Hollywood Tales with Kerry Frances

[00:00:00] This week on the No More Late Fees podcast, we are joined by singer and actress, Carrie

[00:00:17] Francis. You probably know her from the movie Knives Out and Peacock TV series, Hooker Face.

[00:00:25] Welcome. Hello. Thank you for having me. We're super excited. It's been a long time coming.

[00:00:34] Yes. Yeah, I know. I think we've been going back and forth trying to schedule for months. So this is

[00:00:38] very exciting. Well, I know that you are a big theater lover and you obviously are an amazing

[00:00:50] singer. But why don't you tell everybody a little bit about your career? How it started?

[00:00:54] How did you get into Knives Out? Yeah, like you said, I'm a big theater person. I started in

[00:00:58] musical theater and I went on a Broadway tour right after school and I was on that tour for about two

[00:01:04] years. And during that tour, I went to the movies one night and I ran into writer-director Ryan

[00:01:11] Johnson. And we just hit it off in the middle of the country just randomly one day when we

[00:01:17] both happened to be there. So Mary Kizmet meant to be and, you know, we just fell into like

[00:01:23] deep, blissful friendship. So he obviously makes movies and my work continued. I was doing plays

[00:01:31] in New York and commercials and voiceovers and auditioning and living the actor's life.

[00:01:36] And you know, I would go in for things. I was in like final rounds of callbacks for the Star Wars

[00:01:40] movie he did. And we got to Knives Out and he said, this is nuts. I'm writing you apart. Like

[00:01:46] this is we have to just get to work together. I want you there. I want you in this movie.

[00:01:51] And I want to do this together, which is really of course like a dream come true to hear

[00:01:56] anyone say that. But to have it be your best friend, it's really a really special experience.

[00:02:01] And I did push back a little. There was a little bit of like, don't want you to just do this because

[00:02:05] we're friends, you know, I like, I need it to be about work. And he said, let me tell you

[00:02:10] the budget and let me explain to you why there is no way that I would just like throw a friend

[00:02:14] in my movie. This is about your talent. This is about what you're capable of. And I don't

[00:02:19] want there to be another movie where there's nothing right for you. And so that's what he did.

[00:02:24] And it really, it was really a season of me building up my confidence to recognize what he said

[00:02:29] was absolutely true. This is not like, I know there's a lot of people who I'm sure would say,

[00:02:35] oh, Noah Segan or Joe Gordon Leavitt or now with me, you know, being his, his go-to actors,

[00:02:41] like, oh, it's just because you're friends. That is not the case at all. And there was a

[00:02:46] long time where we were not working together. So it's just been really exciting to have

[00:02:52] like getting to live my dreams and do these things I've wanted to do forever

[00:02:57] with people I love and care about so much. It's like something beyond my wildest dreams.

[00:03:02] I didn't even know I had that dream until I was living it. So it's so special. I'm really,

[00:03:07] really happy. See, I did knives out. Obviously, that was life changing and incredible

[00:03:12] experience with that cast to just kind of be thrown in. Oh my gosh, really, I mean,

[00:03:17] really imagine you're suddenly sitting in the basement of a gigantic mansion in New England

[00:03:24] playing games with all of them. Like we would just sit in a circle and hang out and play together.

[00:03:30] And I like have goosebumps because that cast is so like top notch. And like some of my favorite

[00:03:37] actors and actresses ever. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh my gosh. Jamie Lee Curtis. Chris Evans. Chris Evans.

[00:03:46] Yeah, it's a big one for me. So I'm like, excuse me. Right. Exactly. And literally imagine if just

[00:03:52] next week you're hanging out and he's explained to you how to play the Gusharitz game. Like that

[00:03:57] that was that's my life. Right. So that's like the experience of my life. And of course,

[00:04:02] Jamie Lee and Daniel Craig and Tony Colette and really all of them, they probably did not

[00:04:08] have to invite me into the fold the way they did. And that was just so special to me. And Frank

[00:04:14] Thos obviously I've learned a ton from Frank and stayed in touch with him and he's become,

[00:04:19] you know, someone I can email or meet up with in New York to get coffee and talk about

[00:04:24] making art and being a human. And that's that's really sometimes my mind can't process.

[00:04:28] Like this is Miss Piggy. This is like Yoda. This is the most iconic like voice actor of our time

[00:04:34] and iconic director just like literally sitting with me at a cafe. So that's really incredible.

[00:04:41] And yeah, and then that's turned into continuing to work together. So then we did poker face

[00:04:46] and that was another life changing experience for a ton of concerns. Natasha, I would die.

[00:04:53] Oh, yeah. Are you a big fan of Natasha? Oh my gosh. And this time era that we're like kind of living

[00:05:00] in with the podcast. Yeah, this is her era, you know, like, yeah, 100%. She pops up in things I

[00:05:07] will like put on a random movie. I like to try and just watch things I haven't seen. So I'll

[00:05:12] just pick something there she is. Right. Or it's just like, you know, and she looks so different

[00:05:19] and her voice is a little bit different. And so there are times where I'm like, is that

[00:05:23] Natasha? Like she is this movie? And then I, you know, Google it. And obviously, of course,

[00:05:28] for me, Benjamin Bratt because Miss Congeniality is one of my all time favorite movies. And like,

[00:05:36] again, my brain had this moment of like, Oh my gosh, like this is this guy was my comfort

[00:05:42] movie. Yeah, who is like talking to me about takes, you know, Adrian Brody, like

[00:05:48] really just just mind blowing but also behind the scenes, not only Natasha, but having so many women

[00:05:54] behind the scenes on the show, right? The sister show runners, Lilla and Nora Zuckerman

[00:05:59] really took me under their wing. They started to teach me about writing, producing, running shows.

[00:06:05] One of the executive producers, Nana Rodrigue, who is an angel, she took me under her wing

[00:06:09] and started explaining things to me and teaching me these women just sort of like circled me and

[00:06:14] championed me and saw something in me that I really could not see. I feel that, you know,

[00:06:19] I've said this to him a million times, but Ryan has seen this in me since day one. And it's just

[00:06:24] taken me many years to catch up to be able to see myself the way everyone else sees me.

[00:06:30] And whatever they recognized, it was like getting an incredible masterclass.

[00:06:35] And then also with Natasha kind of running the show and the other women on the show, it really

[00:06:40] changed my whole life. And I went home from Pograface. And unfortunately, my dog passed. My dog was

[00:06:47] the light of my life, my best friend. And because of these two things back to back,

[00:06:53] there was a major catalyst in my life where everything started to change. And I wrote a short

[00:06:58] that was based on losing my dog. And that short has changed my life. I have a whole

[00:07:03] literary team now and I get to write and produce. And I'm in pitch meetings constantly

[00:07:08] developing. And so whatever trajectory we're honest people, it was like, I met those women,

[00:07:15] they started to teach me right? I mean, not even to mention Ryan, right? Like,

[00:07:20] that's kids to begin with. He starts to teach me these women started to teach me.

[00:07:24] And then Henry dies, I write this short. And all of the things I've learned and all

[00:07:30] of the people I had now in my corner, it was like the most perfect intersection

[00:07:35] of where I was meant to go next. So that was about almost two years ago that we filmed

[00:07:41] Pograface. And when I tell you my entire life is different, my entire life is different.

[00:07:45] Every single aspect of my life really except like my closest people. But otherwise,

[00:07:49] everything is different. So it's just really exciting. It's I feel really lucky and special

[00:07:55] and happy to get to do all this stuff. Well, it's exciting to hear your journey to hear,

[00:08:02] you know, I think so many of us look at challenges in life and and get stuck. But the fact that you

[00:08:09] were able to look at it as a catalyst of good kind of change. Yes, every, you know, that it was

[00:08:16] obviously heart wrenching and sad, like to lose a pet. If you don't have a pet and had that

[00:08:21] loss, it's very, very difficult. But it really is. Yeah, to be able to take that overflowing of love

[00:08:27] and turn it into, you know, art is amazing. But to be able to kind of map, pinpoint all those things

[00:08:36] and put them together. That's something I think a lot of people wish that they could do or see,

[00:08:41] you know, instead of getting stuck in the sadness of it all. So that's that's beautiful.

[00:08:45] Absolutely. Absolutely. And to be clear, I have had plenty of seasons where I'm stuck. I think

[00:08:50] that's so important because people listen to interviews and they only ever hear

[00:08:54] this amazing story and how my life has changed and everything's incredible. And it's an avalanche of

[00:08:59] success. And that is totally true. But if you met me even two years ago, you would have met a

[00:09:05] completely different person. If you met me six months ago, you would have met a completely

[00:09:09] different person. I think that we just continue to say yes to life and evolve and,

[00:09:14] you know, really use these huge, big, exciting life things as trampolines to bounce,

[00:09:20] you know, to the next one. And sometimes those jumps can be terrifying and long and you're like,

[00:09:25] oh, am I going to land on the next trampoline? Is there even another trampoline? Will I make it?

[00:09:30] You know, and I think it's about for me having the right tools in my toolbox, the right therapist,

[00:09:34] the right people in my life and being able to remember that there's bigger reasons than

[00:09:40] just loving being an actress, right? I want to be able to cultivate sets for other women to be on

[00:09:46] and feel safe and comfortable to share their art, share their stories, speak up. Do you have an idea?

[00:09:53] One of the most iconic things and knives that I did was sleeping in the background of a scene.

[00:09:57] I hear about that constantly. And that was me. I pitched that to Ryan and I explained why

[00:10:03] I would be in that scene and like what she would be doing. And he said, yeah,

[00:10:08] let's do it. Right? And so I think it's so important that women have, they can look around sets and say,

[00:10:15] oh, this is being led by women or this is, you know, and people of color and any,

[00:10:20] any marginalized groups, it's really important to me that this becomes more of an even playing field

[00:10:26] so that everyone can come make art and share their gifts and give what they can give to the world.

[00:10:32] It affects people. It really, really TV and movies and theater, of course, and music affect us in ways

[00:10:38] I think we don't always give the most recognition to. It's easy to be like, oh yeah, I'm just streaming

[00:10:43] this. Okay, well what if it changes your life? So yeah, very true. Yeah. So I think it's so

[00:10:48] important to say there's definitely stuck times and it took a very long time to get here.

[00:10:54] I wanted to move to LA when I was 11. So it's been an extremely long

[00:10:59] journey, but it's exactly completely timed correctly. That's amazing. I think you're right. The journey

[00:11:08] is not just about the great high moments, but those stuck moments. But I think it makes the

[00:11:14] high moments better because you saw how down you were, but you were able to kind of pull yourself

[00:11:19] up just knowing that you could pull yourself up when things get rough is, I think half the

[00:11:24] journey of it all. Do you have anything coming up? Yeah, so the short is just finished and so

[00:11:33] that'll be going out into festivals, maybe potentially developing something larger from it.

[00:11:38] And then I have projects right now in development, different production companies and places. I

[00:11:44] really have a big desire to bring rom-coms back. That is so important to me because I think

[00:11:51] rom-coms are such a bad rap, but they are the movies that stick with us and become a comfort

[00:11:56] movie. And I haven't loved too many in the past 10 years. And then also musicals are something that

[00:12:02] I'm pitching. So either redoing musicals or original musicals, I write and record and sing,

[00:12:10] obviously music. And so that is something that is also really important to me. So those are

[00:12:15] the things that I'm primarily pitching. And then out of nowhere, I'll have something that's

[00:12:19] really, my short is incredibly deep. It's a bit of a thriller. It's like a psychological

[00:12:25] element and that always throws people off because I'm the size of a fifth grader. And

[00:12:31] I have dimples and gigantic eyes and I come off like a little peppy bunny and then I'll

[00:12:36] give someone a script and they're like, okay, oh, well, that's dark. That's one of my favorite

[00:12:42] things about the job. We get to explore all of those layers and levels within us instead

[00:12:47] of just being one version. All humans are eight million things. So yeah, so I have a rom-com

[00:12:53] coming out. I'm not entirely sure when and then hopefully we'll do poker face season two and

[00:12:59] other T street projects. We're looking forward to it. Yes. Well, I hope you're in for more

[00:13:05] laughs and games. We are going to do for the first time a movie draft. So we are going to

[00:13:14] each of us are going to be tasked with picking three movies to go head to head. And we're going

[00:13:18] to share these on social media so that our fans can vote on it. The rules pretty much are that each

[00:13:25] movie needs to include at least one cast member from the movie Drop Dead Gorgeous that we just

[00:13:31] swapped, we just did. And the movie has to be from our time period, which is 1995 to 2005.

[00:13:39] Now, let's take some time and think. I think Carrie has some already. This is the first

[00:13:45] time for Jackie probably. And I have no. Oh, you do? Okay. Perfect. Let's get into it then.

[00:13:53] And if we name the same one, we just pull a backup. Is that right? Correct. The Mundo.

[00:13:58] Okay. And we'll let you go first, Carrie. Okay. Amazing. I'm going to steal one that we

[00:14:04] probably all have on our list, which is Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On in 2000.

[00:14:11] I had to go with that. That is such a classic. And as someone who grew up as a cheerleader,

[00:14:15] I remember thinking this could not get any better movies and cheering intersecting.

[00:14:21] And fun fact, bring it on the musical Lin-Manuel's musical. That was my first

[00:14:25] Broadway callback, which is like a really special. Yeah.

[00:14:30] All right, Jackie. What do you got? I am going it takes two with Kierci Alley.

[00:14:37] Oh, classic. I'm not surprised. Not surprised at all. Let's say iconic. That is honestly one

[00:14:47] of my favorite childhood movies. Oh boy. This is rough for me. Do you have a Sophie's

[00:14:52] choice happening over there? Yes. Okay. I'm going to put Wild Things. Yeah. Good old Denise Richards.

[00:15:01] Yeah, good choice. Back to you, Carrie. Okay, I'm going to go Alice and Janny. And I really had a

[00:15:09] hard time choosing a movie for her because I like so many. But I'm going to go with

[00:15:15] a what would be the phrase when it's like not like a front runner, but like a

[00:15:19] like an unexpected and a Marshmann's bracket, like a, do you know the phrase I'm looking for? Oh,

[00:15:24] yeah. It's a wild card. Okay. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Exactly. A wild card. How to deal 2003. Oh,

[00:15:32] Plankman Moore's mother. And that is based on Sarah Desson's first two books. And I lived and

[00:15:39] breathed Sarah Desson books growing up. So I had to throw in a Sarah Desson. Is it the best

[00:15:45] movie? No, it is not. But I'm putting it in the bracket. Now I have hard choices to me.

[00:15:52] I'm going wedding date with Amy Adams. I knew that was gonna be okay.

[00:16:00] No brainer clueless with Brittany Murphy.

[00:16:09] Can I do two Alice and Janny or should I pick a different actress? Whatever you want. It's

[00:16:13] your bracket. Then we got to go Juno. Can we go Juno? Is that in the that Juno came out in 2006,

[00:16:21] but you know what? It's not a big deal. Okay. Well, here's how I'm going to justify it. They were

[00:16:25] probably filming in 2000. Absolutely. We'll vote as you will listeners. We'll give it to you.

[00:16:36] Thank you. My third one is going to be girl interrupted with Brittany Murphy.

[00:16:41] Oh, that is a good one. Well, I'm going to go with Alice and Janny as well. And my birthday

[00:16:50] movie, which is 10 things I hate about you. Oh, classic. She's only in there for a little bit,

[00:16:57] but she left her mark. She did. Yes, she does. That's it. No, that was a really good one.

[00:17:02] Love that movie. Yeah, it's really good. I know that we're, we just finished a

[00:17:08] pageant movie. So I have to ask the question if we were in a beauty pageant, what would our talent be?

[00:17:15] I kind of feel like Carrie is stacked more than the rest of us.

[00:17:20] Well, let's hear your answers first. Mine's going to be probably boring.

[00:17:25] Jackie, if it's high school Jackie, then it is signing a song. Like the girl did in the movie.

[00:17:34] Oh, is it fine? Yeah, I was in the sign language club and we performed at like old folks' homes

[00:17:39] and bookstores and stuff. So let's say that's really impressive. And then hopefully nothing falls on

[00:17:46] your head. Yeah, we already know I've got my tap shoes out. Yep. Yeah. Oh, I love that.

[00:17:53] Just need my inhaler because it's been a while. But Danielle does this thing where like if she's

[00:18:00] bored or waiting for something, she does a little tap dance. Like we'll be at Disney waiting in line

[00:18:07] for a ride and she's just tapping away in her own little world and like she's in a very happy place.

[00:18:15] Can't suppress the joy. Love a good tap-and-tap. Oh, there's nothing I love more than a shoe

[00:18:21] that has like a tap feel to it. Can't stop me. Can't do it.

[00:18:26] Oh, do you know what song you would dance to? Gosh, I don't know. That's really hard because here's the

[00:18:33] thing. I am kind of like particular about tapping to certain songs because a lot of people will try

[00:18:41] to tap to a very popular song or like, you know, I hate when the music overpowers the tap. So I'm

[00:18:49] probably a purist where something more classical or more jazzy so it's not distracting. But I will say

[00:18:57] this, one of my first solos was a tap routine to the theme song of the TV show Dallas. I had

[00:19:08] I had a cowboy hat and fringe. Jackie, I have a picture. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you can

[00:19:17] update it to Texas Hold'em and then bring your obsession. Actually, that would be a perfect song.

[00:19:23] I can hear it already. I am choreographing this number in my head. Yes. That would be honestly

[00:19:30] a great top number. It is or or Shania Twain any man of mine. Yes. That would be very, very good

[00:19:41] and unexpected. Yes. Oh, I can hear the taps. Oh, let me knock it just right. I would obviously

[00:19:52] say that would be my my pretty clear maybe I would do like an aria a little classic opera aria or

[00:20:01] or we'd flip it on its head, you know, do something really fun and contemporary. But

[00:20:08] if I couldn't sing like if I had to pick something really random and wild, I think it would be

[00:20:13] something to do like dog tricks. Like how we were in Drop Dead Gorgeous, then we would definitely

[00:20:21] you'd have to do the dog tricks for sure. Yeah. Someone just comes out with like a cat on a leash.

[00:20:29] But if you were singing, we would have to be plotting your demise because there's no way

[00:20:34] we're not winning with your language. Right. Yeah, well, you never know. You never know. I'll go with

[00:20:41] the dog tricks to preserve my life. Oh, man, we invite you on the show. We start running your

[00:20:48] life or so since you're our honorary blockbuster employee for the week, you get to recommend

[00:20:56] three movies from 95 to 2005 that you would suggest people watch. Absolutely. So like I said,

[00:21:05] I love rom-coms and I love comfort movies. And that's kind of in this niche. So my all time

[00:21:11] favorite movie 1995 spectacular cinematic experience while you were sleeping. I love this

[00:21:19] movie. Do you guys have you seen it? Have. Well, have I? I don't know if Jackie likes that one

[00:21:25] yet. I've seen it a couple of times like back in the 90s. I haven't and since we started this podcast,

[00:21:33] I try not to rewatch movies until we're ready to do them. So it's like real fresh, but I'm excited

[00:21:41] to get to it because Danielle talks about it nonstop. I do very much love them. Danielle,

[00:21:47] I fear we may have a lot of the same taste. It's like a litmus test if people are obsessed

[00:21:54] with that movie. I find we like everything the same. I mean, that is like the most classic

[00:22:01] rom-com that's what I put on when I need a big hug in the form of film. I don't know how many times

[00:22:06] I've seen it and I didn't see it in the 90s and I didn't even see it in the early 2000s. It's a new

[00:22:11] obsession. It's really probably been just like the last maybe eight to 10 years that I'm

[00:22:17] just completely in love with this movie. And I just love like a young Sandra Bullock and

[00:22:22] one of my goals is to play her sister at some point. So anytime I watch that, I think, okay,

[00:22:27] we're getting there. We're getting there. So that's my first pick and then keeping in the theme,

[00:22:31] 1998, you've got mail. I just always go to you've got mail, which is such a another classic

[00:22:39] rom-com and get your like hit of Nora Efron and just New York in fall and those amazing

[00:22:46] apartments and the set decoration, the costumes are something really magical about that movie.

[00:22:52] That's like one of the only movies I have that I own on like my Apple account so I can watch it

[00:22:57] anytime anywhere. I often say I have a need for an emergency viewing if you've got mail.

[00:23:07] And then my third one, I really was like, I went deep, you guys. I had so many options. I

[00:23:12] was like, I don't know how I'm going to pick it. So I just have to go with my gut and I'm

[00:23:15] going to go with another 1998, the parent trap, which I love.

[00:23:20] You're right. We are on the same way. Great choices. Love your choice.

[00:23:27] And before we head out, why don't you tell everybody where they can find you on social media?

[00:23:33] Absolutely. So I am on Instagram and TikTok as Carrie Francis official. That's Carrie with a

[00:23:39] K and a Y and Francis within E but I'm sure it'll be in the show notes. So just click.

[00:23:44] That'll be easier. Yeah, those are the places I am the most and you can keep up with announcements

[00:23:49] and podcast and press and new songs and all of the fun things there.

[00:23:55] And as always, you can check us out at no more late fees on TikTok, Instagram,

[00:23:59] Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and threads. And please stay tuned for our episode next week

[00:24:04] as we cover 1999 go. And if you missed it, don't forget to go back and check out

[00:24:10] our drop dead gorgeous episode with Carrie. Thank you so much for having me.

[00:24:14] We loved having you. Thank you for staying a little bit later to hang with us.

[00:24:20] Of course, of course. And as always, be kind and rewind.