Some “Teen Movies” only hit home with their target audience: teens. Most of those films come and go from theaters without a lot of fanfare. But once in a while a movie comes along with adorable characters and spectacular lines that live on forever, filed away under “Smarmy” in our vocabularies.
This is Still Here Hollywood. I’m Steve Kmetko. Join me with today’s guest from Clueless, Breckin Meyer.
Some “Teen Movies” only hit home with their target audience: teens. Most of those films come and go from theaters without a lot of fanfare. But once in a while a movie comes along with adorable characters and spectacular lines that live on forever, filed away under “Smarmy” in our vocabularies.
In 1995, one skateboarding / stoner character won over audiences with his slightly buzzed kindness. He immediately became a heartthrob who would go on to bring that charm and talent to dozens of productions both in front of, and behind the camera. Whatever…
Steve Kmetko
Yes, I'm still here. Hollywood, just ahead on today's episode.
Breckin Meyer
And then slowly right around the time of Clueless is where the pretending became different. The Be instead of pretending it was, I'm going to be that guy I know about. Like I the skater guy, he was a skater stoner, right? I was a skater, never smoked weed in my life, but I knew stoners and I knew how they talked, I knew how they walked. And I was also a little bit of a obnoxious mimic. So when they said he's a stoner, I go, great Spicoli from Fast Times, who coincidentally was directed by Amy Heckerling, who did Clueless. And it was, okay, I'll take that from Sean Penn and, oh, bill and Ted's one of my favorites. I'm 50. It was weird. That was funny. And I always thought about I remember when, I think it was Mack, when Macaulay Culkin turned 40 or something, he sent out a social media thing that was like, Hey, you want to feel bad? The guy from home Alone's 40. Now you know, Brittany Murphy was one of the greatest people I know. Brit passed away as an adult, but she's one of those people who I always think about. I wish I could see what she would've done now,
Steve Kmetko
Some teen movies only hit home with their target audience teens. Most of those films come and go from theaters without a lot of fanfare. But once in a while, a movie comes along with adorable characters and spectacular lines that live on forever filed away under smarmy in our vocabularies. In 19 95, 1 skateboarding stoner character, one of audiences with his slightly buzzed kindness, he immediately became a heartthrob who would go on to bring that charm and talent to dozens of productions, both in front of and behind the camera, whatever. This is still here, Hollywood. I'm Steve Ecco. Now don't be totally bugging, but join me with today's guest from Clueless Breckin Meyer. Hey Breckin.
Breckin Meyer
Hi Steve.
Steve Kmetko
Thanks for stopping by.
Breckin Meyer
No worries. Thanks for having me, man.
Steve Kmetko
Tell me if somebody were to ask you if they'd never met you or kind of like me and wanted to know what you did. How would you describe what you do?
Breckin Meyer
My friends, and I always said and I always say this to my kids, like my parents were academics and I always say my parents were academics and I put on makeup and pretend to be other people. That's it. I put on makeup and pretend to be other people for a living. And when I started acting, I was saying I was 11 and I was pointing at the TV going, I want to do that. But I was pointing at Tom and Jerry. I mean, I wasn't pointing at I Love Lucy or you know, Spencer Tracy or anything like that. I was literally pointing at Tom and Jerry and the Smurfs. Like, I want to do that. And I didn't know what that meant,
Steve Kmetko
Now you do.
Breckin Meyer
Now I slightly do, but yeah, so I would say, I joke that I'm either a train monkey or I say that, you know, I put on makeup and pretend to be other people.
Steve Kmetko
What was your first acting job?
Breckin Meyer
A super cuts commercial. I had long hair as a kid and I had a super cuts commercial. And I remember vividly the audition, it was the first improv thing I ever did where they said, turn around. Like, you're in the chair and he takes a smock off and you like your haircut. That's the direction. And I was 11 and I turned around and went, whoa, this is rad. And the guy went outside and said to my mom, who is the anti stage mom? Could you come in for a second? And I was like, oh, what did I do? I already got in trouble. And he said, have you ever seen your son on camera? And she's like, no, and I don't care to, you know, whatever. And he showed her the tape and he goes, look at that. And he's like, you see how natural he is?
And my mom and I both were like, I don't see what you're talking about. My mom's like, that looks like my kid. And that looks like him. And he sounds like him. And I mean, I remember vividly the cadence going, whoa, this is rad. Because that's what I said to my friends, and I didn't understand what he saw. I still don't, but I got the commercial. You were being, you I was just being a natural kid. I was just being me who got a nice haircut. And then the funny was I had long hair. And my mom's one agreement was, you can do this commercial. They cannot cut your hair.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, they cannot cut your hair.
Breckin Meyer
They cannot cut your hair. And I was like,
Steve Kmetko
That was my next question. Did you get a free hair?
Breckin Meyer
No. I was like, mom, it's a Supercuts commercial. And she was like, super cuts is not that good, in my opinion. I don't want them cutting your hair. And my, by the way, it wasn't like I was Samson and my mom like, loved my hair. That was just kind of, I think it was kind of her anti stage mom thing of like, you can use my kid. You can't mess with him though, and you can't cut his hair. And I remember, and then it was a, a gig. Gary Sling was a very good friend of mine. I met him. I was friends with Gary for about 15 years. And but before that I had gotten, I had booked the Gary Sling show, it's Gary Sling show, his first show as his nephew or his neighbor's son. But they wanted to dye my hair brown because the dad was Sonny from Greece.
I'm forgetting his name right now, but Sonny in the movie Greece, who's a dark curly haired guy. And again, my mom was like, can't dye his hair. And again, my mom was not like, oh, your hair's so be, she wasn't like honey boo boo or anything like that. She was just like, I don't want you to change my kid if he wants to do it, fine. And she was like, do you want to dye your hair? I was like, I, I don't want to be, I don't want to dye my hair. Like, let's not do the job. I'm like, okay, that was it.
Steve Kmetko
No, it has a little silver, a little
Breckin Meyer
Now it's got, now it's got a lot of silver in it. And but it's there. So I'm happy about that. But yeah. But so yeah, so that that was my first commercial was a Super Cuts commercial.
Steve Kmetko
And after that, what'd you do next?
Breckin Meyer
I had a really gradual progression. You know, like I grew up, you know, in my age range, it was me, Toby, Leo, Seth Green, Ethan Embry, all these guys who started when we were really young. And I just gradually worked. I booked Super Cuts and I did an Apple Jack's commercial, and then I did a guest spot on LA Law as the abused kid on the stand. And then I did, you know, so it was really gradual. It was never boom. There you're, you know, you're in a movie and suddenly you're own like ma like Macaulay Culkin or anything like that. I never had that. Luckily it was a great thing. It turned out to be a great thing because I was never bombarded. I was never, again, I never had a stage mom. And so I just gradually worked. And it always became my mom.
And I had an agreement which was, Hey, as long as it's fun for you, I'll take you to auditions. But if you drink or get caught with drugs, and again, your parents have to take you to audition until you're take 16. If you do anything before, you're 16, 16, I, after you're 16, I can't do anything. I can't control you. I mean, you'll still live in a house and stuff, but I can't drive. You can drive at 16. And so she said, but until then, if I'll take you to auditions, I don't like them, but I'll take you to them. But you got to keep your grades up and you got to be a good human. And that was it. So it was always, do you want to keep doing it? Are you still having fun doing it? You still have to go to school, still have to do your homework.
So I was real lucky that I never, looking back now, I never had that one thing where at 10, I couldn't go anywhere. Adults were yelling at. I never had that. I was always very gradual. I worked, I tend to work in the summer or when finals were, I think that was subconscious. I'd book a gig during finals so I wouldn't have to take them. So yeah, so it was, I was very lucky that I never, you know, like when Titanic blew up for Leo, I think, I can't remember, you guys know, 18 or 19 or something. But I worked with Sole Moon Fry after Punky Brewster and saw and Sole's an incredible person in spite of all she went through as being famous as a kid. So I saw it, but I was always on the kind of outside of it looking at going, oh man, that looks like it would suck. And I didn't have to worry about that. And I, you know,
Steve Kmetko
Did you ever take acting lessons or anything? Or was it just on the job training?
Breckin Meyer
Yeah, it was on the job training. I booked, I got an agent when I was 11 through a girlfriend. My handholding girlfriend when I was 11 got me an audition with an agent. And I remember I had to do a, this is, I apologize to your reviewers because you guys can take a nap for this. But my first audition was for a, they, you go to the agency and in order for them to decide if they want to rep you, they give you a little commercial to read. And mine was for peanut butter Peanut Peter Pan Peanut Butter commercial. And you are supposed to clap your hands for Peter Pan. I remember the line and I went in and did it. And they were like, great, you should take some acting classes, but we'd like to represent you if you take some acting classes.
And I was like, cool, I'm not going to do that because I'm doing this for fun. And I don't, I don't look at it like that. I'm 11, I just want to have fun. So, I did. So, I never took classes. I just, on the job learned, I was pretending. And then slowly right around the time of Clueless is where the pretending became different. The Be instead of pretending it was, I'm going to be that guy I know about. Like I the skater guy, he was a skater stoner, right? I was a skater. Never smoked weed in my life, but I knew stoners and I knew how they talked, I knew how they walked. And I was also a little bit of an obnoxious mimic. So when they said he's a stoner, I go, great Spicoli from Fast Times, who coincidentally was directed by Amy Heckerling, who did Clueless.
And it was, okay, I'll take that from Sean Penn. And oh, bill and Ted's one of my favorites. And Keanu Reeves blowing doors off and parenthood. And I loved his physicality. He always had this thing of, it was always this hop to Keanu Reeves. And I remember the minute I read Clueless was like that, that's who it is. And so I went in there and took Spicoli and Keanu and put it together. And it was the first time it felt like, oh, ICI created a character. I created this guy. Instead of just saying the words and looking charming or smirky I had this guy where I was like, oh, I'm going to be that guy and have fun with it. And then I noticed that I could stay in the character. And even improv, there's some improv line, there's some improv in Clueless that just came out in the day.
Because We were so in the not Methody, like in character. You couldn't talk to me, call me Brecken, but, or Travis. I don't care. But it was just, it was the first time I really created a character. And coincidentally I was around 18 or 19 where I was like, oh, I think this is a different level of acting. I think this could be different. And then it real. So it was, it was fun for me because I, from 11 to 19, I'd been doing this certain type of performing, copying, mimicking, whatever. And then at 18 it went to a kind of another level where I was like, oh, and I overused the word fun, but it became another level of fun. And I mean that in a dramatic one sense as well. It was just a good time. Like it was neat. Like, oh, I can get into the head of other people as well, not just the exterior. This can be interesting.
Steve Kmetko
Clueless was a pretty big movie.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah, it did. I
Steve Kmetko
Did it change your life?
Breckin Meyer
No, not, I mean, that's interesting. I would always say no. And now as I'm about to turn 50, I'd go, yeah. Looking back probably, I mean, I definitely got opportunities I would've never gotten because of those friendships I still have. So yeah, I think it, in hindsight it did at the time. It was, it was neat. I was on a sitcom before the movie came out, so I was, it was very interesting. I was booked, meaning I couldn't do anything when Clueless came out. Like I couldn't use the heat of that for another movie or anything, like right off the bat because I was on a series and I couldn't get off so until my hiatus I couldn't work on, on something else. So that again, kind of kept me sheltered from all the crazy I still got to work and obviously I was happy working.
But now I look at it more like, now it's so funny that there are Halloween costumes every year of people dressed as Cher, of course, but also I get Travis things and the, the number one fan encounter I always remembered was older than me. Guy came up to me, ran, ran across the street to stop me. And you know, I'm being close when I was 19, or came out when I was 20, I think. And he said, I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt you. I just want, I don't mean to bother you, I just want to tell you, I went to rehab and got sober and I'm however many, you know, I don't remember. It was two or three years after the movie and I got sober because I figured if Travis Birkenstock could do it, I could do it. And there was, it was a hybrid of emotion when he told me, first of all, I was like, that's amazing, thank you so much.
And then when he left, I was like, that's insane that that character made you just, because he's such a light, fluffy character, you know, it's like a Labrador. And so you're like, wow, Labrador made you go to rehab, okay. And whatever, by the way, whatever gets you there. Fantastic. but that was the first time where I was getting like stopped. I remember it was in Jerry's Deli and it was the first time I got stopped and it was like a real, like, while you're eating, kind of like, oh, hi. And I didn't, it didn't bother me, but it was just interesting. The only thing it did was it cut down my ability, which I think a lot of actors have it cut. It, it hindered my ability to people watch as much as I like to do, like my, I mean, I could sit in if my flight gets delayed for the most part, unless you got to be somewhere, I'm never that upset.
Because I kind like sitting in airports, people watching. That was the only thing, the only positive thing I could say about the pandemic was because the Mass, everyone was anonymous. Oh yeah. You could say, I could sit around and no one would, you know. But like Seth, like Seth Green's one of my best friends and producing partners Seth, he's got flame red hair. He's a beacon. So if he doesn't, you know, during the pandemic, he could put a hat on. No one knew who he was. It was great. But so yeah, I think clueless looking back now, sure it definitely changed. But it's amazing. The, the longevity it's ta is un it's just silly to me. It's, I mean, in a great way. I mean silly in a, I can't, it's unbelievable. It's so funny
Steve Kmetko
You hear nightmares about kids in Hollywood.
Breckin Meyer
It's nonstop. I mean, I, you know, again, Brittany was one of the, be Brittany Murphy was one of the greatest people I know, and I knew Britt way before Clueless. We played boyfriend and girlfriend I think four times before Clueless. So when they, when we auditioned together, it was like, oh, this is easy. And then Brit and I did King of the Hill together for eight years. And then I took over for a role. She did not, when she passed away before that, like the character's voice changed and I took over, but she was still Luann on King of the Hill. So I see, you know, after Clueless, Brittany and I worked together for another eight years and she was, you know, Brit passed away as an adult. But she's one of those people who I always think about. I wish I could see what she would've done now. Because again, Brittany was so crazy talented and only the surface had been dealt with. Like, she's, she was such a good singer and seeing how many people now cross over into music and movie that was like, I would've loved to have seen Brittany do that.
Steve Kmetko
Did her death hit you hard?
Breckin Meyer
Yeah, it sucked. It was yeah, it was really bad. I wish I could say I was, I, I wish I could say I was more surprised when it happened just because of that. It's her business or whatever. But that toxic guy she was with, Simon was just a. And so I knew Brit before I knew during, and then when she passed away, and it was the, the amount of things that, just a small, it's a small world. Philippi Ryan, who was a very, who was a very close friend of mine, lived five houses from Brittany. So literally we were there when the sirens were going on. We didn't know what it was, but we were hanging at Phil's house when the sirens were going up to, I think it was Brittany Spears's old house, Brittany Murphy's new house. When we all heard it was terrible. I mean, Brittany was, I mean, she was a bottle of soda. She was the son. She was so effervescent and great and for her to be, for her to, you know, pass away like that and in such a way and in such a toxic relationship, it just was terrible. It was not only because your friend, but because of what everyone else doesn't get to see anymore. But yeah, that was, that was, that sucked in the same way. Yeah, it was terrible.
Steve Kmetko
You and Seth were photographed for an issue of GQ Magazine.
Breckin Meyer
Probably.
Steve Kmetko
Back in the late nineties or early two thousands. I only know because they picked, they took a picture of me too.
Breckin Meyer
Oh, okay.
Steve Kmetko
Yes. Of how I dressed on the red carpet or something like that. And I had my dog with me and, and they, it was a little Yorkshire, Terri or Stella, and they stuck her in my tuxedo and took a picture of me. I thought it was pretty neat. Yeah. That I was in an issue with you guys.
Breckin Meyer
Was Seth in my tuxedo?
Steve Kmetko
Yes. Yes.
Breckin Meyer
Or I'd be in his either way. We both we're both knee high to a grasshopper, but,
Steve Kmetko
Oh, careful. On the topic of fun are you still having fun?
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. In the job?
Steve Kmetko
Yeah.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. I absolutely am. And then about probably about 12 years ago, I started writing as well. And that was another outlet that became very fun. Just again, I overused the word. It just was so enjoyable. I had so much fun with it. Seth and I have been writing a show, our animated show, robot Chicken for 14 years now. So I get to work with my best friend on a side project that's not, the acting thing is super enjoyable. And then I wrote a show, you know, men at Work, I wrote a sitcom that I got to run. I never knew what a show runner was. And suddenly I was running a show for three years. And then on Franklin and Bash I started writing on that. And it was just, honestly, it was another level of enjoyment of the process. And then it also made me look at acting in a different way. Because I was creating even more than just creating a character. I was there creating a world. And that was really enjoyable. I still love doing that. I mean, that's become a big part of my world.
Steve Kmetko
I forget who said it originally, but I always, I like, I like the sound of it. If you're doing something you like, you won't work a day in your life. Yeah. And it really is true, isn't it?
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. Oh, I absolutely, I mean, even again, actors are the, the worst thing is you know, and I get it, everyone has tough jobs. Everyone has tough days, so it's always tough when you hear any actor whine, the first thing you want to say is like, oh, shut up. You get paid to pretend, blah, blah. I get that. But also, it's a job. And there are times you're away from your family where you're sitting in a room for seven hours. And then by the way, we're not getting your shot today. And then by the way, you're still getting paid. It's, you could be digging ditches, it could be much worse. But even that, after seven hours, you're like, really? I just didn't do anything today. Like, oh, that's just, that doesn't feel good. But yeah, absolutely. I still have fun with it. And it changes and it gets tough and it gets interesting and everything about it being pigeonholed, fighting out of that, all the things that happened in a career. I joke with Seth that we're vets of this now, which is so funny being 49.
Steve Kmetko
Well, that's one of the things I'd like to ask you about. You too. I, I have a hard time looking at you and thinking, oh, you're going to be 50. You're 50. Do you have a hard time with that too?
Breckin Meyer
The other day it hit me. It was just like, I always knew, I never really cared about AIDS the other day, just the phrasing of, oh, right. In May, I'm 50 was weird. That was funny. And I always thought about I remember when, I think it was Mack, when Macaulay Culkin turned 40 or something, he sent out a social media thing that was like, Hey, you want to feel bad? The guy from home alone's 40 now, you know? And I thought about that when I was turning 50. I was like, Hey, you want to feel bad about yourself? Travis is 50, Travis, the skateboarder is 50, so, or not yet. He will be.
Steve Kmetko
You're okay with that?
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. I'm fine with that.
Steve Kmetko
Tell me.
Breckin Meyer
I'm fine with that. Truthfully, I'm fine with that because I've been fortunate enough that my career has had a bunch of different things in it. And I wasn't, you know, if I was one car, if I, if everywhere I went, it was only Travis, I could see over the years that being a thing. Knock on wood, I've been lucky enough to have, whether it's Travis or road trip or Rat Race, like that's a fun thing when someone comes up and says, what do I know you from? Usually you're like, I don't know, I don't want to go over my whole resume with you right now. But it's also a compliment because it's like, there are a bunch of different things. I don't know. And I usually have to go by the demographic. Like when I meet someone, like, all right, do you have kids?
Breckin Meyer
It might be Garfield. Wait, are you a teenage? Oh, you went to college in my age? Okay, you're road trip. You know, or a family rat race. You know? So I've had fun with that. So I do enjoy, I enjoy that part of the job. It just, you know, to be able to continue to do it. So I think that's one of the things why I've enjoyed it, is that I get to mix it up. If you don't, it's tougher. It's, you know and I've had that, I've had, you know, I've played, I get a lot of offers to play the Stoner guy and things like that. And it's up to you whether you want to do it or not.
Steve Kmetko
I would imagine Keanu Reeves probably got that same thing after Bill and Ted for a while.
Breckin Meyer
I imagine. I imagine he absolutely does.
Steve Kmetko
You know,
Breckin Meyer
And probably way more than I do
Steve Kmetko
Maybe. And we'll be right back,
Breckin Meyer
I would say. And anytime I get interviewed by anyone that wasn't you, my first question was always, where's Steve Kmetko? Not because I wanted him to interview me. I just want to see him. Where is he? I want to know he's real. It's like,
Steve Kmetko
He's real. You said just before you came here, you were busy Dad?
Breckin Meyer
I was Dad, yes, I was dad.
Steve Kmetko
Tell me about that. You have a daughter who's going to be 21.
Breckin Meyer
I have two. I have two youngins. I have two girls. One's going to be 21, the other's 13. And yeah. And they're great. I enjoy, it's my favorite. It's my favorite job. Way more than acting, way more than writing is being a dad.
Steve Kmetko
So do you tell them the same kinds of things your mom told you?
Breckin Meyer
It's interesting. My 20-year-old is in school for acting. And it is, it's that, it's tough because there's, the dad part of me goes, oh no, absolutely not. I don't want you to have that life. No. And the artist, whatever you want to say, actor in me goes, it's tough. I'm, I'm going to tell you not to do the thing I've been doing since I was 11 years old. But again, my parents, I had a deal, my parents had a deal that I think a lot of parents have with kids, which is, you go to college, we pay your way if they can, we go to college, we pay your way. If you don't, you're on your own. Meaning if you're not going to go to college, then get a job. And that was presented to me. And I'd been working a bit, again, nothing giant, but I'd been gradually working.
And I applied to one college. I wasn't thinking about college too much. I always thought I'd be a kindergarten teacher. And I knew you had to go to college probably for that. And this came the moment when I was 18. I thought, it's either acting or college. I don't really think of myself as going to college, but I'll apply. And I applied to one. I just followed my older brother. I was like, oh, you applied to Northridge? Okay, I will. And I said, what do you want to do with what do you want to major or whatever? I had to fill out. And I was like, acting, I don't know. And they said, you got in. I was like, I don't care. And so I was about to go and I booked a pilot that didn't even end up going, but I booked a pilot, a paying job.
And I was like, I'm going to, I'm going to try it and if I don't, I might go back to college or I might get a job, whatever. And that was it. And so I just kept doing it and I kept doing it. So it's tough as a dad to say no, because I did it. But I also, it's different. It's a different time now. The business is different. Social media wasn't around when I was a kid. I mean, it got, by the way, I can't thank people more for the fact that this didn't get invented when I was young and stupid and making the dumbest mistakes and bad jokes and, you know, just stupid
Steve Kmetko
But ooh. Yeah, they come down on you. There's a million people out there. At least.
Breckin Meyer
I couldn't imagine. I couldn't imagine that. I mean, I really, having two daughters in the world of social media is, it's new. We never, I mean, for so many years no one ever had to deal with that. Yeah. You had to deal with phones, phone call. Okay, you can't be on the phone after 10. And then it became cell phones. And then it's like, all right, well you can't be on your cell phone till after 10. Then it became social media. You know, all these screen time things and everything like that never existed. So it, it's definitely different. I don't know. It's easier. It's definitely just different.
Steve Kmetko
It is different. Sitting here listening to you I mean this in the best possible way. Do you realize how lucky you have been that you got that first job and you never really, I've talked to so many people over the years. Who've really had to work and gone through disappointment and you know,
Breckin Meyer
No, I
Steve Kmetko
Nose to the grindstone and all that stuff.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. And I've had versions of, again, you know, everyone has their own, everyone runs their own race. And mine was fortunate in the way that I kept working. I did have things, you know, after clueless when I, or sorry, right before Clueless again, I think I was, I'm so bad with times. You guys can Google it and figure it out. But I was around 18 or 19 when I booked Clueless. And then it came out when I was 20. And right before I booked Clueless as a young actor kid going on his own without not going to college and paying his own way since I moved out when I was 17. And that was on me when I was 18, right before Clueless. I blew everything. I had no more money. I blew all my money on being a kid. And nothing stupid.
I wasn't buying cars or anything like that. It was literally, I'm going to go fly to see my ex, my girlfriend who's doing a movie of the week in Australia. I'll go see her and then, oh, I want to go see her again. And I'll do that. And then, oh, we broke up. I'm going to go home now. You know? And I did. So I blew all my money and I called my dad and I said, I don't want anything. I don't want any money, but I need help. I don't know how to budget. It seems I have this much left. And it was something like $5,000. And my rent, I think was seven 30. And so I was like, this is all I have for the foreseeable future. How do I make this last? And he was basically like, you can't essentially, but first thing, stop driving your car.
Beause That runs on gas. If you don't need to do it, don't. No problem. I got a skateboard. That's fine. I didn't have my heat turned on. I moved into a new place and I was like, I'm broke. I'm going to move into a new place and I need help budgeting. I didn't get, and my dad did not suggest this, this was me doing this. He suggested budgeting. I was like, I'll go one better. So I didn't get heat turned on, didn't, which includes hot water. I didn't get gas turned on. I had power and that was it. I had no furniture and my address was a third. And I was above a garage. And if I sneezed, the guy in the garage would bless me. That's how thin everything was. And I had the car that I bought when I had some money as a 16-year-old kid.
So my pathfinder, which looked like the car in tango and cash, which is why I got it, would just sit out front on the street with no one driving it because I was on my skateboard. And so, because I didn't have hot water, I also didn't have a shower. I had cold water in the shower if you want, but that was it. And so I didn't have laundry. And so once a month I would take my laundry bag, throw it over my shoulder and skateboard from deep North Hollywood to Encino to where Seth Green lived. You're kidding. No. And Seth Green lived and Seth was doing commercials and had some nice apartment and he had a washer and dryer. So I would skateboard with my lut with laundry. Laundry. That is a good friend. Yeah, it's a great friend. I would skateboard my laundry to Seth's house, do my laundry, throw it over my shoulder again, skate back home or, and use his house to shower.
And then my audition for Clueless, if you know Los Angeles, I was in deep North Hollywood. The audition was at Paramount, which is, you know, Melrose always Gower. Yeah. Very far away. Almost impossible to get there without a freeway or a canyon. And I was only on a skateboard. So I skateboarded from deep North Hollywood over highland cove by the Hollywood Bowl to Paramount to audition for Clueless. Because I didn't have money for my car. So I arrived sweating, greasy, long-haired, gross dude, but also kind of fit the part of little skater stoner kid. But yeah, so that's where I was, that's where I was living when kind of the hit the fan. So I did, sorry to get back to your, my long-winded answer. I do recognize how lucky I'd been that I continued to work even through those valleys when luckily my dad kind of was like, spend this a month.
And during that time when I had no hot water or anything, was my audition for Clueless. And I booked it and it gave me enough money to pay my rent and get out of that apartment the next year. And so that, so yeah. And hindsight, yeah, it really did change my life. Because I was living, it was bad. It was dark time. So much. So I remember I said, it is the only time ever I've thought about quitting. I never have really, I don't even know if this would count, but I was auditioning for er when it was like a guest spot. And I never did guest spots as a kid. I just, I was, I don't know why. I just never booked them, really. And this was very, you know, tortured patient in er I was in the waiting room with Seth.
He was auditioning too. Seth was auditioning and I was like, I don't think I can do this anymore. He's like, what? I don't know what this is. Like, I don't know how to, and I just kind of, this kind of this whiny, freak out where I was like, I don't know if I can do this. I don't want to do this. And Seth, he was great. We weren't even that close. He was just like, the are you talking about? This is what you've done your entire life, by the way. You don't want to do it, don't do it, but don't and say you don't know how to do it. That's a cop out. And it was so great. And I went in to the audition, did terrible, didn't get it, of course, but the next audition was this NYPD blue audition. And I heard Seth in my head say like, you know how to do this. And I booked it. And the next audition after that, I was, when I met Ryan, Phil be oddly enough, I booked that as well. And that's very rare that you book like two things in a row. But it was momentum and it, it started me up again. And I thank Sie for that every day that it was, you know, it, every now and then, it takes your friend to kick in the some.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. Sometimes you just need a voice.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. You just need either a sounding board or a voice to go, Hey, stop, don't be so hard on yourself. And by the way, it is a really, it's a lottery of an occupation. You know, to get one job is a lottery and to get two is unheard of. And three, hey, you got a career. But I do, I realize now having seen all that, whether it's the Nickelodeon documentary, all that stuff is, and my mom passed away recently, but holy did do, I owe her a debt of gratitude for keeping me safe in that world. I don't mean safe sexually or I mean everything. I just mean as a kid, I had a childhood. I was an actor who was working almost nonstop since I was 11. But I had a childhood and I had a pretty good relationship with my mom. And I have a good relationship with my, a great relationship with my dad. And my mom was never my manager. My mom was never, my mom had a career. She was a microbiologist at UCLA, couldn't give a about super cuts. My dad's a professor at USC at the time couldn't give a. You know, Trojan and brewing couldn't give a about super cuts and all that. But they were supportive, but they weren't living through me. And they weren't, I wasn't the cash cow. They weren't surviving because of me.
Steve Kmetko
I hear a very practical voice coming out of you.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. It's weird. I think it's age, but no, I think it's them. Truly. I think it's my parents. The fact that my mom, I mean, it's so boring. I apologize, but I'm, some people,
Steve Kmetko
It's just, you know the older I get, the more I reflect on how I got here. You know, and, and everything that's gone on. And it all adds to the person you become. Every little experience.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. It takes a while to look back at it. It's funny, like looking like, I watched that Nickelodeon thing recently and it is amazing to see the, I remember going into audition as a little kid and there would be mothers with their ears against the door. Mother and dads against their ears, against the door, hearing their kid audition, whatever. Fine, you want to do that. But when they come out, they would berate their kid, be Sammy, I told you didn't hit the line. Your, we went over that in the car. Why didn't you hit your, we're not stopping for ice cream. That, and it sounds silly and goofy, but that's dreadful. You know, on a day you do that, you have four auditions a day, four times you're under that kind of pressure and stuff. And she wasn't doing it intentionally. It wasn't a calculated move.
But my mom was just didn't want to do that. She didn't, this wasn't her dream or anything like that. So she never was on set. She was always on set looking at, she was always aware present. But she wasn't the mom watching me like that. She would if I was needed. She was always there. She was always with her book, her mystery book or whatever in the far corners behind all the other stage moms. And they'd always ask her, you know, like, how come you're not moving up there? And she's like, I's doing what he's doing? That's all right. And it was really, because it just made her uncomfortable. It's a weird scene to see kids adult sitcom. Life is weird and kid acting is strange a lot with school. School you have to do during it and all that. But they she really did like, she, she watched, she'd watched and she was proud of me. And by the way, make no mistake, she was super proud, but she wasn't, she was never pushing, she was supportive but never pushing me, which was pretty great.
Steve Kmetko
You said you were close with Gary Shandon too. His death came as kind of a surprise. Kind of a surprise out of nowhere. Believe it was a heart attack if I remember correctly.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. I don't even know what technically the final.
Steve Kmetko
He was a good guy too.
Breckin Meyer
Gary was incredible. And Gary, one of the thing that I, I never, one of the things about Gary that I never knew as much, I knew during, but I don't think other people knew as much until after. I don’t know if that's English what I just said. I'll start over. One of the things that I don't think people knew and I didn't know as much about how much he mentored other people and not just comics. Like I know a lot of comedians who mentor other comedians. Gary was for everybody. Whether it was Sasha doing Bora, whether it was Favreau doing Ironman, whether it was Favreau doing Jumanji or all these things. When we'd play basketball at Gary's, sorry, there would be, we'd play ball and then around noon or so, we'd all just eat and hang out. And as long as some people would come by who weren't in the basketball game, to just chat with Gary, I have friends.
When I started show running first, that second person I reached out to was Gary. And because Gary ran the Larry Sanders show, which to me is one of the greatest comedies ever. And he, like a kind of war torn general, gave me advice on how to run a show and how to be a boss and how to be involved and involve your writers and how just be a really just, just to how to be a boss. I'd never done it before. I always worked for other people. But he mentored so many people and was so helpful for e everybody I knew, whether it was a standup, was a writer, whether it was director, whether it was a musician, would go to Gary for advice on life, on music, on directing, on writing, on acting. And he was always so great about it. And it is the exact opposite of kind of the persona that is Gary Shandling. So I've been really lucky with the people I've been able to work with and become friends with. I met Gary because we had the same makeup guy. And I was a huge fan. I like basketball, so I got invited to play. But yeah, and again, his death. I mean, talk about just two people who are gone way too soon. Very different ages. But Brittany and Gary both, I'm bummed we don't get to see more of their stuff, you know, that's disappointing. That's it's selfishly as a fan, you know, so
Steve Kmetko
You sound like you've got it knocked.
Breckin Meyer
No, I just have a, I mean I'm, I again, as I get older, I look back and as I look back and I just think as a parent I'm like, my folks did pretty good for someone who's in the business. Because There's a lot of other versions that aren't as that don't have as nice of a progression ending whatever. And it's not over yet, but you know what I mean. No, it's tough. And again, having a daughter who wants to do it, it's a very different time. I'm very curious, but she's better actor than I, she's more trained than I am already. And she's 20. So but it's also, again, it's the lottery. So, but do you remember, I don't even know if, I'm sure you do. I used to say your last name in almost every press junket I did.
I don’t know if you remember that.
Steve Kmetko
No.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. Oh, I mean, I swear you, if there was B roll, they could go through the files of e the amount of times. Because when you first start doing press as a young actor and, and clueless by the way Exactly the clueless junket. We were doing the clueless junket and Donald Faison and I had never been interviewed before. And there's all these cameras and stuff and we see e comes in to interview us and we know the logo and there's e and your last name for some reason was like an earwig in my, it just burned into my brain where I swear you could find it. There's B roll of me doing an entire interview and the only answers I give are Kmetko. The only answers I give are Kmetko because it was, I like that it was the most, I don’t know if it was the K sounds or what, but it was just, anytime I get interviewed by anyone that wasn't you, my first question was always, where's Steve Kmetko? Not because I wanted to interview me. I just want to see him. I, where is he? I want to know He is real. It's like
Steve Kmetko
He's real. Yeah.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. Now I know, but yeah, I would say your name all the time. Me, Adam Scott Rudd. I remember we would all enjoy the name Kmetko.
Steve Kmetko
I interviewed Paul once. Funny guy. Sweetheart. Boy sweetheart. His career's taken off,
Breckin Meyer
Sweetheart. Sweet guy on the planet. Clearly, you know, eats babies or drinks Vampire blood other than that,
Steve Kmetko
But something.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah. He'll never die. No, no. Paul Red and Pri Viva, he'll just live forever.
Steve Kmetko
What are you working on now?
Breckin Meyer
What am I working on now? We just did our, I don't even know what number it is. Our God, I can't think of it. 12Th season of Robot Chicken. I think we've done a new special for Robot. We just finished writing. Mark-Paul Gosselaar and who I did Franklin and Bash with sold, have a new show at NBC, a new pilot that we're doing a procedural together. And then I think there's a movie I did called Quarter that is coming out soon. I'm so bad with this stuff. I keep working, but I don't know when it all comes out.
Steve Kmetko
As long as you remember the name Kmetko, that fine.
Breckin Meyer
I remember the name Kmetko. That's all I need. That's like, that's my safe word.
Steve Kmetko
In any, it's my danger word.
Breckin Meyer
My is my safe word.
Steve Kmetko
Have you ever met anybody else named Breckin?
Breckin Meyer
Since me now? Yes. before, no. I mean I've met, I've, I've had people come up who have said, Hey, I've named my son Fti, this is Breckin. So I've met a couple kids. There was one actor, one young actor I met named Breckin. And I get people on social media who are like, oh, I named my kid or dog after you. And it's not really coming.
Steve Kmetko
That's kind of neat.
Breckin Meyer
It's just the name. Yeah. My dad, I'm pretty sure my dad was high when he heard it. It was his friend's brother. And it was spelled in the real Welsh way, which is CH Umla. I have no idea. But when the, when he was born, when I was born, they said, what, you know, how do you spell the name? And my dad was like B-R-E-C-K. He spells it wrong. B-R-E-C-K-I-N is how he decided to do it. My brothers are Adam and Frank, and I'm Breckin. Makes no sense.
Steve Kmetko
Did Birkenstock ever come through for you?
Breckin Meyer
No. You know, I played yeah, I, because in my head, Travis Birkenstock was always some heir, some celeb you whatever you want to or nepo baby to the Birkenstock fortune. I always thought about that. And I'm sure Amy named it that because he was kind of a modern hippie. But no, I never got a Birkenstock. I never even got one. Not even one shoe, let alone a pair. No, I never got a Birkenstock and I've never owned a pair of Birkenstocks. Maybe I've subconsciously been protesting.
Steve Kmetko
Well, maybe if you were a lesbian.
Breckin Meyer
There you go. See that's what's,
Steve Kmetko
That's, that's a joke.
Breckin Meyer
I could. I could stretch as an actor though.
Steve Kmetko
Thanks a lot.
Breckin Meyer
Yeah, man. Thank you so much.
Steve Kmetko
I enjoyed this.
Breckin Meyer
I appreciate it. Thank you.
Steve Kmetko
I wasn't, I didn't know what quite, what to expect since we'd never, this is it talked before.
Breckin Meyer
This is the A,B,C,
Steve Kmetko
I Enjoy this.
Breckin Meyer
I appreciate it. Thanks so much.
Steve Kmetko
Still here. Hollywood is a production of the Still Here network. All things technical run by Justin Zangerle. Theme music by Brian Sanyshyn and executive producer is Jim Lichtenstein.