instincts as opposed to, get up during the reading. I have a feeling you could teach at drama school, actually. You might be able to go right to that and skip the classes. Did you know anyone in the show? Did anyone already have a connection with each other?

[22:36] Scott Folan: Well, Millie and Renee knew each other because they did six. They didn't do it together, but all of the, there's only six girls in six, which is why it's called six. So they're quite aware of all of their existences. Everyone who's played that role is quite, especially early in the... I think Millie was in one of the first, the first or one of the first, and then Renee was in the official cast recording. So they knew of each other. But everyone else I think was...

[23:10] Sam Maher: Was new to each other.

[23:10] Scott Folan: Yeah. So did they do anything? Did Brackett or the Joes, was there any sort of like, let's hang out outside of rehearsal and bond a little bit as a company or did it all happen in the room?

[23:23] Scott Folan: I think we all kept threatening to take him to Nando's and then he never came with us. He never, I think he went once with someone and hated it. So he never... Nando's is like Portuguese chicken.

[23:34] Sam Maher: Okay.

[23:36] Scott Folan: But it's like, I was gonna say spicy, but you can, the idea of it as you go in and you say, I want medium or hot or extra hot. Okay. Yeah. It's quite a, it's Portuguese, but it's quite a British thing. It's really nice. It's all like, if you come to England, you have to go to Nando's. Did you feel a kinship? I mean, Jeremy here is an incredible part and everyone relates so deeply to that role because everyone has had a time in their lives where they just felt like loser, geek, whatever would apply to them in some way. So how were you as a kid, a teenager, like you're, it's wonderful because you still were a teenager playing this role, not in high school anymore, I assume, but how are you and Jeremy connected as characters?

[24:33] Scott Folan: Well, yeah, I felt so blessed. It's, it was definitely, I can say without a doubt, the best thing I've ever done. It is the closest to me a character's ever been because I did a lot of, I mean, I'm doing it now, the Jeremy here thing. And I've started doing it in real life because I did it so much on stage, which is just like nervously picking your nails and, and just a lot of like, do you know what I mean? Things we shouldn't do now, touch your face, but a lot of little things because I did those things. Yeah, because I did those things in secondary school, I was heavily bullied and outcast and all those things we all were as creative people in school. And I was so lucky that I could just go, oh yeah, I'll just use that then.

Great, sick. That's that sorted, you know, that's that scene. Oh, great. Yeah, I know I went through that. So, and I found myself doing that with every scene going, oh, okay, this character is basically me when I was 16. Oh, great. Was it painful to revisit or was it like, were you ecstatic to be able to use it in this, in this new way?

[25:45] Scott Folan: That's a beautiful question because I think it was both. I think I did a lot of crying and I'm not quite, I'm not actually prone to crying. I'm quite, I'm quite an emotionally distant person. So I, I'm quite good at just going like, well, that's the way it is, isn't it? But I did, I found myself because Jeremy is the, like me, he's quite an emotionally distant person, but some things would make him cry. There are just a lot of, a lot of similarities between us. So, Loser Geek, whatever, the first time I sang it, I, I wept like a baby. And there were, there were shows that I would go off stage and cry. Sometimes because I felt like I hadn't done a good enough performance, but sometimes because I'd, I'd gone so far into it.

[26:29] Sam Maher: You released something.

[26:32] Scott Folan: Yeah. Yeah. And then the second half would mean something so totally different because I never, I'm one of those, I'm one of those, there, there's not many words to describe it that aren't rude. One of those actors who says, oh, I don't act, I be, I be the character. Um, so five minutes before a show, I would, I would become Jeremy. So I would, no one would talk to me and I would just think the thoughts and then walk on stage. And then for that entire show, wouldn't leave it. I might, if I, in an emergency, have to answer a question backstage, I wouldn't do it in an American accent, but I'd try and stay within the world of being more chill, even backstage. And, and, uh, the interval for me was, it would happen sometimes, depending on whether I cried from Loser Geek, whatever. At the interval, you felt like you could connect with other cast mates. Like what happened at the interval?

[27:21] Scott Folan: It, it totally depended on, on if.

[27:24] Sam Maher: How Act One went.

[27:26] Scott Folan: Yeah. So if Act One went really badly and I, in my head wasn't in Jeremy, I wouldn't be as I walked off stage and I'd complain and be like, oh, that was rubbish to other cast members and, um, and connect with them. Um, but mostly I would connect between shows because I like to get changed, stand backstage or get changed, sit on my dressing room desk and, and just head down, wait for the five and walk. Um, yeah, I say five people in my cast. I went to beginners. I was not there early. I would, at the time in which I should be on stage, I was like walking to get there.

[28:01] Sam Maher: Okay.

[28:02] Scott Folan: Yeah. No, no, I'm normally really good.

[28:06] Sam Maher: Management.

[28:07] Scott Folan: No, normally I'm really good, but in the interval of that show, I have to peel on a Halloween costume, which takes 15 minutes. Yeah. So I, I haven't, I had an excuse on that show. Normally stage manager's listening. I'm very good. I mean, I also know just from the Broadway production, like how intense Act One is for Jeremy specifically, like Jeremy doesn't leave the stage in Act One. Um, you get a little time off in Act Two, but like.

[28:30] Sam Maher: I can't, in Act One it's 45 seconds, I gotta say.

[28:33] Scott Folan: It's like opera. It's like an opera. It's, it's like a long aria in that way.

[28:43] Sam Maher: Yeah.

[28:44] Scott Folan: Sam had a really good, we were talking before and, and we both love knowing about this stuff. Did you, cheese aside, did you guys share a dressing room or did everyone have their own? How did that work?

[28:56] Scott Folan: We, um, I try, I mean, I, I tried and tried my best to get the other boys chucked out. Um, but no, we had, we had to share. It was boys, boys in one, girls in the other, because we didn't have any, I've done a show at the other palace where there were children in the cast and there are only two dressing rooms. So we had to do a girls, a kids and a boys, which meant the boys were shoved into the green room upstairs, which is this tiny cramped kitchen. Um, but luckily there weren't any under, I think it's 12s can't share, probably under 16s. Um, everyone was over so we could just do boys and girls. Um, yeah, no, as I say, I, I did, I did fight for the contract to say that I had my own dressing room, but they, they wouldn't have it. You're like, you want me at that photo shoot?

[29:43] Scott Folan: For the show, did you have like rituals or things you had to do every single night? Did it evolve during the run or what was your prep? I mean, for me personally, it was only standing backstage. I would obviously do the checks of my props and everything was in place and my water bottle was full because, as I say, I only have 45 seconds. And part of that 45 seconds is stage management shoving the water in my hand, me downing it as I walk across the back of the stage, giving it to a stage manager and walking on stage. That water bottle had to be full. So that was that. It was the props and then it was standing backstage for about two to three minutes. No one would talk to me and it wasn't I didn't ask anyone not to talk to me.

I actually had a really nice moment on one of the first days where Renee and Millie noticed that I was doing this and would stop cast members talking to me because I could see because I'm one of those polite people who would just I wouldn't be like, oh, no, can you not talk to me? I'd just be like, okay, okay.

[30:53] Sam Maher: Did that shift and become a little less intense as the production went on or no?

[30:59] Scott Folan: I am so in love with that part of acting that I would sit home going, can't wait for that two or three minutes where I, you know, that's like I crave that. So I would do that. And also the sad thing being that we didn't do it for long enough, right? That I don't think, I think maybe later in the run that may have gone. But there were also little things like Blake, who played Michael, every day would wash his hands before a performance. I don't know whether he'd been to the toilet or just liked washing his hands, but then he would come up to me and, and because I'm topless at the beginning, he would just do that on my back and front and I'd literally be like, because he'd have freezing cold hands from washing his hands. And he did that before every show, too.

[31:48] Sam Maher: That's cool though, too, because it's like a little bit of just like getting into character with the relationship of Jeremy and Michael.

[31:56] Scott Folan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it does. And that straight from that, I'd go into thinking Jeremy thoughts. So in my head, that was Michael doing that. I see he wasn't doing that for that, but I'd use it.

[32:09] Sam Maher: Can you tell us a little bit about that first preview? Did you feel all my jealous energy from New York that I wasn't there and how the entire world we love first previews would be more so? Because obviously for opera way, it was the first time the show had been put up in two or three years after this whole fandom of bill. First preview on Broadway is obviously a giant deal and I know that, you know, at least more than half of that audience on that first night were there for a very specific reason to be at that first preview. What was it like, as electric as I imagined it to be?

[32:39] Scott Folan: It was really scary. Okay, I mean, the electric is the total right word for the audience who were watching the show. But for us, I've never been so scared going out and doing the show. It was the most incredible feeling in my life going out that first moment. Everyone obviously knew it was coming. They didn't necessarily know I would be topless because I don't think Will is at the beginning. I think he... yeah, so I do no top instead of no trousers because we didn't have a bed in our production. We had a desk. So I was my sleeping was head down on the desk just because we had a slightly smaller stage, we staged it slightly differently. So I did a top on and then the cardi and that was my change at the beginning. So that first night when I did, the lights came up and I was topless, I could feel that energy of, oh, this is slightly different to what we know.

[33:39] Scott Folan: Yeah, that was it. It was both trepidation, the right word, which is and but also excitement for like, oh, we're not about to watch the same thing. This is actually going to be something fresh and new, which is nice that I think whether Bracket did that, obviously, it was a deliberate choice, but whether he knew that was going to happen or not, that was the response I felt straight away. But the most scary part was walking out after the show because we were warned. We were warned about how many people would stay and they did. Oh, yeah, I've, and again, as I say, I've never been, I've never done anything in my life where anyone has wanted to talk to me after something I've done. No one has ever asked my autograph.

No one has ever, the only time I've had my autograph as well was when I did a show with James Nesbitt and I was playing his son and I walked out after the show with him and a lot of people asking for his and I was standing next to him. Someone kind of went like handed me the book like, oh yeah, you may as well sign it. Yeah, and I was like, I know what's going on here.

[34:46] Scott Folan: I think it's not as big of a thing in London, but we knew going into the London production of the orange a little bit no matter what. I mean, luckily the Other Palace had had Heathers and knew that like, you know, there was going to be a stage door. But it's not surprising at all. They were surprised even off-Broadway. I'll probably was, you know, a 300 person theater, I think somewhere. Yeah, that's what the Other Palace idea. Nice. The stage door was like 200 plus people. Yeah, we didn't have a stage door, right? The same thing at the opera we production.

[35:17] Sam Maher: Yeah, in the lobby of your hair.

[35:19] Scott Folan: Yes, and it was just a front door, a long line, right? Yeah, but they, the Other Palace hadn't really, although they told us they've had it before and they knew what they were gonna do, I don't think they quite had it like Be More Chill. And when 200 people are in a lobby, it was carnage. It was absolute. I mean, from about three days in, they formed a line and then the line went outside about two weeks into the run, which was slightly more I always did. You staged or I'm gonna call it, but we didn't have one. I always said hello to people afterwards, but that first night was just like people just did like came up to us because we all kind of walked out as a group.

[36:09] Sam Maher: Wow, knowing what to expect and we're rock stars.

[36:11] Scott Folan: The security team literally were like, I'm washing my hands of this. I don't know. I can't, I don't know.

[36:21] Sam Maher: So I have my theories and Sam has his theories and there will be volumes written about why this show at this moment in time has kind of permeated the culture in such a beautiful way, but I'm wondering, like, what do you think it is that is so unbelievably universal? Because in New York, and I'm sure this was true too, many adults found the show equally moving and hilarious and fulfilling even if kids brought them there. They found themselves completely enamored with everything about it. So, can you speak to that from inside the experience and what it felt like to you?

[37:11] Scott Folan: Yeah, I mean, I just know how wonderful it felt doing it and how blessed I was to join the family. And yeah, I mean, I think that the beauty of the show and the beauty of what the Joes have done is not, the show is for young people by young people because young people play the parts and not necessarily saying that Joe and Joe are, I don't know how to put that then. I wouldn't call them young people, but they're not teenagers anymore. They're not teenagers. But when I'm also gonna say when the actors who originated it in America, I'm sure they were quite young when the whole journey of it started, so it molded around young people. But it doesn't talk down to young people and it doesn't say, oh, look at us, we're a bright shiny bubbly musical for young people.

It's a raw exploration of what it's like to be a teenager and it's so true and it's so beautiful as well as taking the mic. It absolutely rips apart everything you do as a kid and everything you do as a teenager. And it centers around this, this, I always say he's not, although the song "Loser Geek," whatever, he's not a loser. You know, he is just smack bang in the middle. He's that normal nobody that everyone always felt like they were, whether they were that in reality or not. Everyone at one point has always felt like, oh, nobody likes me. There's no, you know, there's no point because nobody likes me. Even if they're sitting in a group of people, they're gonna be like, no, they don't want me here. I mean, I'm just here. They just felt bad saying no, so I'm here. Like that's a squib experience.

[39:09] Sam Maher: I mean, squib has come to me so many times. People and obviously the moral of the show is you, you are your own squip, right? Like you have to be your own voice. But yeah, but in your teendom, did you have like a squib moment where you saw an opportunity to be somebody else and you took it?

[39:31] Scott Folan: Yes.

[39:33] Sam Maher: Yeah.

[39:36] Scott Folan: I've never, until you said that, until you were saying that, I've never really thought about this, but my squib experience was my drama teacher at like my after school drama club kind of thing. I went to the same, it's now a drama school and it does a like a B-Tech course, but I was there. I would go on a Sunday morning and learn musical theater. Sure. And that teacher was a massive influence on the person I've become because he told me how it was. And he said the person you are right now is very annoying. He wouldn't put it exactly in those words, but he would be very direct and very truthful and no one had ever been like that in my life. And obviously at first I went, I hate him, he's horrible, he's a bully.

But like, it took me six, maybe two or three years or let's say six months, but probably about two or three years to step back and realize actually he's, he knows what he's doing and he's truthfully telling me that the person I am right now, and I'm victimizing myself. The person I am right now is not a good person and, you know, thinking back, I wouldn't be friends with who I was because I was just, I had hissy fits and I would victimize myself and I, you know, I was bullied at secondary school, but looking back, I almost, you can't blame yourself, but there were moments where I think I almost, I wouldn't say I deserved it, but I almost egged it on by victimizing myself and I made it worse. So that drama teacher was a big one for me.

[41:31] Scott Folan: But that then led me on to be my own, I had a whole journey. I had a whole Be More Chill journey that then led me on to be my own squip. And then when I left school to go to college, which is, I don't know how to translate that to American. I finished some exams at 16 and went to a different school at 17. I decided I wanted to be someone totally different. And because I was moving to a new school, I was allowed to be, no one knew me.

[42:01] Sam Maher: You could reinvent yourself.

[42:01] Scott Folan: I could reinvent myself and I did. Yeah. And I went a bit too far with it because I think I was allowed to become a cool kid and then brought myself back down and found a middle ground that's just myself now, you know, that thing of finding yourself and being yourself was somewhere between cool kid and hissy fit boy.

[42:26] Sam Maher: Are you still in touch with that drama teacher who was...

[42:32] Scott Folan: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Did he come to Be More Chill?

[42:35] Scott Folan: He had booked tickets, unfortunately.

[42:35] Sam Maher: Yeah, so I was doing a show when Broadway shut down and so I know that feeling of like, it was very shocking. And I am still sometimes doing the lines in my head even though that show is never going to happen again in that version of it. Do you find yourself? Are you still singing the songs and doing the dialogue or have you put it aside because it's so painful to not get to know that?

[42:57] Scott Folan: Yeah, it is really painful. I do go through it at night because there is, I have this thing where I stay up really late, not deliberately. I'll lie in bed, but because I haven't done much with my day, my brain goes, right, let's think of something. Let's have a purpose. And that purpose normally results in thinking about all those nights I did something odd or I did something wrong or how can I get, how can I make it better? What would I have done to say, like when I, that night I forgot my, I forgot to wear my glasses at the top of the show and I spent the entire, like 20, like maybe 10 minutes before someone was able to bring them on thinking, how can I cover this? How can I get away with this?

[43:41] Scott Folan: And hindsight, you know, like this, oh my God, I did things like I would like look like I was straining until someone brought them on and there was like I couldn't see. Like line later, but you could have had the script give you glasses.

[43:59] Scott Folan: Well, the thing, my thing was because I, in my head, I went, well, that's it. Jeremy doesn't have glasses and that's fine. And then I went, oh God, there is a whole bit and a lighting sequence. It's not even just cut a line. There was lighting sequences where I take my glasses off, my vision is fixed. It would be a good 30 seconds of silence and a very random light sequence if we took those lines out. So I thought I have to get this in, but there was a moment obviously hindsight is a great thing, sure, but there was a moment that I thought...

[45:35] Scott Folan: I'm being bullied and then I chew some gum and I'm all chill, and the bully's like, I've got you up against a wall, why are you being chill? But I have to speak in an American accent. And they took my braces out, they shoved six pieces of gum in my mouth and went, oh, we're going to do this in American now, with no prep, with this American director breathing down my neck. I was like, oh, and it was so bad. And it's run for four years. Okay. It doesn't stop running. I'm so sorry, but I'm happy for the money.

[46:11] Ilana Levine: Oh, the money is good. And you're in good company, even Angela Lansbury with her British accent, and when she's doing Murder, She Wrote, which do you know about that show?

[46:21] Scott Folan: No, was it really bad?

[46:22] Ilana Levine: Angela Lansbury. She's like a British stage diva who moved to America. She had a very big hit show in the 80s in America called Murder, She Wrote, where she played a Maine schoolteacher from the state of Maine. And she does a pretty good American accent throughout the whole series. It's like 12 seasons, 10, 20 episodes, but every now and again, it'll just slip and you're just like, what? It's something else.

[46:47] Scott Folan: Thank you. You're in good company. And Angela Lansbury has struggled.

[46:51] Ilana Levine: There you go. But I mean, I've seen much of your show and you guys all sounded great. Were you trying to speak in American offstage too, just to keep it going?

[47:03] Scott Folan: I would try not to speak offstage. That was my way of handling it because although I like the method and I like to be for the two hours, I also get very embarrassed of this fact. And so if I started speaking in American accent, people would know I wanted to do that. And then in my head, laugh at me. This is the whole Jeremy in my head. So I would do actions backstage. I would be like, like, and mouth it. But in my head, I was totally doing American accent.

[47:36] Ilana Levine: When you auditioned and sent in your audition tape to Joe and all of them, did you do that 12-hour audition tape with an American accent for the scenes?

[47:45] Scott Folan: Yeah. Yeah, it was quite bad. It was. I think my American accents got better since that horrendous Orbit Gum advert four years ago or whatever it was. But yeah, we had an accent coach that I actually never saw because we always saw her in, like, the cast always saw her in moments where we weren't rehearsing for our scenes. There are no scenes that Jeremy Arnn isn't in.

[48:12] Ilana Levine: Right.

[48:12] Scott Folan: So I had no time with the accent coach. I just had a few notes from a run, like, that she saw and sent an email over.

[48:19] Ilana Levine: So did she send you a recording to work with?

[48:22] Scott Folan: No, so just a page of notes for mouth shape. And it was all great stuff, and it helped a lot. But I would have loved to, I'm sure the reason I didn't see them was because they were happy and fine with it. But for my own sanity, I would have loved to have had someone go through every single word in the script and tell me exactly how it's supposed to sound. Because that first night, all the things that raced through your head, I suddenly went, I haven't seen the accent coach. Like, oh, my God, they're going to hate my American accent so bad.

[48:51] Ilana Levine: Wow. If that audience knew what was actually in your head while you were performing for them, it's kind of amazing.

[48:59] Scott Folan: Yeah. And there were definitely moments. I must say, normally, I wasn't quite into Jeremy until the squip walked on stage. And instantly, the world, you're forced into that world. There's no going back. There's a man in front of you who was dressed in a long white coat. And when he does that, you move. Instantly, you're in it. And also, Stuart Clarke, who is now an Olivier-nominated actor, was just phenomenal. And it would give you no opportunity for your mind to wonder to all those 300 people watching me, it was just, this is Jeremy, and this is the squip. And this is the world we're in. And things would race through my mind, like the glasses thing, right up until Stuart Clarke walked on stage.

And then it was, Jeremy. So he was definitely my savior for things like that. Yeah, he was my squip. So if you were watching, know that I was thinking about everyone watching and how the props weren't quite in the place they're normally in right up until Stuart walked on stage. And then you watch Jeremy here. And then that squip arrives. And they're still looking back. No, that was it.

[50:10] Ilana Levine: Is there a part of the show that you consistently enjoyed the most? Like, is there a moment that you just loved so much every single night getting to do?

[50:21] Scott Folan: Yeah, I can tell you one I liked. I can tell you one I definitely didn't.

[50:26] Ilana Levine: Right.

[50:26] Scott Folan: Losing it, whatever, was obviously my favorite moment in the entire show, because there was an arc that led up to it. And I had to think between every line. Because I, instead of, like, some actors will write the emotions that they're supposed to feel and they're supposed to show in their face. And that will tell the story. Whereas I, between every line, will think the thought that inspires the sung line. And so every night I would have to think those thoughts. So there was no space for me to drift, which is very useful. So that's a really nice, as I say, I really enjoy that method stuff. That was a really nice moment for me. But my least favorite was that Halloween costume. And Bobby, the costume designer, I love him to pieces. And I adore the show, the aesthetic of the show. But that arm and the, I must say, I was wearing some undergarment.

[51:30] Ilana Levine: I was wearing a jockstrap is what I was wearing.

[51:31] Scott Folan: Perfection. Yeah, yeah. I'd never worn one before. Because I did ballet and I maybe wore a, yeah, I think I did one, but did wear one. But, like, hand-me-down one. So they were massive, didn't really fit. And then they, my sizing, I'm very tall and skinny. So they bought me a small. I'm not going to say any more on the matter. But we can all just imagine how, I'm not going to say any more on the matter. You could make a fortune auctioning that off for Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids.

[52:06] Ilana Levine: So when you get back in that dressing room, if you could hold on to that one costume. Do you agree, Sam?

[52:14] Sam Maher: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I don't think they'll be sending it to Chicago. I'll say that. I don't think they'll be, you know, I don't think Liam wants that.

[52:22] Scott Folan: Sometimes it takes 53 minutes, but eventually we get into what, jockstraps, the size of them, how they feel. This is what we're all here for.

[52:34] Ilana Levine: Oh, God. Yeah. I would hope that that's not the one Will Rowland wore. But, I mean, we'll never know.

[52:40] Scott Folan: You'll never know. No. I didn't recognize you, Brian. It was once we went live when we were chatting for a couple of minutes before, but you mentioned you're playing video games in quarantine. What platform are you using?

[52:50] Sam Maher: Are you the PlayStation?

[52:52] Scott Folan: I'm an Xbox. I'm an Xbox boy.

[52:53] Sam Maher: Xbox.

[52:54] Scott Folan: Yeah. Yeah, I just, yeah. I mean, PlayStation is undoubtedly better. There's no arguing it. But it's just what I was when I was a kid.

[53:04] Sam Maher: I mean, I'm kind of Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch only.

[53:06] Scott Folan: Oh, that's what I wanted to do. So I was going to buy one purely because James, who plays Rich, had one. And then that would make sense.

[53:14] Sam Maher: I got one because of Gerard, who played Rich in Broadway, had one.

[53:16] Scott Folan: Oh, I mean, he's, yeah. So that's the...

[53:19] Sam Maher: There should be a Nintendo Switch commercial starring all the Riches from across the world.

[53:22] Scott Folan: Yeah, yeah. Following Nintendo Switches.

[53:25] Sam Maher: Totally, yeah.

[53:26] Scott Folan: That's cool. That's quite weird, actually.

[53:28] Sam Maher: Yeah, that is weird. Have you guys been communicating with each other, like via text thread or?

[53:33] Scott Folan: Yeah, we have a WhatsApp group chat. Yeah. Memes are still sent. We actually still have a Zoom meeting, like just to catch up and check in on each other, which is really nice. It's really appreciated because they don't have to do that, you know.

[53:51] Ilana Levine: Sometimes...

[53:53] Scott Folan: When I see the screenshots of all the Broadway casts who are doing it, I'm like, eh, but I would love to see the London Be More Chill cast Zoom screenshot.

[54:00] Ilana Levine: Well, sometimes it's... The theatre world is in a total unknown right now. We're all just kind of like...

[54:07] Scott Folan: Yeah, I mean, we'd love to go back to work, really. First, on one hand, the creative side, to just have a creative output again, go back to our wonderful show that we've created and that has been formed over the last seven, eight years of this show. We'd love to go back and do it. But the other hand is, you know, I'm living with my parents. I'm very lucky, but some people have to pay rent.

[54:32] Ilana Levine: Yeah. Scott, I know you've been writing music. How do people find your music?

[54:41] Scott Folan: Spotify and iTunes. Well, I don't know if iTunes exists anymore, but Apple Music, definitely. And so, I mean, every major platform you can find. Amazon Music, apparently, is on. But also, I'm writing new stuff. My YouTube channel. I've managed to get everything on Scott Folan. So, you type in my name anywhere.

[55:03] Ilana Levine: So, this video that you shot in that room where we're watching you right now, what is the name of the song and when do we get to see that video?

[55:11] Scott Folan: Well, actually, that was for another exciting project. It's The Other Palace. Me, having just worked there, approached me and said, we're doing a hope on hope or I'd better get this right. I mean, I should get this right. It's a song cycle about songs about hope in isolation. And I am very luckily self-isolating with my girlfriend and my parents. My dad's being a musical theatre composer. So, he has a home studio and he films and edits music videos. And he writes the music for films. So, he has lots of experience. So, they were expecting Kirstie and I to do a little duet live on YouTube just like this. And we said, well, why don't we pre-record it and we'll show you a little video. And they were expecting it to be on a phone. And we sent it to them and they were like, what? Because my dad's using his professional film camera. I mean, it looks so cool. And that will be out Wednesday. Wednesday on The Other Palace.

[56:25] Ilana Levine: But I will check. I just want to check that I call this the right thing. The On Hope Song Cycle. It starts on Wednesday. And The Other Palace is YouTube?

[56:39] Scott Folan: I think so. Or they would have set one up. But yeah, it looks like. Let's have a look. Did it? It's going to be like a live video. But our video will come up during the live.

[56:49] Ilana Levine: I'll be following your social media where you'll point us to it.

[56:51] Scott Folan: Yeah, I'll point it to it. But it's definitely on The Other Palace YouTube.

[56:55] Ilana Levine: Great. But also, having done that, my dad, Kirstie and I, and my mom, who was kind of the director, self-proclaimed director. When she's not at the bank. No, yeah. When she's not. Well, she can't go to the bank at the moment. But when she's not at the bank, she's a self-proclaimed director. And yeah, we all kind of decided we should do one of these a week. Because it took us six hours. I mean, it barely made a dent in our weekend. So we thought, well, we'll do one of these a week. So we're going to do one of my songs next. So definitely check out this.

[57:33] Ilana Levine: There you go. You got it. All right. Ask the question, Sam, before we say goodbye.

[57:40] Sam Maher: You came up with a question that's so beautiful. I'm going to let you do it.

[57:43] Ilana Levine: It was a tough one. So Scott, something we like to do. And you've heard the podcast. So you knew it was coming. But before we say goodbye and before I ask you the question, I cannot believe how lucky Sam and I and all the fans are to have had this time with you. In quarantine, we really need these kinds of connections. And for you to have shared so much of yourself so deeply and so beautifully, we can never thank you enough. So thank you for your beautiful work, your generous heart, and you're just an extraordinary human. So thank you, thank you, thank you, on behalf of the global Be More Chill community. I just have to say that before we go. And now I'm going to ask you, before we say goodbye, to finish the sentence. Be more chill is?

[58:34] Scott Folan: The most amazing thing in the entire world.

[58:37] Ilana Levine: All right. I think that's fair. I think that's amazing. Scott, thanks so much for hanging out with us. This was a dream come true.

[58:44] Scott Folan: Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed it. I'm a super fan with Alana. It feels like I'm talking to a beetle right now. I got to do it for an hour, which is a dream come true. So thanks so much.

[58:55] Ilana Levine: Thank you. If you are not following How to Be More Chill on Instagram, please do it, at How to Be More Chill. Alana and I do not have a Twitter for it, but we do have our own Twitters. Mine is in my thing too. Yes, Broadway. Alana's Little Known Facts podcast. Like, subscribe, comment. We will see you soon. Don't forget, How to Be More Chill. Thank you for being our number one live, Sam.

[59:20] Sam Maher: You got it. You get it.

[59:22] Ilana Levine: Bye, Scott.

[59:23] Scott Folan: Bye.