Zach McGowan who plays Jody Silverman on the Showtime Series, Shameless has been kind enough to join me at Musso & Frank’s on Hollywood Boulevard for an Interview for Punk Globe Magazine.

Hi, Zack, thank you so much for joining me today!

My pleasure!

OK, the fact that you’re on one of the greatest Television shows, I have many questions for you!

Cool. I have a tendency to answer eight questions with one answer sometimes.

Awesome! So let’s just dig right in… how did you get the part on Shameless?

My agent submitted me for 4 episodes, 2 co-stars and 2 guest stars guaranteed.

Four episodes only?

Yeah that was all that was guaranteed, then there was a couple other ones that they considered me for, another 2 of them or something like that. But the audition was just a 4 episode audition.

Were you excited?

I was excited. You know it was one of the first things that I’d gotten to audition for that was a multiple episode character. Most of the time I auditioned for a bad guy on CSI who would then you know, go to jail at the end of the show and you’re done. You’re in jail. Your character is now in jail. Where as with Jody in Shameless, I knew it was a perfect part for me. They were looking for a motorcycle guy with long hair and I’d just grown my hair long. I used to have a shaved head.

A shaved head, theatrical or political?

I used to play soldiers and cops. You know, very different characters because I had a shaved head.

: Were you a fan of the show Shameless?

I wasn’t a fan of the show yet. I’d just watched the pilot before the other shows. I actually never even heard of the show. I’d heard of it, like I knew what it was but I didn’t, I wasn’t really present during that time period, I was having a daughter during Season 1. While Shameless was airing I was basically in the middle of becoming a new dad.

Was the delivery with your daughter like the delivery room scene in Shameless?

You know what was so funny, not what was happening exterior wise, but when I was doing that scene I had just delivered my baby, it was unbelievable what the special effects they were able to do. I was like you could probably convince someone they had a baby, it was crazy. I mean take the cameras away and this could be a birth.

Well and your line in there… when you say, “well Karen, you are already pretty stretched out down there.”

They really write such gems for me.

But you’re such a nice guy, I mean you’re really a good man in the show and even as you deliver that line, it’s not an insult. You’re just being you.

Laura Wiggins, who plays Karen is awesome. She’s from Georgia and she’s a really good girl and totally not crazy. She’s not crazy at all. Not at all like the girl she plays on the show.

When you’re say to her “Your father’s dead” and she’s replies, “that doesn’t turn me on anymore.”

Right? They’re such classic lines.

Who writes that stuff?

Nancy M. Pimental, Mike O’Malley, Etan Frankel, Alex Borstein and John Wells.

What about William H. Macy?

Yeah he actually writes at least one episode a season with his writing partner and it’s great to be there, the environment is so creative that a lot of things get people playing around improvising. There are a lot of fun moments that are just found. You know Joan brings so much to set.

Joan Cusack, the two of you together are brilliant.

I’m such a huge fan of Joan Cusack. I knew early on that Jody couldn’t stay with Karen. They had cast Jody to be exactly what Karen wanted at the time, which was completely opposite of what she needed at the time. And what she could deal with at the time kind of thing, and then they cast it that way. But knew that Jody’s days were numbered with Karen. And then when I read that I got kicked out in the tent. I was like literally I’m done, if I’m in this tent and if I don’t find a way back in that house, I am off the show.

And what about how you and Sheila had the signals from the window? Such great humor, it’s brilliant. Brilliant! That whole tent thing, and how your character really embraced it.

The writers on this show come up with these brilliant scenarios. I mean these situations that lend themselves to such amazing humor and drama at the same time because they’re real. I mean you actually have a guy living in a tent under the train. It’s so funny you know?

And you’re so devoted and you’re so optimistic and your character leaves a lot open for so much opportunity for things to happen.

I think I’m in a very lucky position. I don’t know if this is true but I think I’m the first character that’s not in the original series.

I think so.

I believe. Because I think all the characters from season one are all original characters from the English version.

You know I tried watching the English version, I can’t.

I haven’t watched it but I’ve heard…I mean my problem with most English television is that I can’t understand what is being said.

No. I know, I couldn’t understand a word.

Cause it’s a heavy accent its from a blue collar family.

But people say it’s really funny.

Oh it is. I’ve heard it’s equally brilliant. The idea, the essence of what the show is about is the same thing I’ve heard, it’s just the execution that’s a bit different, that’s all. You have to figure they have smart writers and brilliant creative minds just like here. In fact Mark Mylod, who is the director and one of the producers on the show, the director who directed the episode I did where I was nude in front of him, and actually a lot of the episodes, he directs most of the episodes actually. He’s English.

So they stick pretty close to the English version?

I guess,. From what I’ve heard on the show, is that the pilot, Episode 1, Season 1, was pretty much word for word except for the colloquialisms, obviously British words in Chicago terms. Then from there it stays in Season 1, in broad strokes the similar things happen then Shameless in England and then season 2 starts getting pretty far away from it and is not really following it at all. Kinda off track.

On their own.

Yeah. Then they’re on their own track, I mean I didn’t even exist, so you know that whole part of the story line is certainly changed..

And your character is such a great addition.

I feel so happy to be an addition to the show.

You’re a great addition to the show because the whole thing with you and Sheel’s, I mean, come on…on the motorcycle with the baby?

Right? You know what was so great about that too is that the day we were shooting that we had a stunt double for Joan and no one knew if Joan was going to get on the back of a motorcycle. And she’s usually down for that stuff, but you never know and it’s a tough shot and Shameless is a pretty big show and we did not have control of that street where we pulled out.

It was so comical. You both with little things flapping on your winter hats, driving off on a Harley, stealing the baby from the Hospital.

And she’s agoraphobic and she’s on the back of the motorcycle with a baby. And it’s li funny. People always ask me to justify, I always think it’s so justified. I mean her daughter’s having a baby and her mother’s instinct overtook her personal fears at the moment and then when she got home they came back because she was like “wait a second, that was crazy. I’m never doing that again.”

Yeah it’s like when someone lifts a truck off of their child.

Exactly.

What was it like working with Louise Fletcher?

It was learning experience. And working with most of the cast it’s been like going back to acting school you know what I mean? Everyone is so talented that I think you can learn from everyone on the show. Louise, specifically, it’s not every day that you’re doing a scene with an Oscar winner.

Nurse Ratched?

Such a prolific character like that and somebody who I hadn’t seen her work in a long time and she just blew me away on set. She was at the reading, and when she walked in we were all like, “oh my God!” And her character Grammy is so raw, she just nailed it.

: She added to the show, the show is already so brilliant obviously, but when she was on screen, she owned it.

I was saying that. Sadly, and obviously she’s dead so you can’t do a spin-off show with her.

I know! Twin sister? We’re all hoping.

It’s like do spin-off show, Grammy goes to heaven and takes the place over.

Haha, and makes a methlab.

I just love that character. She really is just so fantastic. She was so great on set. Because I wasn’t around when she won the Oscar I was young, not even born yet. On set, I was just doing a scene with her and I came out and someone had their iPad and they said, hey, “check this out,” they were playing her Oscar acceptance speech which if you haven’t watched it, you have to watch it. Unbelievable. She’s this gorgeous young woman in this beautiful gown and I didn’t know this, but her parents were deaf so she uses sign language to speak to them and thank them. I talked to her about it and it turned out that by her doing that for her parents, was instrumental in closed captioning becoming part of television. She had a podium and made the statement, “people who are deaf can’t watch this by the way, they don’t know what’s going on.” Not by saying it, just by using sign language for her parents and others who are hearing impaired. It’s really cool. It was cool to see. She’s a wonderful woman.

She changed, actually changed, the face of television for the handicapped.

Yeah I mean she put a spotlight on it. I think she said it was within a year of that they got closed captioning on television which is obviously so important because if you can’t hear you have no idea what is happening.

Exactly, that’s incredible. I mean I’ve often accidentally turned it on and I’m like “how do I turn this off”

You normally think of it that way but in reality it’s very much the opposite. I mean no matter if you can’t hear you’ll know what’s happening.

How do you like working with Director John Wells?

Yes, John Wells he’s incredible to work with. A lot of shows or films for that matter that are heavily dramatic, will beat you over the head with the heavy drama all day long to the point where you’re like, “I can’t even take it.” What I love about working with John Wells, and everyone else on Shameless, it’s this heavy drama to it, but it really it comes after we’ve made you laugh for a long time. You know, first you make ‘em laugh, then you make them cry and that can really change things, it works out really well. Everyone has the darkness and the light.

I often wish the way they celebrate the Gallagher family and their loyalty to each other, I wish it was more like that in real life.

It’s unbelievable. They really hold together those Gallagher's. Through a lot of crap.

That’s what’s attractive about that show is that they really band together. Let me ask you. Let me ask you, you used to do Off Broadway. How was that for you?

I loved it. I love theater to this day. I will always love theater. I hope to do another play some day.

Why do you love it so much? Because the audience is right there?

I think plays are inherently an actor’s medium. Like, Shameless happens to be a very actor friendly show but there’s a lot of shows that actors get stuck. I have friends who play a lab tech on a crime investigation show and every episode they come in and say, “the blood spatter analysis review blah blah blah,” and then it’s the end. And so while it’s fantastic they have a job they can get a little crazed as an actor. For me, Shameless is not like that at all.

What about that scene with the dying crack addict?

Yeah. They were like, “do you speak sign language by any chance?” And I say no and they say, “We have this really funny idea. Do you think you could learn?” and I said, “Sure, how long do I have?” And they said, “maybe like 36 hours?”

: It was so great when you were signing to the dying crack addict and then in mid signing you stop and say, “don’t talk to her like that, she’s a lady.” Was that your idea?

No that scene left very little room for improv. I had to learn, it was hard actually to learn sign language and then the lines. It’s actually been a really fun time. They’ve had me do all kinds of things I never thought I would do. They just throw those songs at me totally out of my register. Cyndi Lauper. So out of my register.

Oh yeah! What about the song that you sing when you’re having sex?

Seal?

: Yes! Yes.

I couldn’t have a deeper voice and Seal could not have a higher voice.

: That’s genius. I mean it’s so genius.

Oh it’s great. Those episodes were some of the most fun I’ve had. Especially David Nutter that directed that, he’s really an amazing director. He directs every television show. His credits are unbelievable. He was so fun to work with. It’s amazing when you work with people who’ve had such success and are everywhere, but yet it’s just like they love it so much that they’re like a kid in a candy shop and he’s having so much fun on set. Working with Joan and everyone on the whole show, is like that and it’s refreshing because I’ve been on sets where it’s certainly not like that. Where people are like “I can’t believe this. Can you believe what they’re doing?” and complaining about everything whereas Shameless people are cool.

That’s incredible and I think it transcends on to the show.

Everyone on the show is really cool. Bill had us all up to his house to watch the first episode. The end of the season, you know, we all got together and it was really fun. Especially because we go to Chicago for the exterior. We shoot indoors here in LA, but we shoot the outside stuff in Chicago and we all stay in a hotel and those become wild.

Oh my God. Are you all on the same floor?

Yeah its nuts.

That must be pretty loud.

It gets pretty crazy.

You know that Shameless Christmas song?

Yes.

Why were you not there?

When they were shooting that, I was still weekly being hired as a guest star because I was only supposed to do 4 episodes and every week they would call me up and be like “are you available to come in and do the next one?” And I’d be like, “of course.” Thank God! You know what I mean. The whole time. You know I always tell people Jody was out in tent. I really was in the tent. I didn’t know if I was coming back inside.

That’s really funny. You were in the doghouse. and got back in. literally

I was in the doghouse. The whole season.

And you got back in. Literally.

I worked myself back in.

That’s brilliant.

Yeah it was really fun. It was a fun experience in fact I think in some ways I had it harder that way getting on the show, now I’m a series regular and I’m on the show now like everyone else. But also the other people did it the other way they had to go through the network testing and all those processes, which can also be very nerve wracking. So either way when you get on a TV show and you’re not just offered a television show, which only happens to a select few, hopefully one day I’ll be one of those.

Like William H. Macy.

Yeah he’s the reason the show got happened. They need someone like him to get the money behind it.

In that Christmas song he seems very fatherly in that song which he obviously isn’t a great father figure on the show.

On the show he’s kind of like the father of everyone. He’s very nice, always giving everyone kind fatherly advice but he’s a sage actor. I mean look at him. He’s had such a prolific career. He struggled for years in the early part of his career. He didn’t really have greater successes until later on.

Fargo is the first time I remember seeing him.

He was in his forties already at that point. He’s got a lot to teach. I think he actually used to teach masters classes in theater at NYU. So he has a very sharp brain.

Obviously he’s got a career that has the lineage that’ll go on forever. He probably never expected this.

He’s played every part you can imagine.

Yeah he’s played some weird parts too.

He’s played parts that would normally be very forgettable on a movie. He came through like that. He was a character actor playing smaller parts. He’s really done so well and he’s awesome to work with.

And it’s amazing because he has played these odd characters and there’s something very charismatic and charming about him as Frank. And I never thought I would say that about William H. Macy but I don’t know he’s not a sort of good looking person like your character is. Like the minute you saw your character, you’re like “Whoa. This guy is hot.”

Thank you.

: You’re welcome. But with Macy, he just becomes more and more attractive.

Which is actually really scary how good he is at playing Frank. He’s amazing.

And he’s so fast on his feet. Like the minute he sees that you and Sheila are together. he says “I’m so depressed because of this, I need something, gimme something.” And it’s really for Monica, his wife. He’s character is really quick on his feet with the hustle.

He’s so good at it. I think that he’s so humble. He’s really a humble guy as a person that he’s willing to do everything that you need to do as an actor to play Frank and a lot of actors wouldn’t be necessarily willing to go there and to do that.

Were you there in the scene when they’re in the living room having a party and making a toast to Grammy who just passed away, Frank’s mother, and their celebrating her life, and he sits down against the wall and slides down to the floor and starts to cry?

I was shooting that day but I wasn’t there in the room at the time.

He comes off as a sociopath but he does care. He cares about Moni??? He really cared about his mom.

He does have a heart but he’s also an alcoholic and drug addict.

Yeah, it’s amazing how well he plays that part.

It’s like he would make sure you were all right, and then steal your money.

What were you doing prior to the show?

Prior to the show I was pretty much focusing all on voice-over work. I’d made my living doing voice-over work for 7 years. .

Congratulations. You have a great voice.

Thank you. I had been doing a lot of promos and trailers.

How did you get into voice-over work? Did you plan on it or did you just stumble upon it?

I stumbled on it and then consciously decided to do it.

: Because people kept telling you, you had a great a voice?

People always would tell me I had a great voice but I used to do a fake movie trailer, now I do a real movie trailer voice. What happened was I was literally sitting at a bar here in LA, I had just moved here, I was pretty drunk, I was broke. Basically I was sitting there doing this trailer voice. And the guy next to me was like, “Hey do you do movie trailers?” and I was like, “yeah.” And he gave me $1000 to do a movie trailer. I thought, “I think I can do this.” Obviously that guy paid me money. Maybe there’s other people who would pay me money. So I took a class and cut a reel, the teacher was like, “you don’t need the class, I’ll cut a reel for you.” I’d been acting for years, but I’d done a play where I was a radio announcer for 6 weeks.

Do you think the theater training helped you with your voice over experience?

There’s no question. I think that it’s not just that, is was the theater training. The mastering of one’s instrument allows us to do anything. Its just like on Shameless they threw a lot at me, I was able to do it because I’ve learned how to control it. It’s taken time. I think it’s like anything. It’s like when someone plays guitar. If they’ve been playing for 20 years, you ask them to play the song and they can just play the song whereas if you just learned to play the guitar you’re just like, “oh I gotta move my finger like this,” and that’s all you’re thinking about whereas he’s just playing the music.

Right. You’re not in the moment.

But I think some actors are lucky. For me, fortunately, I think I was vastly more prepared for success as an actor well before I got it.

Well you were studying in school and doing school plays. It was something you were drawn to?

The first play I did I was in fourth grade.

: You were 10?

Yeah I played the badger in The Wind and The Willows. And that got me my first professional acting job too. I played the white kid on a multicultural thing on Sesame Street about Capoeira, which is a martial arts. I did that as my first acting job. It actually lead to some other part I got which was going to take me out of school. I got a part in a TV show that I forget the name of it now, but I was going to have to move to Virginia where it was shooting and I told my parents “I don’t want to go to Virginia I just wanna do this, grow up in New York and have a childhood here with my family in my hometown.

Wow. How old were you?

4th grade, no 5th grade cause it was the year after.

And you knew?

I knew because a kid who I grew up with had become a childhood actor and had a show at the time and we had been best friends and we got split apart. He’s actually not an actor anymore he’s an accountant. And it’s funny, I just remember making a choice, you know I think I should finish school and maybe play sports do all that and then if I still want to do it, if I’m good at it, I’ll be able to do it. I also think my parents scared me towards it too.

You think? They must’ve been so happy.

They were.

That’s pretty incredible actually. Cause it would have hanged your whole life.

I wouldn’t be able to do what I do now had I made the choice otherwise. See at the time I was really struggling in school too. I’m a dyslexic lefty with ADD. Learning to read and all that.

I’m a dyslexic lefty with ADD. And I didn’t even know it.

At the time they didn’t know it either, they just knew that I wasn’t learning how to read and I mean literally I didn’t come up to grade level til I was in high school. I was lucky enough that dyslexia had just been coined as a term right when I was a kid. It wasn’t until they kind of figured that out, well what actually happened right after, I think it was 4th grade when I got diagnosed with all that stuff when I got that part. I remember saying, “If I go I’m never gonna learn to read. If I do that I’m just never going learn.”

But how do you deal with it when reading scripts?

That’s what I’m saying, I’ve totally overcome it now. I’m a narrator. I sit down in front of 600 pages that I’ve never read before and record it straight.

You do a whole reading?

Yeah. I can cold read narration.

That’s huge.

I just narrated something for Animal Planet that just aired 2 nights ago. Man-eating Super Croc. It’s fantastic. I love that stuff. I think that stuff is so cool by the way. I’ll never stop doing it.

You read it cold? Or do you sit down and read it once and then go record?

Nowadays I have a character, I have characters that are different voices and I just do them. It’s just from years not only training but also voice over. Doing voice over made me such a better actor because I’ll go in and play a guy from the South, and then I’ll go up there and talk like a New Yorker and be this guy for awhile. So then I’ll have seamlessly moved through them all and just through scripts I’ve done it for so long it’s like a muscle. It’s like anything else. Writers write everyday, actors act everyday. Certainly I called myself an actor well before I was making a living just doing it. You are what you do.

Absolutely.

So if you sit around and read all day, then that’s what you do. If you just work on your script all day, then you’re a writer. It’s just one of those things. I just believe that.

But it’s amazing that you can read things cold like that. You’re like a one-take Charlie.

These days. You become good at it over time and I’ve had a voice over agent a long time.

Are you getting more voice over work with your fame on Shameless?

Yes and no. I lost a lot of clients because of Shameless we did a lot of promos because a lot of times your clients need you when they need you…

On the spot.

Like they just figured out how they’re advertising this thing and then boom, they call you up, if you’re not there they call your agent then your agent calls you then they call someone else. And that may happen in 20 minutes.

Do you feel bad about that?

No, I have a talent and a skill. I consider it a trade. I have a trade in my profession and that trade will only get better with age, which is fantastic. If I were a model I would have to make all my money right now. This way, it’s possible that I’ll be married and still working when I’m 75.

That’s a really good point. You’re absolutely right.

Which gives me a lot of calm. You know this whole thing is a marathon not a sprint. I’m just trying to…I think a lot people sprint through this. You see it, you see the crashes and the burns all around us. I’m just trying to marathon my way through it. Slow and steady. Slow and steady wins the race.

A family man. Drinking chocolate milk.

Yeah. I drink chocolate milk. Every night. I love it.

That’s sweet. That was a twitter right? A tweet?

Yeah. It’s so funny I now know why I love chocolate milk. It’s kinda weird.

Why?

I have a daughter. She’s 14 months. She’s no longer breastfeeding, my wife breastfed her, and it’s probably some morbid thing like that and I think I just got used to going to sleep drinking milk and I just still drink milk. I love drinking milk. I think it’s good for you. I know that people hate on milk these days but I’m on the opposite side. I’m like drink milk but without the hormones… buy organic. If I can get fresh at the farmers market then I’ll drink it.

Hot chocolate?

Hot chocolate if you don’t like the taste. I like the taste of it. But I also love chocolate milk.

: Chocolate milk is the best. Especially if you have cocoa puffs or cocoa pebbles…

It’s funny I don’t do the sugar cereals that much but I do drink chocolate milk. I go through the things of chocolate syrup. My favorite is U-Bet chocolate syrup. I don’t know, it’s a company, woman run, old school style.

U-bet. I’ve never heard of it. Maybe its an east coast thing?

They sell it here but it’s hard to find.

I have to ask you Jody, what about the nude scenes? when they hired you did they tell you upfront that you would be nude?

Yeah it was in the script so it was pretty clear in the audition. We actually did the scene but with our clothes on in the audition so it was clear.

How did you feel about it?

You know I sort of didn’t worry about it. I was worried about my wife and what she was going to say or how it would be tough for her perhaps and I was also just like, you’re a man, this is gonna be a pretty big deal we’ll see. I wasn’t really worried about it.

Was your wife OK?

John Wells asked if I was OK with it at the audition and I said I was but I have to ask my wife.

That’s sweet.

And she was like go for it. You know we had a 3 month old little daughter.

And you were fans of the show.

Fans of show. It’s a good show and it was a scene with Bill Macy and Emmy Rossum. I just letting it all out.

There was also a scene when William H. Macy walked in right? And he hadn’t been around for awhile and you were stark naked.

He was like “Whoa what are you doing?” I think I said “Letting it air out” It was funny. It was a really great scene and it was one of those things. You know as an actor you’re going to have to take your pants off at some time, it’s just a matter of when. You make that choice. Some people say, “I’m never going to do it,” some people say, “I’ll only do it if its worthwhile” and I think I made the right choice that it was worthwhile and it gave me an opportunity to show what I can do this to some people who had a great show and hopefully they would keep me on. It worked out pretty well.

Yeah. They’re definitely keeping you on. Do you think they’ll have you do anymore nude scenes? What’s your gut feeling on that?

I leave that up to the writers.

Good answer.

Honestly the writers will do what they wanna do. It’s funny you realize at a certain age that there’s a lot of glitz and glam and people think of all that but at the end of the day its just like any other job, you get passed down to you from your superiors what they need from you and you do it. And I don’t mind, I think I have great bosses and I don’t mind doing what they ask me to do.

You like your job.

I love it.

Do you think Louise Fletcher was as comfortable as you were with her nude scenes in the bathtub?

I don’t know. You have to ask her, but I think that everyone on show, if they weren’t comfortable with it before, they are now.

she really pulled it off.

She’s fantastic.

Frank actually looked more humiliated then she did.

Right. And look at him. Talk about a guy in great shape, who’s kept himself up. I mean, he’s in his 60’s for God’s sake. He’s in fantastic shape.

That’s amazing. I didn’t know that. I thought he was in his late forties or something.

No. I believe. I hope I didn’t misspeak but I think he’s at 61 or something. I use him as an example. He is exactly what you should do as an actor, you know what I mean? He’s just worked hard, kept himself up, studied, done everything right and look where he is?

: Yeah, he didn’t come on big and fast and furious and then get caught up in the dark side of it all.

But look at that. He came up as the lead in the Coen Brothers film. That could really blow people’s heads out of proportion.

That’s a really good point.

I mean to be in a Coen Brothers Film. What more could somebody ask for?

Right. That was probably a big game changer for him.

So to answer you that, Louise was probably comfortable.

You weren’t there for that?

I wasn’t there for that stuff. I was there for some of the stuff but not for that bath scene.

And you guys were there for the dying scene. Were you there for the dying scene when Sheila sat on her face with a pillow?

They shot that just before our scene. Me and Sheila’s shots, so I was there for a lot.

How did you not laugh?

You know what’s funny about that, is that it’s so hard on set. Because the people who are actually there, in those moments, the sound, the cameras ops, the assistant director, etc, if they laugh it gets heard on the recording so they can’t use that take. So if they laugh it destroys the take essentially, because you can’t use the sound. I was good all the entire season with Joan, with the exception of one moment I could not stop laughing. It was hard because she is so unbelievably funny but there was one moment in the scene..

What was it?

Dare I say…it was this really tender moment, and it was a really dramatic moment, and she was having a really dramatic moment but she was doing this thing with her hands and it was right after I gave Grammy her pills and I went into the living room and I come back and I’m like, “She should be in hospice,” and Joan was like, “life is so hard sometimes you wanna shake your fists at it,” and she does this thing with her hands and I just couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I don’t know what it was. She is just so funny. She’s awesome. She’s also so heartfelt. It’s amazing she can transition between the two.

Yeah. It’s brilliant. I think, you would know better than I, comedy is a lot harder than drama.

I don’t know I’m not funny.

You’re funny! The whole tent thing, you’re hysterical.

Before Shameless, I never did any comedy in films. I’d done some on stage but never in film. In fact, I was pretty much written off to be somebody who should never do comedy to be honest. I did all the heavily dramatic roles and I always wanted to do comedy. It’s so funny how I think people want to pigeonhole actors either way but I think the truth is if you bring truth to a role and you play it true, and it’s written funny, it will be funny. If it’s written dark, it’ll be dark. But if you bring to truth to it, as long as that person that it was written for, is human, then whatever direction the writer steers that person, dark or light, it will be. But if you bring the truth to it, which is what an actor does, you know I used to have an acting teacher who said an actor breathes life into a character that’s on a page. That’s the essence of what your job is. That’s kind of true. So I don’t think there really are comic actors or dramatic actors. I think there’s people who bring truth to roles and the writers will do what they do and you can steer it through yourself.

Through your improv? Like that scene with Lip when you’re both wearing the same black slingshot shirt, and you say, “Nice shirt,” was that improv?

Yes, you improv things, of course be funny, but that’s because you bring truth to a real person. You know if you’re standing with a guy and he’s wearing the same shirt as you, generally you would comment on that. And that’s just true. If you sat down and you were wearing a white v-neck, I would say “Oh you got the memo”

And it’s obvious cause you were both standing there in black tank tops.

It was pretty quick. I was gonna say nice eye cause he had a black eye but I was like nice shirt.

That was hysterical.

I actually had a couple that we didn’t use.

But you cracked his code with that. You kind of “one upped” him.

Which was funny too, that was the whole “Copy that” too when he came in, he’s looking for Karen, I’m changing, I’m in the towel. That wasn’t supposed to happen either I just did that because it’d be funny. It wasn’t even that it would be funny, I was just like oh I have to get my underwear on, I have to drop the towel. I can do the whole put my underwear on through the towel or I can just drop the towel.

And your character drops the towel.

While someone might say that’s why you’re funny, I say I’m just playing the character. I just playing a real person in a situation, I’m a true believer in that. Yes, there are funnier people that other people, in reality I think that in the right situations anyone can be funny. I think I might be proof of that.

Yeah, your character’s hysterical. And you and Sheila are quite a comedy team.

Somehow it worked out and it’s fantastic.

The chemistry between the two of you is better than the chemistry between you and Karen.

Isn’t it so funny?

: And I don’t know if it’s written that way but there’s something really beautiful about the two of you together.

At one point I decided, and this was well before it was written in that Joan and I be together, I decided that the writers must have it in their mind because it’s so shameless. This was literally, I think it was episode 5 that I thought this. because I was thinking about this, so they’re gonna have Karen and me get married. They don’t tell us so I’m just sitting there, so that means I’m gonna hopefully be in the 6th when there’s a wedding and then I’m thinking, they’re gonna have to have me and Karen fall apart because they cast me because I’m not right for her, not because I’m right for her.

And that would be the end of your character?

Right. If everything was hunky dory where is Karen gonna go. So I was thinking they must be pretty much at a decision point of whether Bill is staying in this house with Joan because her husband is dead, so if Bill doesn’t stay here then she’s by herself with Karen, so they need something here to kind of mix it up. And I would be good for that and then I remember it was actually Laura who plays Karen said to me, “what if they have you all alone with Joan?” And I thought well, maybe they’ll have it thrown in. There’s a lot of scenes written for me where Jody’s just at the dinner table and they’re having a conversation so I have a lot of liberty of what I can do. So I thought, I’m just gonna start falling in love with Sheila. Start staring at her, just start falling in love with her without any lines. And it worked out. I think the writers had their minds centered around that.

And it’s just so shameless. From daughter to mother. But what’s so amazing is that it’s even better.

Somehow it works. You know what is? It’s that Joan is one of the coolest people in the history of the entire world. She really is. Genuinely, me and her get along so well and she’s so cool and we can just sit there and talk for hours anyway. And also because I think because it’s strange, it works.

It’s so weird because it’s her and her husband, her and William H. Macy, there’s her and Karen and then there’s her and you and there’s something really powerful between you that isn’t in any of those other combos.

Yes. I agree.

It just works.

It’s funny, I’ve heard people say this before and I never understood because it always seemed like such a cop out answer but when magic happens it just happens. And I don’t know that anyone can define why certain things work and certain things don’t. Why a director can have the best movie ever and then direct the next movie and there is no element of magic in it at all.

There really chemistry and the great combinations. I think about times throughout history where there were great movements or great artists and writers and musicians, windows of time where everyone was meeting and it was all working. Everything clicked.

When they click, they click.

And that is you and Sheila. You just click.

It’s so funny, I haven’t seen her. Last time I saw Joan was at her house, she threw a big party cause she lives at Chicago. She threw a big thing for everyone at the end of the season so we were all hanging out. I’ve been so busy and she’s got a family.

Does she ever come to LA to film or does she stay in Chicago?

No she comes here, but she has a family so she’ll fly out here for a couple days, shoot and then fly back to Chicago for a couple of days and fly back. But I can’t wait to get back and I can’t wait to see what they have us doing. I just know all the shenanigans, I can’t wait to see whether or not if he’s gonna be Ming or what name we’re going to have for the baby. I’m still voting for Ming.

I like Ming.

I like Ming. I think it’s a good name.

And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him physically right?

Well, he does have autism.

He does.

I don’t know what they’re gonna do with Ming.

What about the scene when the cops came to allegedly get the baby back.

We actually really cast this unbelievable little guy who was the best baby, and I had a young girl, he was actually a month younger than my daughter and he was so well behaved I swear he is a doll. And I don’t know what they’re gonna do with it all. I’ve had some phone conversations with the people making decisions and they’ve asked me things and I’m as much in the dark as anyone else.

So do the writers have an arch and is there an arch in place?

I would assume so. We don’t know. I’m sure the writers do. What’s amazing about TV though, even last season, while we were shooting episode 3, they’re writing episode 4. They don’t go into it blind and they know where the story is going to be going in broad strokes, but they don’t actually put the words on the page until the episode before.

And I think killing off Louise Fletcher was such a cool thing because it didn’t leave open for her to come back. But with Monica, Chloe Webb, she does a Monica, she takes off with some chick who just murdered her husband.

Chloe was incredible.

Was she good to work with?

I haven’t gotten to do any scenes with her yet but I’ve gotten to be on set with her a lot and she’s a doll.

She is incredible. Those depression scenes…

Talk about bringing it! She’s a pro. That’s the one thing on the show, even some people like me, I’m probably the guy that came out of nowhere. Everyone has worked a lot and knows what they’re doing.

Even the kids.

Even the kids. Are you kidding me?

What about Debbie, played by Emma Kenney ? She’s a doll too.

She brings it. You can stick her with a half a page monologue and like a Six page scene where she’s got 8 different things she’s doing, folding clothes over here and she’s running 6 kids out the door and she just comes in and bam, bam, bam, just kills it.

And the whole monologue where she’s obsessed with death and all the names of death. Her character depth is incredible.

She’s great. Great.

: And they all grasp that they’re parenting themselves.

You know what’s great too? Is just the set being so cool, it’s very much a family on set, everyone looks out for the kids. Not to mention they have teachers on set. It’s really cool. And during the readings it’s the hardest cause during the readings it’s the only time they are exposed to the whole arch of what’s happening in the story. Because they only see their scenes and their parents don’t let them watch the show, their parents let them watch their scenes but not the rest of the show.

Right. Of course. What about the scene with Carl who’s 10 years old, played by Ethan Cutkosky, when he wishes for a gun, and then one suddenly falls out of the sky? And then Grammy says, “You’re not very smart, would you like some skills?” And then she teaches him to make a methlab. Edgy stuff.

It’s very edgy stuff. They both have really great parents and I think that’s key. And then they have everyone looking out for them on set. Emma might just be the president of the United States one day. She is just on it. And same with Ethan. They are really smart. They’re very high functioning. They do more than just one thing. Ethan is also probably going to be a professional skateboarder. He’s an awesome skateboarder. He’s just practicing on set. He’ll just practice, practice, practice.

Is there anything that you’re working on other than Shameless that we should be on the lookout for?

Yes, a film called Snapshot. It’s an indie, so it’s a small film, who knows what the release would be. We’re trying to do all the festivals and all that.

Do you go to all the festivals?

I try to if I can, you know I have a family, so it can be problematic sometimes. I don’t wanna miss it. Some actors don’t like watching, I don’t necessarily like watching myself but I like watching other people watch my performances. I also like breaking down my performances and seeing where I can do better or not. There’s some actors who say I never watch what I do but for me if I don’t watch what I do how can I assess or understand what other people are assessing.

Well I think when people when watch themselves, I believe this to be true, they don’t see it for what it really is. Like Marlon Brando would never watch his own films.

It was also a lot harder back then to do that.

There wasn’t video cameras, you had to sit through the dailies with a bunch of other Studio people.

I don’t have that problem. I don’t mind watching and seeing. I find I can watch myself and be pretty subjective and think, “that’s good and but what was I doing there?” It’s just like as writer, while you have another person edit as well, you also read your stuff.

Oh God yeah. It changes too.

I mean, imagine you were a writer who just wrote and never look back.

Yeah that would never happen.

That’s the way I look at it. I constantly look at my work and try to make it better. I can’t change the scene that’s been shot but I can change the future ones.

And you’ve been doing this for such a long time.

: I’m really just trying to do the best I can.

Do people recognize you from Shameless on the street? I mean you look just like your character.

Yeah all the time. In the street I take pictures with people. It’s been pretty funny. You know when I fly, personally, I fly coach I don’t buy expensive tickets for myself, I’m saving it for my daughter’s education, so I’ll sit in coach and someone will be like, “dude, like Jody, Jody’s sitting next to me!” I’m like “What’s up!”

It’s fun right?

Yeah it’s cool I mean sometimes you’re in a rush and someone wants to take a picture. I always do. To me I think it’s cool.

It is cool. You make somebody’s day.

The world could be a very cold place and to get smiles a lot of places where you wouldn’t normally be getting them, it’s fantastic. It’s funny, I was back in New York making that movie and I hadn’t, cause in LA you just don’t run into as many people cause you’re in your car, although I’ve taken a lot of pictures through cars and people will take a picture through the car window and they’ll be like “Jody!” I don’t mind being called Jody.

Wait ‘til you get the motorcycle?

But then I’ll have a face shield on. I’m an actor, I can’t ride helmet less. On Shameless I ride helmet less. They don’t have us wear helmets. Because it’s in Chicago.

There’s no helmet law in Chicago?

That’s what’s so funny, we were literally in the van and riding from base camp to set and I was with Mark Mylod the director and I had a helmet for costume and I had it in my hand and we were talking about whether or not he should wear a helmet because the hair is really good and I don’t know we probably would have insurance issues and we’re just seeing these guys on bikes going by without helmets on, and people kept driving by without helmets on. Then we we’re like, well, this is Chicago, to keep it authentic there’s really no choice. The summer, no one really wears a helmet on their bike.

How do you feel about that?

I think people should wear a helmet. But on the show I felt confident that I’d be able to handle it and also in reality the number of risks I’ve taken as an actor that ranks very low.

Really? What risks have you taken?

I’ve been held out of helicopters that were actually flying.

I did read that you’ve worked as a stuntman, is that true?

Well I’ve always done my own stunts, so I’ve gotten stunt credits on some films where I’ve hung out a helicopter, on a Roger Corman movie called The Hunt for Eagle One, that was shot in the Philippines. I’ve done a whole host of stunts. Even on Shameless, I do my own stunts. They were worried about me jumping over that fence.

I remember that. They were worried?

Everyone was worried, so I said, “just so you don’t worry, watch this,” And I did it eighteen times in front of them, and then said, “look, I already did it 18 times.” I think I can do it one more time for the shot.

Why were they worried?

Everyone was worried.

They don’t want anyone to get hurt on set.

I run 10 miles everyday. I free run a lot too, I don’t just run in a straight line. I jump over things. I try to stay like that. Even Bill does a lot of stunt stuff.

: Oh my God, the way he’s rolling around in the street.

In vomit.

In vomit! He’s really in vomit?

It’s fake vomit but they take a blender and they put a bunch of crap in there and put it down there but it’s still not a pleasant thing to lay in.

: Right. It’s not strawberries and whipped cream.

But it’s one of those things. I always say that to people, you have to be willing. You gotta be willing to humiliate yourself if you wanna be an actor.

Especially on that show.

And TV these days and film these days, people like seeing people who go through what they go through, or what their brother’s going through, or what their best friend who married that crazy girl is going through. Just whatever. Back in the day, Superman could be your character. But even Superman had Clark Kent and if you’re not willing to play Clark Kent you can’t be Superman. And who wants to play Clark Kent?

Do you have a favorite episode that you’re on?

It’s hard to pick one, they’re all so great! But definitely episode 11, that whole birthing scene. I think why I love it because I get to work with Joan a lot, I get to work with Laura a lot, I get to work with Bill a lot, I get to work with Jeremy a lot because he plays Lip but I don’t get to work with Emmy that much and Justin and Jimmy/Steve and all the people who play all the other characters and you know Kevin and Veronica. I don’t get to see them very often. You know when I’m in the Alibi I see Kevin and Veronica, they were at my wedding. I think that’s one of the reasons why I love the delivery room scene, cause everyone was there we were all talking, having a blast. It’s awesome to do a scene with the whole cast. Actually the wedding was the only time I did a scene with the entire cast. The entire cast was at the wedding. Which was just great. That might be my favorite. I was just getting married so I wasn’t involved with a lot of the drama in that episode I was just happily getting married. But it was really great to watch Joan give that speech.

Where she lost her mind?

She gave that, because of the nature the way they had to shoot that, they had so many actors, that they had to get everyone’s perspective in order, because they had so much going on. Like Lip was dealing with Karen while the speech was going on. Kevin and Veronica were having something going on. Fiona and Jimmy/Steve had something going on. There was all of these little scenes going on during that scene and then of course Grammy gets up and pulls a gun on Sheila and then me and Karen were getting married. That scene was so complex that they had to shoot it so many times. Normally it’s just two people, sometimes we just do it one time. They had to do it so many times and Joan, watching Joan give that speech, I was amazed. She killed it. Like 30 times in a row. They could’ve used any one of her takes.

And it was so unlike her character.

The thing is she’s drunk, she’s on all these pills, her daughter getting married.

Yes, Joan gave a brave and brilliant speech. And then the apology later, when she’s with Louise Fletcher when she says to Sheila, “how do you it, how do you do nice?” That was a really touching scene and then she kills her. Unbelievable.

I think the show makes these great social points too along the way without slamming in your face just showing you that this is what people do when it’s time to die, what people have to do because they can’t afford to go to a doctor for it. This is what they’re forced to do.

They can’t afford a real hospice.

And these kinds of things happen all the time because people are broke and they can’t pay for hospice or whatever. And they’re in pain and they just want to die . But as a society we’re like no, no, no, the humane thing to do is to have you suffer with no help in your home. So it’s very interesting, the show doesn’t put that in your face, but I can’t stop but to think about that. You know?, because what do you do? Say you’re a 60 year old woman who just got out of jail because she has terminal cancer and she’s got weeks to live and she doesn’t have health insurance and she’s doesn’t have anyone who’s gonna help her.

Because everyone’s pissed at her…

Because everyone’s pissed at her.

Which is the scene that’s what she’s saying in that scene “I’m doomed to survive this all alone without any of my family”..

But what do you do? In our society? In our current society? They are forced. We say no you just have to sit there and be in pain. It’s just really interesting. Things like that or just the idea that Ian, to have a character who’s gay who wants to be in the military. Not just the military, he wants to be an officer at West Point. It’s just really cool what the show does. Punk Globe Very complex.

Very complex. Just how it’s laid in there really well.

Really, really beautiful. The complexities of all the characters, nobody is one dimensional.

If you’re one dimensional, you just cannot be on that show. That’s why I knew I can’t be this guy who just gives one word answers.

You’re a great addition to the show. I love Joan Cusack, but the minute you two teamed up it just upped the ante.

It’s one of those things. I don’t know how all those things work but when magic strikes, the magic strikes.

Well magic has stricken a lot in your life

I’m a very fortunate gentleman. I had a blessing of having great parents, that gave me a good jump from the start.

: And that was in New York, where you were born?

Yes, I was born and raised, in New York City on the Upper Westside, dad owned a bar called McGowan’s Tavern on 76th Street and Broadway.

You grew up in a bar? Was it like the Alibi?

It actually was a lot like The Alibi. My dad’s actually a Vietnam Vet with a big heart and really embraced the neighborhood, so it was basically all these like old New York characters.

Like all the Damon Runyon characters?

Yeah! Exactly! A lot of wild, eccentric, cool guys, it was a local bar, It was definitely like the Alibi that way. A lot of people who were, you know, sitting on those stools for a long time. Us kids, we used to go to the bar after school and help out, bring beer up, stock the ice,

So you were working at the bar when you were a teen?

It was funny you know, my dad didn’t really like have us working there officially. But we always helped out cause it was the family business and again it was kind of like our day care too, because after school we’d go there and we’d go to the park and come back and my mom was a flight attendant so she’d be away.

How do you feel about living in Los Angeles?

Oh I love LA too. One of the big things about LA that I was worried about when I moved here was driving. You know I never really lived in a place where I had to drive all the time but I love it, I actually love driving. I don’t mind the whole car thing and all that.

You don’t mind the traffic?

You know I have found that either you can choose to sit in traffic in LA or you can drive around it and I drive around traffic all the time here and I don’t find myself stuck in traffic especially these days with iPhones that have traffic reports on there.

What kind of car do you drive?

I drive a Mustang. But actually I’ve been thinking about getting a bike. I ride a bike on the show. I have a license. I used to ride.

Do you love it?

Oh I love riding but I have a young daughter so it’s not necessarily the best choice to ride a bike.

: That’s what I hear.

Although, Steve Howey gives me shit on the show. He plays Kevin on the show. He has a young son and he has a bike and Bill has a bike and Justin who plays Steve Jimmy has a bike. They all take bike trips. They go all around. And I’m thinking about getting one so I can join them and have some fun.

What would you get?

I think I’d get the same bike I ride on the show. A Harley.

Beautiful.

Yeah well I also love the stability. They’re really nice. They’re solid and they’re low to the ground. I don’t like the weight really high up.

Yeah nothing like a good Harley.

Yeah sit back and enjoy the ride.

: Will you stay in LA or do you think you’ll go back to New York?

I think if I was ever able to comfortably afford a place in both I would love to do some bicoastal living. I love New York and there most certainly will always be a part of New York in me.

Right. Exactly. It makes a big difference. Do you plan on having more kids?

As many as my wife will give me.

You want a big family?

I want a pack. I love life.

Do you come from a big family?

Yeah I’m one of 3 boys.

: Oh nice.

My daughter’s the first girl in my family in like 60 years.

In the McGowan’s.

In the McGowan’s. So she is totally spoiled. She gets so many gifts you cannot imagine.

So your family is very boy heavy.

Boy heavy. Me and my brothers, we have all male cousins on the McGowan’s side and my dad has 2 brothers and he has 2 sisters but they’re in their 60’s so it’s literally been like 60 years since…basically in my generation it was all males. All men. And she’s the first of the next generation and she’s a girl so it’s awesome.

That’s incredible. Congratulations.

Thank you. I’m excited. I didn’t have my success until after having a kid. I was always going off the philosophy, I once read that Francis Ford Coppola said in an interview. and I read it as a quote, he said, “that people in America have it backwards, they think that they supposed to make a lot of money then have children, but the truth is you’re supposed to have children and they will motivate you to make money.”

That’s so smart. It’s true right?

Certainly I’ve been very fortunate this year.

You’ve been very motivated.

And very motivated.

Did you meet your wife out here?

No I met my wife in college so we’ve been together for12 years. We built this thing from nothing.

: That’s wonderful.

She’s great. She works, she’s got her own thing. She’s not in the industry.

But she’s creative correct?

Oh yeah, she designs toys.

: That’s amazing.

Arguably more creative than I am.

I don’t know about that but…

She designs toys. Not just toys but educational materials as well for the largest provider. She designs it all, anything from 2nd grade and under.

So your daughter is going to be completely set up.

My daughter is already above grade level and she’s not even in a grade. My wife is on it. I’m actually learning the baby sign language for real. She speaks some words and some signs.

Oh my God she’s a brilliant child.

She’s awesome.

And she’s talking?

Yeah she speaks, not in full sentences but she definitely communicates.

I think that’s pretty quick right? At 14 months?

Yeah she’s developed very fast. I can sit and brag about her all day. She started walking at 8 months. She’s really on it. She’s great. My wife really understands childhood development and she designs toys that help children develop and learn specific developmental milestones. My wife is just so very amazing and intelligent.

And your daughter has reaped the benefits of that.

Oh very much so. And then also I get to spend a good amount of time with her. It’s not like I work at the docks 18 hours a day, which is great cause I have days off, my weekends off, and things like that which is fantastic.

You get large chunks of time off.

I get large chunks of time off and spend time with her.

That must help a lot. You know a lot of fathers don’t get to do that.

And then a lot of fathers don’t want to. I think it’s really cool. I still think it’s cool that people have sex when they have children. I’m like Holy shit! Talk about magic!

I know, especially after watching that birthing scene. When someone has a baby, it’s really not that attractive, it’s kind of sci-fi in a way.

It’s definitely not the most glamorous moment in a person’s life but it’s a beautiful thing. Just the idea of life. It’s been profound for me.

Do you think that procreating is what we’re here to do?

I don’t know that it’s the only thing we’re here to do but inevitably that is part of it. It’s given me a lot of meaning that’s for sure. I wouldn’t say that’s what we’re here to do. Some people are here to write novels. People can be here for a lot of different reasons.

But it’s such a high calling.

It is a high calling. I would put it up there with the highest of calling. In growing up there was always such a stigma to the idea of someone who all they do is raise their kids or the idea of a stay at home mom. I remember because there were very few of them where I grew up, there was a weird stigma. After having kids, I’m kind of like it’s awesome I wish one of us would stay home with them. That would be cool if we could do that. It’d be awesome.

How fun would that be?

Maybe next year when I’m off Shameless maybe instead of trying to make movies in the off season. I’ll just spend 6 months with my daughter. And maybe I’ll make a documentary about that. Instead of making a bunch of movies, I’ve decided I’m going to spend 6 months with my daughter and I’m going to document it. You know what I mean?

Yes I do actually.

Actually I might do that. It sounds much cooler now than when I first thought about it.

And they say years one through five are the most important years. I have friends that decided they were going to do that. Male friends that stayed at home with their kids until they were five. And their children are phenomenal.

Yeah there was actually a part of me when my wife was having the baby, she was doing really well at work and I was doing well with voice over work, but my voice over work I can do from home, I have a voice over studio, there was a time before I got Shameless where I was like, “Maybe I’ll do voice over work from home and take care of the baby all day,” and three months later I’m in my trailer at Warner Brothers.

Which I’m sure you weren’t too upset?

I was like, “well, this worked out too.”

And you did learn how to breastfeed on the show!

And I did learn how to breastfeed too.

That was a great scene.

I just changed my twitter to that. I changed it to, “don’t be surprised if I breastfeed in public.” That’s my newest tweet.

That’s genius. That’s really good. Is there anything else you’d like to mention, before you ride off into the sunset? This has been a fantastic interview.

The biggest thing is we’re shooting Shameless as this interview hits the virtual stands, so I can’t really do anything else now cause I can’t sign on anything. I just finished that movie and it’s really just that movie and Shameless.

The movie Snapshots?

Yeah the movie Snapshots, but also my new thing too is I started tweeting, five weeks ago I started tweeting. So I’m just trying to do that which takes time.

I know.

At first, I didn’t even know what the buttons meant. What is this mark people put everywhere?

And the Follow Fridays.

I’m still learning that. I try to do something everyday but I’m really busy with things.

I tweeted about this. I said “On my way to meet Zach McGowan for an interview.”

When you write it, I’ll tweet it, that’s what I do when people when somebody writes something. There’s no spell check on twitter.

Because you only get 140 characters and there’s a whole twitter language, you have to find different words because you only are allowed a certain amount of characters.

So that would be grammer check but what about spell check when you’re trying to smart tweet. Know what I do? I go to safari to dictionary.com then boom then I go back off to twitter. I haven’t gotten the new iphone I still have the iphone regular 4 not the 4S.

Right the 4S, Siri. Which is iris spelled backwards by the way. Interesting.

So you are either the god to dogs or dogs to god. Which one are you?

I don’t know, maybe Siri knows?

They have an answer for everything. I was at a bachelor party. My buddies were asking some pretty funny questions to Siri. I won’t get into it but you can imagine. The funny bachelor party questions and the funny answers that somebody programmed into it for those very funny questions. Literally Siri was like “you must be at a bachelor party”

Oh really! Siri called you out. That’s funny.

It’s really funny. It’s just a matter of time. I heard there’s a town in Nevada, I read this article, where they are testing cars that drive themselves.

I heard about that.

They’re starting with taxis there. There’s like six of them that are going to be on the road and there’s no driver in it.

That scares me.

Apparently the computer programs. I read the article and what they’re saying is that they’re expecting during the test that traffic incidents go down and then that basically is going to set the stage for this company and all this technology is going to blow up. But I’m just so scared.

It’s terrifying! What about technical difficulties?

I don’t know. That’s what they said about banking. What about difficulties? That’s what they said about air traffic control. Listen, we all get in an airplane and it flies from gate to gate and the person doesn’t do anything other than press the button anymore. They’re sitting there in case something goes wrong. So we’ll let a plane fly us across the world but not a car drive us to the supermarket?

I think its safer in the air then it is to be on the ground personally.

Well statistically. There’s less to run into.

There is less, way less.

But we’ll see…is that our last note? Driverless cars? What about driverless motorcycles?

Ooooh. Fingers crossed. Thank you Zach!!!