Bonus Time With Elisha Cuthbert
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Well, hello there, everyone. What a special edition of the Jan Arden Podcast Show and Variety Hour we have for you right now. If you look up Alicia Cuthbert, because that's who we have here today, if you go Google her, have you ever Googled yourself, Alicia? Yeah, briefly. I'm not going to lie. I think I've seen a few things. I've, you know.

Well, Alicia Ann Cuthbert-Faneuf, because that's Dionne's last name, you're married to a hockey player. Let's just get that right out of the bag right frickin' now. It says here that you're a Canadian actress and model. And you are one of the most beautiful women, like, in person. I remember seeing you for the first time in the Jan trailer.

for season two and you were sitting in the makeup chair. You are a stunning looking human. You had no makeup on. You were just starting on the journey to become Liz, which is the character you play in the show. That's the best part. That's the best part where you go from a blank canvas to

uh, to like something that is not of yourself, you know? And I don't know if you feel like that. I mean, obviously you're playing yourself, but really not, you're playing a, I think a version of, or a heightened version of,

Well, I'd like to hear what you think of it, but you know, you get in there and you create this, you get to do this with wardrobe and makeup and hair and find this, this whole new you, which is interesting because even if you're playing yourself, you're never really, because I used to do that with popular mechanics for kids going back really a long time. And I was myself and I was hosting this kid's show and it was never really me. Cause I mean, I, you know, you're on when the camera's on your, so it's a version of yourself.

But it's not totally you, but it's, yeah, it's a fun, it's a really fun process. But you've been acting your whole frigging life. You were a kid. And the funny thing is, is that you're from Calgary. You and I are from the same hometown. Yeah. Yes. Alberta girls. And you still have family here.

Yeah, a lot of family. Actually, all of it. I don't have any family in the U.S., really. No. Do you need me to drive by and check in on them? Like, should I throw toilet paper at their front door? How are they doing? Oh, my gosh. I was scared for my parents during that whole thing. I mean, less now because...

I feel like they've gotten their first vaccines, which is great. And so is my husband's parents. So I'm feeling a little bit more at ease about it all, but man, I, I, you know, I just didn't know if they were in a state that they were able to handle it. If it, if it hit them, you know what I mean? So I was just, I was really concerned more for them than myself.

Um, but yeah, it's starting to the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm sorry. For sure. Yeah. Listen, you got, you're in California right now. Correct. Amando. Yeah. Okay. Well, you guys are doing way fricking better than us. Alberta, Alberta has become the new COVID armpit of the world. We've got like, I don't know, 2,800 cases a day or something. And our premier finally, but you guys I'm looking online. Maybe I'm,

going bananas here, but it looks like people in LA are outdoor patios and going to little shows. And I mean, there's something happening down there. Yeah. I went to Disneyland with my daughter yesterday. No. I did. Tell me everything. Okay. Walk us through Disneyland. I mean it, Alicia. This is- I know. I know.

I know. And by the way, I'm like one more set of mouse ears away from being like a super fan. Like I am like die hard. I think Dion and I enjoyed it more than our daughter yesterday. Like she was like, you know, she's almost four, but we walk into the park and it's, and the best thing about Disneyland right now is it's only open to California residents. Okay.

And it's only at 25% capacity. So it was like we had the park to ourselves. What could be better than that? Like, that's almost like a VIP pass into Disney heaven. 25% capacity. That's what everyone prays for. It was a joke. There was no lines. There was... It was... We were...

Dion and I's jaw were both on the ground. We were like, where are we right now? This is like, so we get in there and we're like, we see Mickey and the characters are at a distance. They're not, you can't go up to them at this point, but they have like a little spot where they kind of go up to and you can kind of six feet away, take a picture from a distance, but they're still there and they're waving. I see Mickey and Dion and I are like, oh my God, it's Mickey. And my daughter just freezes and is like,

Okay, you guys are nuts. Is everybody in masks, Alicia Cuthbert? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay. You have to. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Everyone's in masks. Rides open?

Rides are open, but only rides that are exposed to like outside. There's not a lot of indoor rides. And like, What the hell are the indoor rides? Like Pirates of the Caribbean? Is that an indoor ride? Okay. Yeah, that would be an indoor ride. But the thing is there are some indoor rides. Like it's a small world is technically an indoor ride, but you get your own, if you're like, if you're a group of four, like we were a group of four with three, including my daughter, four,

they give you your own little raft. So you don't, you don't share it with anyone and then they're wiping them down. So it's like they, if you, if they can accommodate your group, then the rides are open for the indoor ride. So yeah, it was, it was. Did it feel like a little bit of normalcy? Yeah. Like a glimmer. It must've been so hopeful. It must've been such a fun day. Now lunch. Did you have lunch? You must've had snacks. Yes.

Yeah, we had lunch. I had, I had to make a pre sort of reservation. So there's a lot of his reservations and because they have to keep the restaurants at a certain capacity, but it's outdoor dining. You, once you get to your table, you can take your mask off to eat and drink, but, but that's it. And then once, once you leave mask back on and everyone was really, yeah,

it was shockingly calm and people were very respectful. And I think people were so excited to be out and doing something with their kids or just, you know, it was, it was really, it was hopeful and it was special. And it was so nice to be able to make some memories. Like we're back at making some memories together as a family, you know, it was really sweet. Sapphire doesn't really know it's COVID like,

She sees, does she have a mask on? Do they make four-year-olds wear masks or are the kids okay? Yes. Cause three, I think it's two and under three. So she's in the mask zone. She has to wear the mask. But the thing is, that's all she's known. I mean, as she's gotten older through this, I mean, the development between like two years old to almost three is so huge. So the masks have been her life.

And it was, this is so funny. You're going to laugh. So Mr. Incredible, cause the Incredibles is a Disney. I love they're my favorite. It's Zappos. So we see, do we not see the dad, Mr. Incredible? And he's like in his like muscle suit and no one's around the poor guys, like, you know, just posing for himself. But then we kind of stroll by and,

And Dion's like, oh, I got to get a picture. This is so funny. So we take a picture of Dion sort of in front of him and they're doing the muscle, you know, the arm muscle flex. And my daughter with her mask on finds another mask because we always have like a ton on us just in case one drops. Yeah. And she lifts it up to Mr. Incredible like here, you need a mask, sir.

That's the cutest. Whoa, let me put that on for you right now. He was laughing. He was kind of belly laughing because he was like, you're right, because in the costumes, they can't, they don't wear masks. They're in a giant walking mask.

Exactly. But she's like, sir, you don't have a mask on. Here's a fun fact for you. You know where Calloway Park is on the Trans-Canada Highway heading out to Banff in Calgary? Yes. You've heard of Calloway Park, right? Yes. Well, when they first built that, I was just like in 11th grade at Springbank Community High School. So it was like a mile from our high school. Like the park is in the middle of nothing. It's on the Trans-Canada Highway. Right.

I got a summer job and I was Barney Rubble. I was in his suit.

And it was the most difficult part-time summer job I ever had. You were at Flintstone Park? Well, Callaway Park was, I guess, branded as a Flintstone-y kind of a deal. We used to go there all the time. We used to drive through. And I might have seen, you might have been in the suit. I mean, I might have been. Yeah, you were probably like one. Yeah, I mean, what year was this?

It would have been, it would have been 19. I don't even think you were born. It was 1979. Oh, okay. Damn. Cause I was probably there like mid eighties. I was still there in spirit, but putting that fricking suit on, I mean, and peeing like how it's like, you have to make sure that you have entirely emptied your body of liquids and then you put the Barney suit on.

And you had these straps and we weren't allowed to talk to the kids. No, you can't talk. You have to do the mime work. I mean, that's like real. That's where your acting started. I mean, my God. There's so many famous people. You're right. There are so many famous people that have

worked at Disneyland as characters it's really crazy we have to back up back up back up to Disneyland we talk about food on the show I want to know what you guys ate what did Dion eat what did you eat what did Sapphire eat like this is important to me you're gonna love this I had an impossible burger they have vegan options at Disneyland yeah I just why am I getting teary why am I got a lump in my throat you and I would have been sharing impossible burgers I'm telling you oh

Now, can you still get a drink at Disneyland? It's alcohol-free, isn't it? Alcohol-free. But California Adventure, which is the park next to, is... They serve liquor. They serve liquor. But you know what? We don't drink there because, you know what? You've got the kids. And we live in California, so you're driving back. There's no point. I can understand people that are on vacation. They're staying there, and they just have to walk, stumble back to their hotel room. But, you know, when we go, we kind of go for the day. Like, it's Anaheim, right? Yeah.

Yeah. It's like 40 minutes from my house. My parents took us there. It was like one of the only trips we ever took. Mom and dad took us to California. I was 15 and it really was exciting. And the Jaws thing was really big. I think they still have that when you get in the boat, you drive through and the fricking giant shark comes out of the water. If you're wondering who we're talking to, and if you're just joining it, we have Alicia Cuthbert, who is amazing.

a kick-ass actor and an amazing mom, wife, daughter. And we're just going to be talking to her about a whole bunch of stuff. We're going to, we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about liquor when we come back. You're listening to the Jan Arden podcast. Welcome back everyone.

This is the Jan Arden Show. I'm with Alicia Cuthbert. I'm just going to ask you this right out of the gate. You are considered, and I know this is a weird question, but you are considered a sex symbol. And so I'm just, it's so, it's a strange moniker to kind of wrap your head around.

And that's something people have hung on you. Yeah. And I'm just wondering, what is your take on that? How do you digest that kind of information? What does it mean to your life? How do you just... Yeah, it changes as I get older. I think when I was younger and got on those sort of

you know, lists of most beautiful people or whatever, whatever those are. Yeah. I kind of didn't really think much of it. It sort of just felt like another article or another thing that I was a part of in the press. And then,

But as I get older and with social media, there's a little bit more pressure on it because I think when I was younger, I was like, oh, okay. And now I'm like starting to get older and I'm like, are my, you know, people's expectations of me and how they want me to look, um,

sort of compile onto that title, which I have to start, you know, I've, I've had to start not sort of caring about it anymore because before it was just sort of like, wow, that's lovely. And now it's, now there's that thing of like, well, if I don't look great,

you know, you know, people are going to comment on it. You know, I, especially with social media, you know, cause you post something and, you know, I've had people post things and, you know, there could be 10 million great comments, but you, you end up seeing the one. Oh, isn't it? But isn't that just how it goes? Justine Bateman wrote a really interesting article. It was like an op-ed piece. Yeah. You probably saw it.

Justine Bateman was on Family Ties with Michael J. Fox back in the day. She was really adorable. She was slim and really beautiful. And, you know, all those things that go with being a young Hollywood, I guess, starlet. And her piece was about getting older. And when you look at pictures of Justine, she has done anything to her fate.

No, it's so natural. Yeah. I don't think she tweezers her eyebrows. Like I just, but I, I really reveled in the messaging to people that are getting older, not only in the industry, but just people in everyday life, teachers, doctors. I thought it was really cool. And all women and a lot of women, you know, for us, we're obviously in the public eye, but even for women that may not be in the public eye, like you said, like,

are looking at people like us as a, as a reference to, you know, culturally what people should look like. Well, they ain't looking at me. I'll tell you that much. Well, I think they do. I think I looked at you, you know, you did that beautiful cover. What was it last year? Was it L or I forget what magazine it was now, but you did that beautiful cover of,

And was it the black and white photo? The Chatelaine, Chatelaine, Chatelaine, it was so beautiful, but so real and so natural. And I just thought, man, like the, just the, you just so authentically yourself. And I start looking up to now, you know, a couple of years away from 40 and

To women like you and less like these young girls that are, you know, on social media or. Is it, were you getting older Alicia in Los Angeles? I mean, you're busy. You, you work.

constantly pretty much. I remember seeing like a social media picture of you with your shield, your mask, you were flying across the pond to do a movie in Ireland. Yeah. And I was, and those were early days. You're like, yeah, I'm, I'm flying over there. But I mean, I know there's tons of protocols and stuff, but as you move forward, women in your profession talk constantly about you hit 40 and all of a sudden all the parts go away.

Yeah. Well, it's not so much that I've been lucky. I mean, the parts are still here and happening. I'm about to go shoot a movie in Atlanta at the end of this month. And like I said, like you said, I just got back from Ireland and did, I was the lead in a really great suspenseful horror film. I can't wait to see it. Yeah. Called The Cellar, which I'm really excited for people to see, but you know, you know what changes a little bit is your comfortableness, um,

In front of the camera. There's things that I worry about now that I never even had to think about. Like what? Like what? I think just sort of the way I might position my face in certain... You know, I can't be like...

You know, the certain angles, certain ways that I have. You don't have a bad angle. Well, we don't need to see like, you know, three chins, you know, we got to like, you know, try to. Sometimes I see four chins on the Jan show. I'm like, well, there's one. My neck looks like an accordion. And I've kind of gone, you know what? If I want to make this work. I have to let that go. I have to let it go because I.

Listen, you're filming. You don't know where the camera is. And when you're learning all the dialogue, the last thing you can think about is how am I holding my head? How's my shoulder? Do I have my boob fat coming out on the right-hand side? No, you have to worry about the performance first, but you know what? You've got to get really close to your director of photography.

your DP who's in charge of lighting you got to get really friendly with your cameramen and you know I always have a great conversation with them before we start and I just say listen if there's anything that looks like strange or weird or out of place or you know uh give me a heads up oh my god I had a different technique I slept I slept with everybody and that wasn't helpful I guess I should have called you first

No, you don't have to go that far, but yeah. Yeah. Shoot, Alicia. I mean, that is where your experience comes in. I'm drinking a lot more water. You know, that's another thing. It's like, it's just things like when you get older where it's like, you know, it's just things I didn't have to care about or worry about. I don't really.

don't remember drinking water in my 20s and 30s and 40s like I don't I don't remember having a bottle to go gotta get my 40 quarts in or whatever the hell people are drinking now no me too I'm like did I make my three liter quota today like literally I drink like three liters or more a day and just so that my face looks half decent like

I mean, I'm worried about how much salt is in my food. Yeah. The changing, it does change and you can't even really identify the day. Whenever I talk to other women about that day where you do look back at yourself from the mirror and you're like, what is that? Yeah. All right. How about if I could say anything to younger women that are listening to this going, I don't get it. I would just say to do not be hard on yourself because if you were under the age of 30, you

You look really good at where you're at because you're going to look at photographs from that time period that you were hating on yourself and you're going to look at it and go, man, I look good. Why was I so rough to myself? Yeah. Yeah.

You look back at photographs. Why did I think my arms were weird? Right. And they're like, they're like perfect. Why did I think my, my eyebrows were odd? Yeah. It is something to be said to be in the moment and to be gentle on your spirit. And I think people that are genuinely look more at ease and more comfortable on their skin. You can tell when someone is just not comfortable.

inside of themselves. I know I'm sounding like really esoteric right now and I don't mean to, but just that discomfort comes out in weird ways because people can kind of be ornery with you and not really supportive of other women. And that stems from this weird idea of themselves and they just project it on everybody around them. I hate that kind of behavior because it's all fear-based. Yeah, it's really...

It can be hard, but funny, speaking of the spirit, I just read this morning on like, my tea always has these little quotes on the paper. And one of them was like, when you speak to plants, it's actually speaking to the spirit. I love that. Which is really interesting. Yeah, no, we talked about a book last week, week before yesterday.

called Braiding Sweetgrass, which is exactly the life of plants. Wow. And speaking to them like they are spirit. I don't know why we always separate the world around us from our physical selves. We're kind of part of it. Exactly. And it's funny, if I wouldn't have been an actress, I would have definitely been some sort of florist

owner and I would have been very much connected to flowers and plants. And I find a lot of peace when I'm gardening and I find a lot of peace when I'm around nature and, um, and also, uh, cooking as well, which is around produce and things. So it's, yeah. Interesting.

Our guest is Alicia Cuthbert. And this segues perfectly. You're listening to the Janard podcast. When we come back, I want to talk about food with you. I want to talk about the plant-based sort of thing that you've been doing this last couple of years, probably. And drinking wine at night with your husband, you know, and how that's changing. We'll be right back. Don't go away. Okay.

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Alicia Cuthbert is here. Oh my God. I just have to quickly tell the story. When I met you that first week, I mean, I was so excited to meet you. We had talked a few times on Instagram, kind of fired messages back and forth, especially when we found out we were Alberta girls and yada, yada, yada, kind of mutual admiration society. Oh my God, Alicia, you had me laughing so hard. And ironically, it was about

the podcast that you did with Anna Faris. Yes. And we all love Anna Faris. I mean, she is such a brilliant comedic actress and funny as all get out, but you just talked about, you know, how fun, how much fun you had. Yeah, I had so much fun, but I was, we were laughing about the fact that like she would bring on guests talking about like relationships and their problems and relationships. I'm not a therapist. I'm an actress. Yeah.

And here we are like telling people about let's take our first caller and Alicia is going to help you today with your divorce. Alicia, we wanted to surprise you today. And here's our, Oh my God. I was like, okay, here we go. But it was, it was a blast. Her podcast is a trip. It's called unqualified. If you want to check it out. And in particular, if you want to check out Alicia Cuthbert's episode,

you will truly laugh and you'll, you'll hear, you'll hear anyway, I'm not, I'm going to leave it there. So yeah, during this whole COVID thing, people have been drinking more. And before we went on the air, you were talking, cause of course I was late signing on to my zoom screen here with you guys. You had been talking to, you know, our engineer, Adam, just about alcohol in a time of COVID. And every single person I know, Alicia is,

Has really stepped up their drinking game and almost without even realizing it. It's not until you put the empties out at the end of every two weeks that you're going, holy mother of God. Oh, it's embarrassing. I was like, I was like hiding them from the nanny. Like, God, she's going to think we're nuts. It's like, you know, and it's not even so much of like,

Feeling like it's a problem. I mean, I think people, there's a lot of people out there that are probably, it has escalated to a problem where, but if you're like, not really a big drinker, I just, we, we found ourselves every night sharing bottles of wine going, what, why are we doing this? And I,

The only reason I could think of was that we were trying to recreate sort of the bar or the restaurant where we would socialize with people and just weren't socializing with any of our friends. We were, it was just the two of us and we were recreating this sort of social atmosphere. And it was like, there was no need to be doing that every single night. It was like hilarious. But you know, I'll tell you, it was really funny because,

I had to get over this other, uh, and I talked to Dak Shepherd actually, who's, uh, sober as well. Um, I, you know, we, we kind of talked about this too. And he said, it's actually very common. Cause I thought I was just nuts. Um, was that when I had my daughter after I gave birth to my daughter and I was finally finished with breastfeeding after nine months. So it was nine months of carrying and nine months of breastfeeding. I was completely sober obviously. And, um,

pretty much all about her and that and less about myself and more just about kind of doing all of those things.

as we, as mothers do. Um, I found myself after that breastfeeding situation, I would put her to bed and instantly have to have like a night drink, like a, like a wine or something, because it was like, I created this thing where it was like me time, where it was like something adult that I could do that had nothing to do with being a mom. And it was sort of

trying to maybe recreate who I was before I had her and not in a bad way. I mean, I sort of dissected this after the fact, but it was, cause I was like, why am I doing this? Why am I having a glass of wine every night at like seven? As soon as I put her down at seven 30, I'm like, I have to like go downstairs and have a glass of wine. That's who is that? That's not me. And I started to realize, I think it was like a part of me trying to find myself.

My old Alicia, my life before. Yeah. My old self. And then I, at one point I had to realize it was like,

That girl's gone, you know, and there's a new version of yourself that you should embrace and be happy with. Not that I say, not that I don't drink, but I just felt like I had to, like, I started seeing this pattern, which is really interesting. And I think COVID has done that too. We're trying to find the people we were prior to this virus. You know, we're trying to replicate the social aspect that we used to have.

But I commend you and I think it's so amazing and what a great time to be sober and not have to go through all that. Well, listen, I was with you on this. There's so much of what you just said that I can relate to, Alicia, because you're talking about putting your daughter down. Well, I never had the opportunity to be a mom. It'll be like one of those moments.

regretful things probably till the day I die. It's just the way it turned out. How I didn't get pregnant in my twenties is a whole other set of circumstances. However, that's not what happened. But anyways, when I was looking after mom with memory loss, the Alzheimer's, especially in those last few years,

I had help, but I took mom every day that I wasn't on the road from four till eight. So hence my book that I wrote called Feeding My Mother because it was about these hours and the time that I spent with her that was so difficult and just so

So frustrating. But gosh, soon as I walk mom back over to her night staff, because mom and dad's house were 100 yards from my place out here in Springbank. That's right. I had that bottle of wine open faster than you can say. Isn't that wild? And I, you know, as I'm pouring the last drops of the bottle into the glass and then

My mind has kicked into this place already. I'm going to open another bottle. I'm going to open another bottle. Cause now you're drunk. I'm texting. And I'm, you know, anyway, my relationship was in shambles at the time, but it was this thing, but I did get to a point where I'm like, I can't do this and function, do my work.

And I kind of just recognized that. But my thing was like a way bigger problem than you and Dion will ever face in your lives. Like I had abused alcohol my entire life, but I've been sober now almost five years. And I can't believe how less inhibited I am, how more open I am with my feelings. I always thought, you know, oh, alcohol, give me a little bit of it'll, you know, grease me up.

And it didn't. It made me not authentic. And I don't know about you, but if you drink like three glasses of wine, does it wake you up at three o'clock in the morning? No, I get to sleep. Good for you. Did it wake you up? Always. But I never have a good sleep. I never have a real restful sleep. I end up, if I drink three glasses of wine, I will wake up one dehydrated with a headache, but two through the night will grind my teeth. I will definitely grind my teeth.

or I will be clenching my jaw. I just do not sleep well. There's no way I'm sleeping well. And I haven't, I haven't drank in the last like month. And I, it just, I just feel so empty.

Much better. I just feel so I'm getting so much more and it's funny It wasn't even really I don't personally believe I was really abusing it, but it was enough that it was like you just hit pause Yeah, you wake up a little groggy My workouts were like painful cuz I was like, I'm like a little bit hung like I'm a little hungover This is just wasn't doing things great. You know what I mean? I was just doing them but now I'm like really feeling

Well, I think hitting the pause button through COVID is helpful for all of us. I think so. I was talking before we went to air that there are all these statistics with alcohol companies, beer companies, wine companies. They were worried there for a little while about actually having wine shortages. Yeah.

You know, there's only so many seasons of wine. And I know we walk into liquor stores and we're seeing, you know, oh, there's never, there's a never ending supply of wine. Well, actually folks, there really isn't a never ending supply of wines because most vineyards only make so many bottles. They've only got so many plants. But anyway, it's, it's something, here's the statistic. It's kind of staggering. It's gone up by 170%. I believe that. Wow.

Kind of across the board with, I guess they call it domestic recreational sales. Like not restaurants, because obviously they're not open, but for home. Yeah. And if you talk to any of my friends, we're all in the same boat. We're all doing...

We were all doing the same thing. And how about the drinking and the FaceTime? Because we can't get together. So we're having glasses of wine with FaceTime. I'm like talking to my girlfriend who lives down the street with a glass of wine in my hand with an iPad. And she's down the street. Doing the same thing. Talking to me. And she's down the street. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, it's madness.

Oh my God. The phone came out when I was drinking and when I was in that peak spot, I just, some of the conversations I had with people, I'd be like, oh, I just, the next day, sometimes I'd be like, oh, I, what, what, where did that go?

But I just, when we come back, I want to like cheer people on because I'm going to talk about some of the positive things that Alicia has done. And I want to get back to food because I also want to ask you about your school lunches. What were your school lunches like when you were growing up? You're listening to the Jan Arden podcast. I'm with Alicia Cuthbert. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the Jan Arden variety hour.

You probably missed a lot of the choreography that we've done this show because you can't see it because we're just doing it in our homes, but it's really good. Alicia Cuthbert has been with me today. She's speaking to me from her home in Los Angeles, like greater Los Angeles. And she went to frickin Disneyland yesterday. I'm so jealous. I love your improv. So you improv. Why do you do? Where did you learn how to improv? Like, I don't get it.

From knowing eight songs in Yellowknife that the band had to play over and over and over again because we had four sets to do till two in the morning and they're like, talk in between songs. That's exactly where it came from. Wow.

So they can only hear nine to five and cocaine and ZZ Top so many times. And then you just have to tell stories. And to do it in front of an audience really gives you the confidence to know what works and what doesn't work. Because I'm sure things that work, you know, you can sense what's working obviously with an audience right away. So-

Yeah. When I got on your show, I just was like astounded by the fact that you're so incredibly in tuned with your improv work. And I just thought, where does that come from? And that makes total sense now.

Because it took me years. I mean, it took me years. You inspired everybody on set. We all just watched your takes every single time was slightly different. But you gave the director every single time. And I learned from that. I learned from watching you that week that you were on the show. Awesome. Like she's doing something different every time so that they have choices in edit.

They have choices every single time out. But just make sure in that, because the thing is, you want to give them choices, but really it's more about you as the performer. Because what I will say is that it's about picking things and trying things that you think might work, that you believe in. Because...

you also don't want to give them the option to change your character in, in, in a way that they can edit it in a different way. So I think it's really important to stay true to your character, be true to your character within the comforts of that. And sometimes they can go, Oh, that was too big or that was too much, or, Hey, can you bring it up a bit? There's, there's always room to play there. That's what I like to keep the character consistent, which you, which you naturally do. But in that confined space,

every new take that they give you gives you an opportunity to go bigger or smaller, depending on what you've already accomplished or done. Right. So, but yeah, that's great. I'm glad. Cause I, you know, I really felt like, I think when I first started acting, I always thought every performance and every take had to be perfect.

And there's no such thing. And that's not art, you know, but I really would do a lot of homework at home and decide what I really felt was true about that scene or that character. And this is what it needs to be. And there was really no freedom in that. And that's really going back a long time ago. I mean, I, I, I'm glad I evolved quickly, but yeah,

I mean, now I'm at a point like you saw where it's like, I could care less. I'm going to give this what I want to give it. And then if the director is going to be willing to give me an extra take on it, like I'm not going to go and do the same thing over again. I'm going to try something completely different. Well, some sometimes you get it. Sometimes you get another you get another chance because they've got technical issues.

So, you know, it's like, oh, we need that again because the camera didn't come in right. So I'm learning all that stuff too. It's a learning curve. Yeah.

Tell me about just what you've been doing as far as food wise, because everyone has these COVID food stories of, of how obviously we're at home. We're not in restaurants. We're cooking more. We're baking. And you've, you and I talked a little bit about being more plant-based like when you were on the show. Is that sort of a new thing for you to be going down that road or, and what made you shift kind of more into that world? Yeah.

I think it was health reasons. Like I felt like I, my cholesterol was getting a little high and I was like, I think it wasn't crazy, but the doctor was like, what's going on with your diet? And I was like, I guess, yeah, I'm eating a lot of red meat. I mean, I was eating a lot of things. I was feeling really tired and sluggish. So I just decided, and then, and then I actually now remembering, I watched the documentary about

um, veganism. I think it was called the, was it forks over knives? No, I think it was like something about like the challenge. I know, I know what you, I know what it is. It's on Netflix. Yes, it is. Anyway, it was, uh, Oh my gosh. It was like, then it really hit me where I was like, wow, you can still function and, and, and be a vegan. I just thought, you know, if I don't eat meat, I'm just going to fall over, you know, weird, weird cultural shift in my head. And I, um,

and I went for it the next morning. I started completely off, uh, all obviously dairy and, and, and,

meat products and yeah anyway I felt already that day I had more energy the show is called the game changers the game changers thank you and it really is and it's about athletes and it is talking about stamina strength building muscle these myths that we have sort of been debunking the vegan myths is that you know you can't be an Olympic athlete and eat carrots well there's so much more to it it's taken me five years to make sure that I'm

you know, eating all the right things. Trust me. I spent the first fricking year eating spaghetti and corn on the cob. Well, and I, I like that you say that because when I became vegan, I did the same thing. I, I, I didn't know where to start. So I ended up going to whole foods and buying all these sort of mock, you know, cheese products and, and impossible meats and beyond meats. And, and frankly, I got to the point where I,

you know, they did, they filled the purpose of what I was trying to substitute. But eventually as I got deeper into becoming a vegan, I, I didn't need the substitutes. I didn't even really need the cheese or the, the fake cheese or the, or the, or the fake meat. I mean, I will occasionally, but honestly, uh,

Honestly, I found new ways to cook in the confines of being a vegan. But I will say, so I did vegan for about a year and a half. And just in the last six months, I have incorporated some fish. So I have now sort of shifted towards a more pescatarian diet. Well, they call it kind of flexitarian. Yeah.

I know that Michael J. Fox, I keep talking about Michael J. Fox in this episode, his wife, Tracy Poland, they have a really unique way of looking at it. And it is being moderate and sustainable. And I think it's the Poland family table is part of her cookbook branding. But I really like their philosophy because I think in order to

to help the world and to help people get healthy and eat healthier. You can't discourage people from not doing something a hundred percent. Like I think sometimes veganism, they say it's, it's a way of life. It's not even a way to eat. It's, it's a, it's a living philosophy. I don't find that personally in my, with the way I eat and I make missteps, you know?

sometimes I'll have cheese or someone will have butter in a dish at their house where I'm eating and they're like, Oh, I'm so sorry. There's butter. And I'm like, I don't care. Like I'm not going to do that to you. Yeah, exactly.

I am also at someone's home for dinner and people have asked me that question and I'm, I can be polite. I can also say no, if I want to. I very rarely do because it's not where I'm at in my food journey. Me too. But 95% of the time I'm on it. Exactly. And I think that's what I had to go full extreme for about a year to really get myself

in a, in, in a mindset of that. And then I was able to loosen up and, and incorporate, like I said, a little bit of fish, um, not care if I end up getting a little bit of like non-vegan butter, uh, served to me. I'm, I'm on the same, I'm on the same wavelength as you. And I think if you are doing some great things, 90% of the time, uh,

I think you're doing really good. For people to do swap out and have one or two plant-based meals a week has such an impact on animals, the planet, everything. So I always encourage people, good on you, man. If you're feeding your family, you know, something, you know, a meatball product made out of freaking lentils and

chickpeas and you're putting that on pasta. Hooray. Cause I think that's really great. Um, school lunches. I'm just, we, I usually ask people what, what did you just in the last 60 seconds, did you, would you have good school lunches? What did you get? What was a typical lunch? Not healthy at all.

Fruit roll-ups. Wagon wheels. No, black forest ham sandwiches with a Kraft single slice. There you go. On white bread, baby. And lots of butter. And yeah, fruit roll-up on the side if I was lucky. Yeah. And yeah, a little chocolate milk maybe. Throw that in there too. Hey, listen, we had some really good lunches back in the day. Not what the kids are getting now. Not what the kids are getting now.

Well, they're getting those Lunchables. You take the cellophane off. Anyway, Adam's giving us the roll up. Alicia Cuthbert, you are such a funny, talented, good-hearted, kind person, and you deserve every ounce of success, every accolade. You are a wonderful actor. Can't wait to see what you're doing. And this is the great thing. You

You're 30 freaking what? Seven years old? 38. 38. Okay. She doesn't even lie about her age. 38 years old. And I feel like you are just getting started. Oh my gosh. Thank you. Okay. And you were such a mentor to me and, and, and, and have been for, for a long time. So I adore you and thank you for being a part of my life and being. You're stuck with me now. Oh yeah. And you're doing season four, Alicia, please. Like I know COVID has stopped our plans, but we have plans for Liz. Um,

You're listening to me and Alicia and we're saying goodbye now. So totally do.

So we're back for all of you people listening on Spotify or iTunes or wherever you download your favorite freaking podcasts. Alicia and I, and one thing I wanted to ask Alicia about and congratulate her about is that she has been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for the Best Guest Starring a Star in a comedy series from The Jan Show. And you seem surprised. I was going to be like, of course you were. You were fan-freaking-tastic.

It was just something that was completely off of my radar. I wasn't even like, I woke up that morning when they announced the nominations and they

Didn't even go through. I hadn't even gotten my coffee yet. And I hadn't even gone through emails. And I was like getting all of these notifications from Twitter. Congratulations. I'm like, congratulations for what? I was like, wait, is this a joke? Is this a joke? And I was like, this is so wonderful. So I was really, yeah, pretty, pretty stunned and pretty shocked.

And I'm so happy for the girls, the writers on your show and how amazing that is. How is every, are they getting together? What are, what's everyone doing for the actual awards? I don't know. We haven't even spoken about it. I think, you know, we should probably do some kind of a zoom call as you do, you know, put on real pants or, you know, even a skirt with an elastic waist, I think would be so nice for something like that.

Let's go. Oh my God. What did Anne Marie used to call Spanx?

Shit? No, a skank. She called them skanks. Oh my God. Anne Murray, Canada's songbird. Yeah, I need to get myself some of those skanks. Is it because she didn't know that they were called skanks or was that her fun name for them? No, I think she thought they were called skanks. Which is kind of, you know, you do want a skank holding your stomach in. I need to find myself a skank to hold my boobs up. You know what I'm saying?

If I don't get that skank to hold this ass up, I don't know what I'm going to do. Oh my God. Listen, there's now Spanx for men. As there should be. I don't know if it holds their balls up or I don't. Well, I mean, I just, I don't understand what they need. Anyway, congratulations on that. I cannot, I really, I really hope you win. Yeah. You know, you know that, you know, this whole thing too, where it's like,

the one that's at the helm, which is you on this show is really the one that sets the tone and really helps everyone shine. And much like, and we always hear about this in Hollywood where it's like, you know, Leonardo DiCaprio, there's those, there's those, those, those amazing actors that have the ability to let people really shine. Like, you

you know, Tom Cruise. I mean, these guys, these are guys that just sort of, they come in and they're never really, they're, they may, they may, the best thing is they may not always be nominated for everything, but everyone else under them gets so much recognition because they make everyone shine. But at the same time,

And it's so true. And everyone knows that in Hollywood. And that's so much you on this show right now and this year. And eventually they get recognized. But I will say that even though they may not get nominated every single time and they're letting everyone else shine because that's how good they are.

They're always the biggest star of the show, no matter what. You don't need an award to prove that. So you are kind of like the Tom Cruise of Canada. Oh, God, I get that so much. It's funny that you bring that up now. You know, a lot of times now I'll say to people, you know, I'll even hear it on the street. Hey, Jan Arden, Canada's Tom Cruise. Can I get a selfie? And I'm like, yes. And with a little sprinkle of Ryan Seacrest, because you're just doing everything. Oh, God. But you have to.

I just like doing stuff. I'm not worried about sucking or getting it wrong or screwing it up. I just like, I like trying things and I love seeing other people trying things and, and just, just kind of, there's something exhausting about wanting to get it right all the time. It's got to be exhausting.

Yeah. Yeah. And, and you're, and you're, and it's funny when you're on the set and you're, you're on the Jan show and you get on set and you see everyone laughing and having a good time. And I told you this when I was there, there's only a few shows that I've gotten a chance to get on that have had that,

dynamic in those atmospheres where you know something special is happening and something special... The ranch looked fun. The ranch looked really fun. The ranch was a lot of fun. Absolutely. But the ranch was a little bit different in that we were shooting in front of a live audience. Yeah.

We had more of a, I would imagine I could equate it more to like when you go out on the road and you do your shows. But when you're filming those long hours like you guys do when you're shooting a single camera show, it felt like when you're just, you're always, you almost live for that small amount of time that you're there. You're living in this bubble together, really.

no pun intended with COVID, but you are, you're living in this bubble together and you're spending so much time together. And if it's not flowing well, it's a disaster, but when it's flowing right, man, is it magic? So you really are making magic over there. And I love to pop in and see it. It's really awesome what you're doing and what everyone's doing.

Well, for all you folks listening in the States, Jan, season one and season two, Alicia is in season two. She's so funny. It's on Hulu. So if you're in the States, go on to Hulu. Like right after you watch a Handmaid's Tale, which is so similar to our show, the storyline. Every time I see Handmaid's Tale, I'm like, are they effing taking our fucking storylines? That's what I think to myself. But yeah, you can go on and see Alicia's

award-winning cameos uh award nominated award nominee oh sorry i i that was 40 hey let's jump the gun a little let's put it let you know what we if we got to put it out there we got to put it in the universe there you go yeah i always tell people they're like how many junos have you won jan and i'm like well let's put it this way i've only lost 17 times and i sort of leave it up to them they're like i'm

just sort of that one eye sort of shots and I'm like, that's not really what I asked you, but I'm like, well, that's, you know, I've only lost 17 nominations. Well, no, I've, I've won. I've won eight, but I have lost 17 times. So I've been nominated like 24. Yes. Wow. It's great to lose. I don't mind losing. That is unbelievable. Wow. And I've lost to some good people.

Oh, I'm sure. It is so awesome to lose to really excellent people. Where do you put the eight? Where are the eight? They're in my, they're in my, uh, I'll show you, you know, cause we can walk in there. We can, we'll just walk in there. Let me just show you where I, where I keep them. I mean, where do you put, do you, do you have all eight together or do you have them like ones in the bathroom? One's in the, no, you have all eight together.

Yes! On top of your beautiful piano. So those are the older ones, those triangular ones. And then they came up... Oh, that's only six. Okay. Then they came up with these ones. Whoa. Oh, wow. Which are a little different looking. And this year, you know, I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame because I'm an older woman and they're just grateful I'm still alive. Wait, when is that? It's... The Junos are...

Who knows? I don't know any of these detailing things. I feel like I've got to be there. I've got to see that. That's so historic. But of course, it's all virtual. But apparently, for this, because it's the 50th year of the Junos, they're putting the... That one is going inside of the triangular one. So it's a double whammy combo. Whoa! Yeah.

That is madness. So the little, the dude wrapped in silver scarving is going to be sunk inside the resin of the triangular one. Oh, oh my gosh. That is going to weigh a ton. But I'm, uh, yeah, I was supposed to be put in last year, but it got canceled. But I hope they finally give me the goddamn thing so that I can, you know,

Because if this keeps going on, anyway, you deserve to be honored two years in a row, though. You see how things work out? Yes. Exactly what it was all about. Exactly. But yeah, 50 years of the Junos. So it's, it's really great to celebrate new music. And I am, I need to get into the internet and discover what,

All these new artists, all these new Canadian artists. Did you end up checking out Nightfall by that country band that I sent you? Yes. Did you love their album? Really great. Yes. Let's give them a plug, Nightfall. Yeah, Nightfall. But it was...

Oh God, hang on. What's wrong with my brain? It's your sobriety. It's screwing you over. Little Big Town. There was too many words in there. I couldn't, I'm dyslexic. Oh, I know. Little Big Town. It's Little Big Town. Little Big Town, Nightfall, love that album. I thought you might like it because I feel like, no, it was a beautiful record. Beautiful record.

Well, listen, I'm going to let you go on your day, but this is our bonus content. Bonus. You are just the best. And let's do this again. Like if you're feeling like you want to just chat about when you guys go to Universal Studios next or when you're going to the Knott's Berry Farm and we're all just sitting up here. Legoland. Oh, great. All right. I'll let you know. I'll keep you posted on my music part. I'll just follow.

fine I'm gonna go to Calloway Park and see if they still got my Fred Flintstone outfit so there oh my gosh you and I should go there for a fun segment or something we should just you and I go I think Liz and TV Jan need to go to Calloway Park

Oh yeah. To just, uh, Oh gosh. I don't know. I would die. I would die. I would be all over that. We're on it. Okay. Okay. Darling. I'll talk to you soon. Yes. Thank you so much. Look after yourself and say hi to Dion and beautiful Sapphire for me. I will. I will. Thank you both. Thanks. Thank you. Okay. Totally do everybody.

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