Melissa O. Bowen, Actor, Dancer, Creator

00:00
There's just this magical energy when you get to be on stage.

00:11
Welcome to another episode of Chewing the Fat. I am your host, Big Robb. Thank you so much for tuning in, downloading the podcast. I certainly do appreciate it.  Oh, it's the podcast where we tell those beautiful, messy human stories. uh you know,  everybody's got a great story to tell. And  I cannot wait for you to hear the story from my guest this week.  Calling in from Louisville, Kentucky, please welcome Melissa O'Bowen. Melissa.

00:40
Hi.  There you are.  I'm here.  How are you doing?  I'm doing great.  Good middle of the week energy happening.  Nice. uh I  met Melissa, think uh she used to live in Columbia, so not far from me. So I think we were in some common uh acting like Facebook groups or something like that  originally. then  paths crossed and...

01:09
Instagrams were followed and this that and the other and support was given and so it's yeah, so absolutely so But you're now up in Louisville Yeah, that is the Army life so my husband's active duty so that explains the move. Yeah. Yeah Well, so so the first question is usually you're not you're not from Louisville so Where you where you're from originally?

01:39
Um, originally we want to go all the way back. I am from Oregon, Portland area. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. So, uh, West coast baby still in heart.  Um, I've been a bit everywhere.  So,  uh, even before I met my husband, I went from  Oregon to Colorado, to Texas, to California, back to Colorado. Oh, wow. And then, and then I met my spouse. I was going say, were you a military kid too? No, I was just. uh

02:08
Natural traveler. Natural traveler. That's awesome. So how long have you been acting? Since right before the shutdown. Wow. So fall of 2019. Okay. So six years in it. Yeah. So that seems like a, that's a long, large part of your, you know, growing up that you weren't doing acting. Did you always have a passion for performing and that type of stuff or did just something click later in life?

02:38
uh Performing, yes. I'm one of those kids who got put into dance class when I was three years old  and  that was  the goal from then on out was to  be a dancer. So  that was the focus. I actually had my degree at the BA in dance. So that was the focus for the longest time.  I actually, there was a whole bunch in there.

03:04
in my youth trying to, that was part of like the moving around and stuff as I was attending different schools, um trying to earn my degree, but  bounced around a little bit. um At the time,  I am, if you add to my tag, I'm actor, dancer, ADHDer.  And at the time I did not know  that that was the case.  And I didn't handle school very well with college and juggling.  So I wound up actually not finishing my degree.

03:33
back in my early 20s. And then kind of got a little bitter about it. It took about a decade off from dance and just uh experienced a life, I would say.  All those random jobs, customer service, uh sales. I worked at movie theater, barista, poker dealer.  I've done a little bit of everything. uh

04:03
But it was was kind of nice because then it was just I'm actually using all that now. But  all that life experience. But yeah, it was was it was kind of bittersweet. And then after I met my spouse, we kind of settled and I was missing it. I absolutely was missing the dance world.  And I got very lucky that the university that was in the town, we were down in Clarksville, Tennessee, area for Campbell. um They added  a dance major like the year.

04:32
almost right before we were leaving.  And so I was one of the first dance major classes to, they let me come and finish out my degree in a year, which was really nice.  Yeah. And after that, I mean, I just kind of dove right back into it, started teaching and  found the passion again.  Yeah. That's, I love that. I love that. And you talked about uh now using all that other, lived in experience to bring texture in life to your current work. So where...

05:02
Where was that shift from dancing to acting?  Or did you get a dancing acting gig and you're like, oh,  I like this, you know? It was a little bit like that.  So  we were stationed overseas in Germany  and the military community out there is very  tight knit, very supportive. They actually have a lot of community programs to,  you know.

05:29
help everybody still feel at home. And they have a great theater community. uh And  they were putting on a production of Young Frankenstein,  which is,  I am an absolute  Mel Brooks fanatic.  When I was eight years old, I was allowed to check that movie out from the library as many times as I wanted. Oh, that's awesome.  So  I saw that  they were doing it. And I was like, well, I just can't not.

05:59
audition for this. Right. And even if it was because the stage production of Young Frankenstein, there's a lot of dancing,  tap dancing, there's all sorts. So  that was a great way to dip my toes into that side of things. I'm the greatest.  I'm not the greatest singer. So was good that there was lots of dancing.  But it was it was so much fun. And just meeting all those em the energy from all the actors in the production, it was just

06:29
something I had not experienced in a very long time. Because  even as a dancer, as an adult teacher, I was not the one performing. I was teaching kids who were getting to perform. So this was me finding that again as well.  There's just this magical energy when you get to be on stage.  There's nothing like it. So yeah, it was it was  so wonderful to experience that. And then even even my daughter, she did that like the Christmas production of Elf.

06:58
Right after we did Young Frankenstein and then February 2020 hit. Oh, wow. And everything shut down. were we were mid recital practice for the ballet program that we I was working with out there and it just all went kaput. And we adapted as well as we could. I was actually still, you know, giving kids online instruction for for ballet exercises. They could stay in shape.

07:28
We were trying, em but the theater community, actually put out  table reads. were  like, hey, let's together and read. Let's get together, read some Shakespeare. Let's. You know, they had they had workshops, they had people do Zooms from stateside and give acting classes, just one off workshops and just really stay as motivated as possible. And in that way,  I was finding more than just.

07:56
the dance side of the acting world, you know, in that theater. was was definitely leaning into the text more uh with it being online.  And that was actually one of my.  Guilty pleasures, I guess,  in school is like uh English was not my focus at all, but one of my favorite classes was that's all we did was analyze text. She, you know, assign Emily Dickinson and be like tear it apart.

08:26
And that was just, I love doing that so much and finding that in  the data, actually a big focus of theater uh is being able to read the text and find the humanity in it and  interpret it and  give it back to an audience. that is  very, I don't know, there's just something about it.  It's fulfilling.  And you're right when you say  there's a magic.

08:55
There's a magic about it, being able to  embody these characters and then allow the audience to come along for the experience. I mean, you're experiencing it again. Yes, you've, you know, memorized the lines, you've figured out what your character's, you know,  viewpoint's gonna be and all that stuff. But every show is,  every show's different, you know, even though you're doing the same show, you know, maybe, you know.

09:24
three times a week, eight times a week, whatever, but  every time you have a different audience, it's...  You have a different audience and you're a different you.  One of the  great things that my teacher likes to say is, you are not the same person you were five minutes ago.  So it will be different every time.  Even if you have plotted out all those beats and things that you need to hit, it will still be alive and different every single time because you are not the same person who you were.

09:53
The world is not the same as it was five minutes ago.  And  it's just, that's why they say the theater is living and breathing and  it is, it truly is.  So.  Oh, that's awesome. And so  then the,  then the move from,  you know, everything opened back up. now we're not performing on zoom anymore. We're able to actually be around other humans.  Um,  where, where then did you go from?

10:19
the theater side to start saying, oh, well, maybe I want to do some on-camera stuff. want to... It actually, was still part of COVID in the shutdown because there still weren't big productions happening. There be some here or there. They were trying to do the mask stuff, but we got bounced around a lot. We moved back stateside the summer of 2020. And then we actually got moved around. We were moved again in 21 and...

10:48
Like it just,  but everywhere we were going, there seemed to be a little bit more film still happening than there was theater.  And I wasn't trying to get into film. actually, what was, uh I took like a online acting class out of UT or  they were out of Austin and then they recommended doing student films with UT Austin because the school was still  doing that. And so I  did  one student film before we got moved to the next base  and

11:18
um When I had talked to the teacher out of Austin, he's like, oh, Louisville, it's amazing there. There was so much theater. There was so much acting. There's there's film. There's everything. You'll be fine. um And so when I before I even got here, I had reached out to the local talent agency and just sent my student film that I had done and  managed to get representation. So it just kind of fell into it. Part of that is as a military spouse, I've learned to um

11:49
prepare to where I'm going and It's hard to do that with community theater because it's all about the auditions once you get there But I figured this was something that I could Try and set up before I arrived is that I could reach out to a talent agent and be like hey What do I need to do to be ready when I arrive? Because yeah for anybody listening who's a military or military spouse when you move there's always like a six-month adjustment period

12:18
And  after so many moves, you learn to kind of help mitigate that by, there's this process of pre-planning and  it just, helps and get your, get get it, it, hit  the ground running kind of thing. Yeah. Thank you.  Yeah. No, I love that. And you know, and like you said, because you've done it so much, that's, that's something that you can, you know,  bring to any, any part of it to helping other people, you know, let them know, Hey, if you're doing this,

12:47
go ahead and do these things. But also, mean, who knows where that knowledge may come up.  If you play a military spouse  outside of real life, you know, on screen or something like that, that's literally you. literally know how to act like yourself. um So you're, I have to mention it because that's the current movie.  You're in this little James Gunn  film uh called Superman. uh

13:17
How  did that come about?

13:21
Um, so our local,  um, our local talent agent, the, so if you know anything about the Superman movie, they were kind of filming a little bit of everywhere  and,  um, they, they filmed out of Atlanta. They filmed that a little in Cincinnati. They filmed out of Cleveland  and  me, uh, my agency is Midwest. So we got all those casting calls that came out of, um, Atlanta or I'm sorry.

13:50
The casting calls that came out of Cleveland  and Cincinnati  and they there was like a whole list of background stuff uh And  I had friends actually down in Atlanta who got the same uh Casting notices and they're like we applied to as many as we wanted  our local agent was like, please just applied one and pick one uh and most of them  as per  usual for for like just a you know

14:18
supporting background character, it's like one line and that's it. And I don't do well with that because I never know what they really want. But for this particular one, there was no lines, no dialogue, but it was an entire paragraph of stuff to do. And I was like, well, I can choreograph that. There you go. Yeah. That's like so it really leaned into just my my comfort zone because.

14:47
I think that's where as a dancer that has really helped inform my acting a lot and just  knowing how to...  knowing what I want to do with myself in front of a camera.  I can  make it look the way I want it to look.  Which I've heard from friends is a great way to not just dance. had...  I know people in martial arts.  Just any sports, anybody with that kind of background kind of finds acting a little bit easier.

15:16
from the get-go.  But yeah, so this, I was very shocked because this, you I sent it off. And normally, particularly with something this big, I would have expected like a callback or something.  But I  was driving with my youngest in the car and I just got a phone call saying, hey, you booked Genesis, which was the code name for Superman.  And it was one of those.  I'm sorry, what? Are you pranking me? What's going on? Yeah.

15:46
That just happened.  And  then I said, thank you, hung up and then screamed and explained to my daughter what was happening. That's awesome. That's awesome.  And uh for the folks who maybe didn't read the  show notes yet on this, Melissa is  woman in car  in Superman. And you did such a

16:09
You talk about not having dialogue, but you did such a masterful job of storytelling just with your eyes and your face. And I mean, you could tell, you know, it was great. mean, literally you could tell everything that was being said without anything having to be said. I mean, between the two of you, between you and David, it was just amazing. It was super.

16:39
Sorry. But  yeah. And my favorite part is people always ask like, was David there? I'm like, no.  But at the same time, because Google is incorrect, if you Google and ask, it will say that it was a green screen shot and it was not  because James Gunn does everything practically. We were on the Detroit Superior Bridge filming that  and it was just composited together. Yes. Green screen. No. Yeah. em

17:07
It was fun. like all that, that intense reaction. Yeah, you were doing it to no one. I mean, you were doing it to the crew. doing, you know what I mean? It's, but that's what I'm saying. And his reactions to what you're going to, that's what I mean. That's what I mean. saw his reactions, I was like, Oh my goodness. If only I had known when I was making this face. Yeah. No, that's what I said. I mean, it was so well done on both of your parts.

17:32
And then obviously in the edit and being put together in compositive, it was great. was really,  like I said, was just some  intense magical storytelling without any dialogue.  And I think that's hard to achieve. It is. I I've had people  telling me,  thank you for  that scene. And I'm like,  I had a very small part in that that was the masterful storytelling from James Gunn, because he knew exactly where he wanted that to go.

18:02
Yeah. And he communicated it in the best way. He actually had like a little animated storyboard of the sequence and just said, I need this. And I was like, that makes it so much easier for me to. He already knew exactly what he wanted. it. I will say is seeing it in the theater and, know, the first time and because I had.

18:29
I mean, I knew you were in it, but I didn't know what the scene was gonna be.  I kind of like, I was like, as the actor myself, I was like, let her say thank you. Just get some words.  her two words. I've had that comment a lot. something, just give her, you know what I mean?  Of course that also means you got a higher rate too, you know, but I mean. It would have been the same either way, yeah.

18:59
No, for, uh I've actually had a lot of people say that and I, and I did, what I did was I cut a clip together of my audition with the scene and it was me. Cause in my audition, I said, thank you. And I was like, there you go guys. There it is. There it is right there. No, that's awesome. That's awesome. um Having been part of that experience, um how is now like going back to the audition routine,

19:26
You know, because I mean, you know, that's a pretty high to have and then, but we don't stop. We still go to the We look for auditions. We wait for stuff to come in from our agent. We, you know, search out other work. It's...  And it literally, it actually, was, cause we filmed that in early July of 24 and it was as soon as I was back. I was like, okay,  what's next? We got to keep rolling.  And I actually had kind of a slow year just because we had...

19:55
transitioned again down to South Carolina from  Kentucky at that point.  And so  it was a little slow.  I found some actually really great. There's such a great film community out of Charlotte, North Carolina.  And I managed to do a couple of shorts with some great folks. Shout out to A1Day1.  And then also local theater there in South Carolina.

20:24
Shape and Theater did some short play fest. So yeah, trying to stay busy, but not as much stuff coming through in the last year. And part of that was, well, there was also the strike, the sag strike was right after, I think that that was all happening like right after I got done filming. And so there was just a lot of nothing for a long time. Even from, I'm still non-union.

20:54
I'm union eligible, but because I work in the Midwest, we have a lot more non-union work here.

21:01
So even as somebody who seeks out independent stuff, it seemed like everybody was just kind of, you know. Yeah, I think, you know, even on my side of things doing voice work, there was still a lot of like, because a lot of voice work is non-union work.

21:20
It's still like wanting to be in solidarity with your, you know, your fellow actors. though we're not union, we still weren't working just because it did not feel right to. Exactly. And then, I mean, yeah, you don't want to be called a scab. It's like, I'm not, you know what I mean? I'm not taking work from a union person. I am just, you know, I'm doing non-union work that they were hiring non-union for anyway.

21:50
But yeah, so I mean, there's all kind of that internal turmoil with that, but yes, wanting to show a unified front and being like, hey, no, we're gonna stand together in this because it's gonna be good for all of us in the end, you know? So  I definitely understand that.  But no, I kind of, so in the, it was down for a little bit, but in the last year, kind of we were,

22:18
This is our last move. We moved back to Kentucky.  So I kind of did the same thing where I was trying to hit the ground running and I was finding  a few more projects  right, right as I think, you know, strike ended all this.  And  and I'm a big believer in good work can come from anywhere. So I do not discriminate. And I did some student films and I've done  so I did some of that. I'm just trying to keep

22:48
things  moving.  And  everybody was like, I know my friends and my acting coach, they were just waiting for the Superman bomb to drop this summer so I can  kind of try and use it to get a leg up. And I actually don't know if it has helped me that much.  It's one of those. Yeah, I actually, I did actually manage to book another  sag job last month  and  no one, one person on the set knew I was in Superman.

23:17
Yeah. was very much a, like, it was not even part of the equation in getting cast.  So. Well, I feel like, you know, maybe you should just hire yourself out to like some car dealerships there in the Louisville area, just to sit in cars, just to drive the car. You know what I mean?  We have, so we have,  I'm very much trying not to talk about Superman too much. I don't want to annoy my kids, like,  keeping it running.  It did drop to DVD.

23:47
a couple days ago. Available digital. so the last hurrah, because I'm trying to, I'm not an actor with a social media presence,  but I  try when I can. So we have this idea that  this Saturday, we're just going to go to our local Walmart and I'm going to take a Sharpie and I'm just going to stand next to the display and be like, have you got your Superman today?  Because  I'm in it.  Just call that, yeah, just be like, would you like my autograph? And just call that the last hurrah.

24:17
and be like, then move on completely. So,  just need something to like bookend the whole Superman experience and be like, I'm good. Yeah, but you know that it's, you know that, I think that's great. I think that's, I think you're absolutely, you should just take the Sharpie and just autograph a bunch of copies anyway. I'm just saying, just secretly,  people have these autographed copies of Superman. They're like, who's mob? um But yeah, I mean, but having a,

24:46
You know, that's something that's cool about having a tangible version of what you were in, you know what I mean? To show, hey, this is, I'm in this.  A friend of mine did a video game and it was like a  Steam game, but now they've actually pushed it out on platforms. so he  get a physical, so he's like, I got a physical copy of the game that I was in. I was like, that's so cool. oh I did the Spectacular Now with Miles Teller years ago and my scene got completely cut.

25:16
like from the movie, there was a whole storyline that got completely cut from that movie, but I was in the deleted scenes. like going by the Walmart bin and like, hey, there's my $5 movie and I'm in the deleted scene. So if you want to see me, you just have to get the DVD and watch the deleted scenes. so, mean, but it's something cool about having that physical copy that you can put your hands on of your work  because our work is so...

25:46
non-tangible sort of, you know what I mean? Yeah. So outside of acting and your career and your things that you got going there, what else are you into? You speak about your family very highly, but what's bringing you joy?

26:07
Um, so a lot of things I, I, part of why we moved back to Louisville was because of this great,  um, community they have here. There's definitely a big,  it's, it's, you know,  people here Louisville, big city, Bourbon city. It's,  uh, you know, we've got the Louisville Slugger Museum, the Muhammad Ali,  it's this great cultural  city, but it's not that big. It actually,

26:36
takes me 30 minutes to drive from one side of town to the other,  which is really nice. But it's like we have a little bit of everything. And as somebody who is in acting, who is in dancing, who is in...  I have a teenager in visual arts.  This has been  really great to come back here.  Previously, when I was here, I did start dancing with...  My first time dancing professionally uh with a local contemporary modern company called Ambo Dance Theater.

27:06
And which was milestone like after 40 dancing professionally for the first time. I love it. That's awesome. That's not normal. That's not the usual track. But they've kind of kept in touch while I was down in South Carolina. And now that I'm back, I re auditioned for the company and we're back doing that. So currently in rehearsals for the Christmas production or holiday production. It's

27:35
The modern version of the nutcracker,  call it the the graham cracker.  I love that. So it's a lovely twist where uh instead of traveling to land of sweets, it's everybody gets a little sugar high  at a bonfire with s'mores  and there's this wonderful marshmallow versus chocolate. That's that's the land of the sweets. It's  marshmallow versus chocolate battle  and graham cracker brings them together. ah

28:04
That's awesome. I love that. So uh that is in rehearsal. And then I actually just started.  They're doing a new piece  based on Carmilla,  which I had never heard of. uh Carmilla is actually, I believe, the original vampire  predates Brom Stoker's Dracula.  And so they're doing a new original, hopefully 20 minute piece  where  taking

28:32
pieces of this and I get to play Carmilla. Oh wow, that's awesome. Yeah, we'll preview that probably the week after Halloween.  I'm very excited for that one. That's really cool.  Yeah, so lots of good stuff.  There's a local fundraising thing that happens called Give for Good Louisville where literally every non-profit in town spends a week fundraising.

28:59
They just got enough funds in the last week. They're hoping to kick off  the first annual uh Kentucky dance. uh Oh my goodness.  Let me say it right.  It's uh the,  yeah, I'm getting a little tongue twisted. uh So it's  one of those,  they used to do Nachma, which is the national uh dance choreography month.  And they would do that every year, but it felt very,

29:29
uh There's a lot that goes on to that internet with people having to choreograph specifically for that show.  And so what they want to do is they want to invite companies from all around Kentucky  and from neighboring states and eventually nationwide to come in and have  a  dance conference for a week.  And they're hoping to kick off this spring with as many local companies and grow from there annually.  that's  the vision.

29:57
And I absolutely love it and I'm so excited for them. That's awesome. That's awesome. I love to see your passion for  your dance. know, obviously that's  your starting point. That's what's  ingrained so much.  And your face just lights up when you talk about that. And  I'm sure it's fulfilling to see what one to do to perform, but also to see these other people get excited about it, especially like kids and you know.

30:21
And you mentioned something just a few seconds ago about like that it's not normal for, you know, after 40 professional dancer, things like that.  I think that that  now is probably one of the best things that I have seen in my entire life that, that normal is a construct that we do not need to adhere to. You know, if you have passion for something, go, go after it. You know, it doesn't matter if you feel like it's late in life or

30:49
or I'm too old for this, I'm too, you know what? If you have the passion for it, I definitely think you need to get out and you need to do it. If for no other reason, so that you don't go to your grave saying, wish, I wish I'd tried, I wish I'd put myself out there more or whatever, know, if you at least put yourself out there, you know, if you can do it or not, you know what I mean? So I think it's great.

31:18
I think it's great that you are a over 40 professional dancer. I that is just amazing. like I said, your face lights up when you talk about that stuff. I just think it's amazing. I mean, yeah. I love the work. The work, I think, is what keeps me going. And whether that's acting or dancing or even... My friends sometimes make the mistake of asking me to...

31:47
take a look at something they've written and I go way over the top, because it's that same, that analytical analyzing the text.  And I'm like,  oh,  I get very animated. Yeah.  I don't know.  It's just the daily fuel  for what keeps me going. And  I didn't,  I can't say I was always this way, because I did take a good decade off.

32:17
I think I was a very shy, quiet kid  and uh something about becoming a mom and going back to school and uh took some chances with some new experiences that really helped me  lose the embarrassment  of...  I  mean, as a performer, I don't think I ever had it as a dancer. I don't think I ever felt that embarrassment, but as an actor. uh

32:47
having a voice  that  I did always kind of have a little bit of, you know, uncertainty there. But there was like a stretch where I was I was trying new things and really trying to  actively pull myself out and just go do embarrassing things in public just because. oh And it was it was done in a creative way. There was like there was a uh an event that we would participate in and it would just really

33:17
force you to look, you can ask, just go ask somebody for help or go do, you know,  and the worst they can say is no, and it's not gonna hurt and  just go be silly, go dress up like, you know, uh a crazy wizard and go walk through the store. Nobody is gonna worry about  anything. So it was a great exercise in just being comfortable in  myself and.

33:45
And my kids did that with me too. So I hope it helped them too a little  bit.  But. I think sometimes with age,  you're the,  the give a F quotient changes in life. Yeah. You know,  because  you find you realize the things that are important to you, the things that are not important to you and the things  that you worried about that you realize were nothing that you ever should have worried about.

34:12
You know, and to give yourself the opportunity to play, to be, to be who you are and to not try and fall into some sort of construct or box that  you, your past society, your friend group may have wanted to put you in and to just be you. Just be authentically you. Yeah. And I think especially as we get older, not to bring it down at all, but just

34:42
you do  experience loss sometimes in family  and friends and things and so you kind of see how much time like you have  it is it is not infinite  and  if there are things you are passionate about do not wait  definitely change perspective for me  and that oh

35:08
You just really need to focus. I mean, I wake up every day going, what's on the to-do list today? And  it's not that I'm just trying to stay busy. It's that  there are places I want to go, things I want to do, things I want to see.  And  it won't happen unless you're active and actively pursuing that.  And  it is a brand new mindset.

35:37
Melissa, this is the second segment of the show. This is where we dive a little bit deeper into your mental health journey. ah I definitely believe the more that we can talk about the things that we've dealt with, the more common ground that other people can find in that. Because sometimes,  know, it's depression wants to tell you you're alone and that's how it tries to take power over you is that no one else feels this way.  But I don't believe that. So I think when we tell our stories, it helps ourselves heal, helps others feel as well. So for you,  how do you keep the darkness at bay?

36:10
Very much on a day-to-day basis. mean,  every time I wake up, I need to reassess  and just, I think routine is a wonderful thing in that, you I wake up, make my coffee and we just kind of start feeling  where the day wants to go, what it's like. I know especially recently in politics and whatnot, you never know what the day is going to bring.

36:39
changes the  tone of  the times. uh But yeah, it very much is about staying aware and  being able to,  personally, I know it's hard for people a lot of times, especially when you start to, if you start sinking into that depression a little bit, to have that self-awareness,  to be able to  look.

37:06
at what's happening within your body or within your head and be like, okay, what's feeling off today? What  is not quite right? What do we need to sit with? What do we need to account for?  And I think it's kind of a skill like anything else is, is that you really just need to.

37:26
continue trying to  self-assess. uh

37:33
I don't know. Yeah, for me, I mean, I would love to say music has always kind of been  I'm one of those people that always has a soundtrack running to my life.  And I always said that that was my attraction to dance was just because it was music. eh But I know  when so we we lost a family member in  twenty two and I know when that happened.

38:00
I m the music just turned off. I found myself, and I didn't realize it until like six months later, that I stopped listening to music.  And it was just not there anymore. then, but what I did find was that I was still moving.  And the moving, I,  at the time,  I think I was dancing some,  but it was more like,  I have German Shepherds, and so.

38:29
they need a walk, whether I want to walk or not. uh But it was that movement and getting myself, keeping the blood flowing. uh became the routine. And I think that is actually what kind of helped pull me out of uh the headspace  that I was in at the time. So as much as I want to say, music is  the thing. I think music is  maybe my canary in the coal mine.  So depending on the kind of music I need.

38:58
how loud it can be,  whether it's there at all, that is kind of like a gauge for my mental health at the time. And then the movement is the medicine. So whether that is a full dance class, whether that's walking around the block, just kind of help keep me going.  I hope it's that way until  I'm 85.

39:25
I love that. I love the thought. I love the thought that one,  the music that helps motivate, but then  also just the motion helps motivate too. So when  that music turned off for you and you didn't necessarily realize it, you you may have been still moving out of, you know, habit, quote habit, because you have to take the dogs for a walk or whatever. But when you realize that the music was gone too, that it wasn't

39:55
Like, well, now I'm gonna quit moving too. You're like, no, well, maybe if I keep moving, the music comes back.  You know,  that the two can  live separately and  it's not necessarily a one-way street. The music didn't have to motivate the movement. Sometimes the movement  could motivate the finding of the music again. I think that's beautiful.

40:26
Really, for me, when it comes to acting, find, you know, everybody has their ups and down days. And I really do have that, think, if I've had, if I've had work begets work. So coming out of that, I think it was about three, four months in, and I just had one week where I felt the blood flowing. could feel, you know,

40:53
I was feeling more active. don't the music still wasn't there, but um there was one day I had a bunch of self tapes to turn in because we're virtual world. It's all self tapes.  And  I booked everything I submitted for.  And  and that was just kind of like a turning point because that set me up for then all of that was filming, you know, four months later and for springtime.  And there's something about

41:23
I'm very much a seasonal person,  those transition seasons, spring and fall,  they really helped me push into the new things that I need to do.  it was like March into April, I think is when we started filming.  And that was my first experience on  set. uh And  it really just...

41:50
Yeah,  I can't move. I remember  I was still taking the dogs for walks and stuff um all winter long. And being on set, the first project I did was called A Natural. And we were literally living in an old West camp for two weeks.  And I still found myself  tend to be fairly shy when it's in groups. So I was.

42:16
But I'd wake up and go outside my cabin and do yoga on the side. And I'd  live in the kitchen helping them cook breakfast, that kind of thing. I just wasn't really a super social. uh But at the end of those two weeks,  I drove home  and the radio was cranked all the way up. I love that. It was, yeah. So it's such a good experience. then because work begets work,  you know.

42:45
I came home and had an audition  the next week and booked my first SAG movie. it was just, it just, yeah,  it just keeps putting you in the right head space when, if you just  keep moving.

43:03
This is the third segment of the show. It's time now for the Fast Five. The Fast Five. It's time now for the Fast Five.  Fast Five. Sorry,  still working on a theme song for the segment. It's only been five years, but eventually I'll record something.  Fast Five  is powered by Poddex. It's an app created by my friend Travis Brown. If you go to chewingthefatbr.com slash poddex,  it'll take you to your favorite app store so you can download the app. It's made for podcasters, but...

43:32
They're great  icebreaker questions.  So we've got five questions.  No wrong answers.  First thing that comes off to the top of your head. Okay, you're ready? Okay.  No pressure. we go. Question number one.

43:47
there any local dish or food product from where you grew up that you just absolutely miss? From where I grew up?  Whichever one. Yeah,  I'm like,  which location? uh Honestly,  so when I lived in California, there was  just those uh really small taco stands  we would go to at four in the morning and you just order chips and guac.  And sometimes you just want chips and guac.  At four in the morning.

44:15
And I  miss those because they don't have them  out here.  You've got hot browns now. Maybe they need a hot brown stand or something like that at four in the morning.  I love that. love that. Question number two.

44:30
What you think is prettier,  a sunrise or a sunset?  Oh,  sunrise. mean, sunsets are gorgeous  at the beach. love sunset at the beach. But a sunrise, think, is pretty anywhere. And birds chirping and a new day starting and possibilities. Like, yeah, sunrise. I love that. I love that. Question number three.

44:54
What was the first car you ever owned? Ford Escort. I want to say 95 Ford Escort. Ooh. It was, yeah. We had it about a year. It was, yeah. Yeah. Let's leave it at that.

45:15
Number four.

45:19
could learn any language fluently, what would it be?  Oh, well, that's hard because we do a lingo a lot.

45:31
I think it would be interesting to learn Welsh just because. Cause it's the level of difficulty on it. think, you know, they say learning languages, it changes the way your brain is wired. And I think that would definitely be one that would open up new synapses and yeah. And technically I have Welsh background. So I tried to learn, uh, like some, uh, like Irish, Gaelic, um,

46:00
through Duolingo and stuff like that. And that's got some, none of those letters make those sounds that you're supposed to make when you look at them. So, no, I totally understand that. That's great. All right, question number five.

46:14
When is the last time that you cry?

46:19
Like for real or on camera?  Can we say on camera last week?  But for real? For real,  um...

46:32
Probably only a couple of weeks ago too, just because sometimes it's just life is stress. Yeah. Sometimes, I mean, I hate  the saying, know, sometimes you just need a good cry, but sometimes it's hard to  not. Yeah. And yeah. And I'm kind of one those funny people, like when I am sad,  I don't cry.  If that makes it just kind of shuts down  and the crying doesn't happen. I actually

47:02
found that in my acting that um during  the periods of the low points  and they need you to car on camera, I actually couldn't. I just, it just wouldn't. They're like, well, it looks like you're crying because you're looking very sad, but there was no, there was never, I promise there were never any tears. uh Yeah. It's, actually find when I am, I'm in a better head space and things are more free,  then it's easier to kind of let go.

47:31
And that's when the real tears, I think, come. You're kind of more opened up to it. let the emotions flow. Yeah, I mean, I can cry at the drop of a I'll cry watching car commercials and stuff. It's just, you know, oh, at that little girl's grandma in the back seat, actually. You know, that kind of stuff. I'm getting welled up right now. Anyway, so dumb, so dumb. And can I, before we...

48:00
close this out because I am an ADHD-er and I always get my dates wrong. We were talking about 2024 and look, this has been living in my brain for the last half hour. And the SAG strike was actually in 2023, but the effects of it had carried into 2024. And I just need to clarify that. I do that a lot as an ADHD-er. I will go back and edit my conversations and apologize for when I overstep people. it's part of...

48:29
learning how to  manage and  still  my ADHD is out there. We understand, right? I got you. I'm right there with you. No, that's perfectly fine. But that is our Fast Five and that's the show. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you.  This is awesome. This really was. This is great.  If folks want to keep up with you. I know you said you don't do a lot of social media stuff, but if folks want to keep up with you and watch you sign autographs of your movie. uh

48:58
What's the best way that they could keep up with you? So  my  tag on all the socials is mob scenery. So M.O.B.  scenery.  There's  you got to use the middle initial on my name because there is another Melissa Bowen actress out there. I don't think she said anything  in a while,  but I had my kids come up and ask or my kids teacher asked if I was on NCIS and I had to say no, I'm sorry. That's not me.

49:26
So mob scenery on pretty much anything. If you go to like a link tree,  slash mob scenery,  it'll show you everything I got. Awesome. Well, I'm sure we'll put those links in the show notes as well. Melissa, thank you so much for taking time to talk to me today. I really enjoyed it. really, really did.  This was awesome.  I appreciate it. I was great talking to you. Yeah. I wish you nothing but success with everything that you've got coming up and break all the legs, bust all the lips, do all the  too, toi, toi. We're trying. Oh.

49:56
I have to shout out like, cause I am remiss sometimes. So Superman is now on a DVD, but also I had a wonderful, my first SAG project, which was a couple of years ago now just came out on VOD. It's called the A-Frame by Calvin Lee Reader. And I have to give a shout out. So. Awesome. Awesome. I'll put those links in the show notes as well so that people can find that stuff. Thank you again so much for being here. really do appreciate it. Thank you so much. And if you would like to.

50:24
help support this podcast. I'd appreciate it if you bought me a coffee at chewingthefatbr.com.  But until next time, I look forward to the chance we have to sit a spell  and chew the fat.