Entertainment & Film Industry Interview - Stacie Greenwell's Inspiring Journey to Hollywood.

Greg Staffa 0:00

You're listening to the Staffa Corner Podcast, a Staffatarian look at entertainment and life, with your host, Greg Staffa. My guest this episode is talented actress Stacey Greenwell. She transitioned from a career in law to acting after earning a master's in fine arts degree. In acting, she performed numerous plays and musicals before making the leap to Hollywood. Since then, she's guest starred in various productions, including Perry Mason, Shameless, Modern Family and Prime Video's highly anticipated series Cross, which launched on November 14th. Stacey, thanks for joining us today.

Stacie Greenwell 0:55

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Greg Staffa 0:57

So the question I assume that anyone reading your bio and any parent would wonder is are you crazy? I mean, you had a law, you're practicing law which takes incredible talent. I mean, let's be honest, you have to be pretty dang smart to accomplish something like that. That's something that parents would be proud of, family and friends would be proud of, and then you decide to say I think I'm going to go into acting instead. What brings you to that kind of conclusion?

Stacie Greenwell 1:30

Well, thank you. First off, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer and so I'm glad that I tried it. I'm glad that I tried it, but after doing it for a short period of time I realized that it wasn't as great as it seemed like it was on television. And I guess it started when I was in law school. I did a mock trial and so we would pretend to be each other's witnesses, and so somebody asked me to be a witness and you know, they give you a script to kind of go on and I put on a costume with glasses and a wig and I was crying on the stand and really having a lot of fun with the role, called a recess and asked if I was okay and I was like, yeah, I'm just having fun. And he said, well, usually people don't do this, they just read the script and that's that. But it seemed like a fun opportunity to me and so you know. So I think that was the first time that I really tried acting, even though I didn't. I didn't know it was a big deal. And um, and then later, my third year in law school, um, the whiz came to town and I sing. So I said, well, you know, I'll audition for a role and I got the part of Dorothy and it was the most fun I had ever had, and but these were just hobbies, or so I thought.

Stacie Greenwell 3:04

And so when I got the job as an attorney in a law firm and we were going on a tour, I remember looking into the library and I heard a voice in my head that said this is not your life, said this is not your life. And I didn't know what it meant at the time because I had already spent so much time, as you said, investing in this career. But after practicing for a couple of years, I thought about that voice and I realized there was something else out there for me. There was something else out there for me. And so I started thinking about everything that made me happy, like when I was doing the whiz and you know, when I was doing that little mock trial, and I just made a list of everything that made me happy and that was on the list. And so I thought, well, maybe I'll get some training or something. So I took a little class, like a college course, at night and on the weekends on acting and I enjoyed that.

Stacie Greenwell 4:13

And then, I was in DC at the time practicing, and so then I would go up to New York on the weekends to take another acting class and I enjoyed that. And finally I said you know what you? You actually enjoy acting and I think you should give it a shot. So I quit my job and moved to New York to get a master's in acting and it felt it felt like the right thing to do. It felt it gave me joy and had me amped up Like I. I felt very excited about this new venture in my life and everybody who loved me supported me and, uh, there were some naysayers, but the people who were most important in my life, they supported me wholeheartedly.

Greg Staffa 5:03

That's great. Most people growing up wanting to be actors. They there were little kidsheartedly. That's great. Most people growing up wanting to be actors. They were little kids when they wanted to be actors. I can't imagine wanting to get into law was kind of on a whim. So this must have been a longtime dream to become a lawyer that you had to. I mean, you had to put for a lot of studying and stuff like that. How long did you want to become a lawyer? I mean, how long was this dream in the process initially?

Stacie Greenwell 5:26

Well, I remember being a kid and thinking that I would become a singing lawyer. I didn't know what that meant, but I thought I do enjoy singing and being a lawyer seems like a cool job. So I figured somehow I'd be able to mix the two together. And so people would say what do you want to do as singing lawyer? That's what I'm going to be. So that creative side was always in me. But as I got older I realized that the more reliable job, the job that tends to be considered a real job, is being a lawyer. So I kind of let the singing be a hobby and I never really considered it as a career and so and so yeah, so I think since I was maybe eight years old, the thought of being a lawyer was in my head.

Greg Staffa 6:25

So now you make the move to New York, you start going to classes again to get your master's of fine arts. What was the process like for that? I mean, you're basically I can't imagine many credits transferred over for that from your lawyer career. So what was the process of going from school to lawyer to fine arts and school for acting to becoming an actress? Was there kind of a parallel that your study habits were the same, or is there a different approach that you took for doing that, for doing the actress roles?

Stacie Greenwell 6:59

Well, everything was kind of new at first. I was definitely a fish out of water. In fact, I had never really auditioned for anything when I auditioned to go to school. So I knew a lawyer excuse me, not a lawyer. I knew an actress who was able to help me audition for the role.

Actress's Path to Hollywood and Support

Stacie Greenwell 7:22

But the way I did it was kind of all wrong. It was very presentational, it was out to the audience. I didn't even look at my scene partner. It was. I don't know what the heck I was doing, but they had mercy on me and they let me do it again and they asked me to connect with my partner, not worry about the audience or being presentational, but really try to make something real happen between me and my scene partner. So I did it again and, you know, apparently it was enough for them to take a chance on me.

Stacie Greenwell 7:54

Like you said, I didn't have any experience but I took. I took this as an opportunity to follow my dream, like I was really. I had a strong work ethic, it was fun, I loved it all and sometimes at that level there were some people who were kind of already jaded, some people. They had some negative views on the industry and how tough it is. I didn't have any of that. I came in ready and excited and I looked at it as a second chance, and so it was a much better experience for me than law school. I liked law school, it was great, but this I was really passionate about it in a way that I had never been passionate anything else now a lot of actors, when they're trying to make it, are struggling.

Greg Staffa 8:54

You know they're. They're waiters or waitresses or they have, you know, side hustles. Just to kind of make ends meet, was having the law degree and everything like that as a fallback kind of a safety net for you, or did you kind of just cut all those ties and say I'm never going back?

Stacie Greenwell 9:10

Well, it is nice to have that education and, whether I wanted to acknowledge it or not, I guess it is a safety net, because if it didn't work at acting, I guess I would have gone back to that. And even after I graduated I did go back to acting part time. The law firm that I worked at they knew that I was an actress and so I even said in the interview hey, I'm an actress, I'd like to leave and go to auditions, I'm not going to work late hours because I'll be doing plays and musicals and things like that at night. So everyone knew what my real passion was. In fact, people from the law firm would come see me in plays, which was really nice. So I had my priorities. You know acting was number one and but yet I needed to pay the bills. So I also did a little, you know, lawyering on the side, if you will.

Greg Staffa 10:15

But it sounds like you had a tremendous amount of support, just not only from family, friends and coworkers. So you're doing acting, you're doing off Broadway stuff. It was that at the time time. Was that the goal then? Or was it always the goal to get to hollywood then? Was this just a step, or this was the first step that you knew you wanted to make before going to hollywood?

Stacie Greenwell 10:37

it was the first step. I liked acting on stage. I think it's a really great training ground for actors because you can't yell, cut, you're out there, you're on stage and you have to get through with the performance, and so I think it's a great way to learn and I'm so glad that I had that experience. But there did come a time when I wanted to be on television and I wasn't sure about moving out to LA from New York.

Stacie Greenwell 11:11

There were a lot of people who said, well, you need to have an agent and you need this and contacts and this and that, and I didn't have any of those things. But there just came a time I was like, listen, if you want to do it, just go out there. You know, the same way you came out to New York. You didn't have any contacts when you started that. You're just going to have to start fresh. And so I did, and I'm so glad that I did because I love television, I enjoy theater, but you know, maybe because I grew up on television, it just it makes me so happy to be able to be in the medium that I, that I've loved so much for all of my life.

Greg Staffa 11:53

Now a lot of us struggle with change. Change is never easy for any of us and we often kind of fall into our own lulls of life and life and are content with it. Was there someone in your life that was instrumental? I mean all the hard work that you did, the studying for both careers, the taking a chance of giving up a promising career and doing the plays and then making that leap to Hollywood I mean that takes a heck of a lot of belief in yourself, a lot of backbone, a lot of faith. Was there someone that was instrumental in your life to teach you that? Or where did you get this tremendous work ethic?

Stacie Greenwell 12:32

Well, thank you, it comes from my mother, for sure. My mother she works hard and she's really the best at everything that she does. And she's really the best at everything that she does, and I have learned so much watching her, and she taught me the importance of faith, and we believe in ourselves but we also believe in God.

Stacie Greenwell 12:54

And so she told me, anything you set your mind to you can do. If God puts a dream in your heart, that's because it's possible, and so I've always carried that with me. And she wanted me to be a lawyer. She was supportive of that, but when I didn't want to do it anymore, she said, ok, we have a new dream now, let's do it. And so she's always been really supportive, and in fact she lived in Atlanta, where I'm from, but she moved out here to California as well. So now I have my family here. I got married, so I have just a really lovely support system here in LA, even though when I first came out here I didn't have anybody here. But it's become my new home for sure.

Actress's Confidence and Training Benefits

Greg Staffa 13:47

Was there a time or a moment, or even a production that you were involved in where you realized that you crossed that hurdle of I'm going forward now with my career versus worrying about if I need to fall back on it? Or you knew the kind of safety net had been not taken away but no longer needed, that you knew you could take off the training wheels and not rely on that law degree anymore. That you knew that you were not necessarily set but you were on the right path and that the path was smooth sailing for the most part?

Stacie Greenwell 14:21

Well, when I came out here to LA, the, my thought was that I would not practice law, that I would just wholeheartedly go after this acting thing. I had saved up some money and you know. But I also signed up to do part time contract lawyer stuff if necessary. So I signed up with the service almost like a temp service but for lawyers and so I came out here and I started booking some jobs. Things were going well and then sometimes there would be a lull and I remember I got a call from the temp agency asking me if I wanted to come in and I was like, oh man, has it come to this? I really didn't want to, but I remember I accepted one of the jobs and I said, okay, I'll be there on Monday, and then I ended up booking a job that worked on Monday, so I had to cancel.

Stacie Greenwell 15:23

So this happened a couple of times. Like every time I was like you know what, let me just go ahead and take this job for a week or whatever. Every time I would book something and I felt like that was God telling me you don't have to do that anymore, you don't have to keep thinking that's going to be your future. It's not. You stay on the path that you're on. You're safe, and so, because of that, those few times that you know, I guess, escaped having to go back to law, it gave me the confidence to know that I had made the right choice.

Greg Staffa 16:04

Wow, that's such a great story. Is there anything in your law career and your law training that you think made you a better actress? I mean, the mock trials certainly sound like they help because they let you kind of give your first performances, but was there anything else that kind of helped motivate you or mold how you are as an actress today to kind of help motivate you or mold?

Stacie Greenwell 16:25

how you are as an actress today. Well, it definitely helps me with reading contracts, which has proven to be pretty important, and also having had that prior life makes me more appreciative of this life. That's probably my biggest takeaway, because spending so much time doing something that you don't enjoy for me, it just was not the way I wanted to live my life, and so I'm that much more appreciative to be in this field. I think the analytical thinking that I used as a lawyer helps me with analyzing scripts and also just a strong work ethic. I think if you're a lawyer, there's a lot of work to be done, and I take that same work ethic to being an actress.

Greg Staffa 17:22

You went to Actors Studio Drama School. What was that like as far as preparing you to become an actress? You went to Actors Studio Drama School. What was that like as far as preparing you to become an actress? I mean, I think of my school days and dissecting frogs and trigonometry and things I never had to use Is the acting school. How does that help you become a better actor or actress? And is that something that you see as a valued tool, and in what ways? And is that something that you see as a valued tool?

Stacie Greenwell 17:47

And in what ways. It was a good experience for me. I didn't have anything to compare it to because I wasn't trained. A lot of the other students had gone to undergrad for acting or, you know, had been acting all of their lives, whereas for me everything was ooh, ah, you know, everything was new, and so I really enjoyed it. It was the first time I had an acting community with peers and being able to learn from them, being able to have all these different professors and basically building my toolbox, because now there's a number of techniques that I use, and it started there. I learned some things there and, of course, over the years, I've picked up other things, but I believe that different roles may call for different techniques, and so it all started there.

Greg Staffa 18:46

I guess that's where my question was. I mean, a Tom Hanks and a De Niro have very different acting styles and so I was kind of wondering how the school kind of lets you be on that spectrum of each actor is so different and each role is so different of how they approach these roles that there really isn't like a set curriculum of math. Know math, one plus one is two. We all know that with acting there isn't a set formula of here's how you become an actor, here's how you create a role or character. So I was just curious of how much in depth that really gets, or if it's more kind of understand, understanding the nuances of it all I guess, with experience you'll find out which techniques work best, like, suppose you want to cry.

Stacie Greenwell 19:32

maybe when you cry you do a particular thing, or or you try different things and see which one works better. You know, there's a lot of experimentation when it comes to acting and you're discovering what proves to be most effective, and with some actors you might have been doing one thing over and over and over. Every time you need to do an anchor scene, you do this and that and the other, but then maybe after a while it gets a little stale for you, and so you try something else. You know, I think at the end of the day, you want to be able to, to give, I do different things depending on, depending on the role, depending on the day, you know, and so it helps, having had different teachers and obviously different experiences, to kind of build up that toolbox.

Actress's Mentors and Memorable Roles

Stacie Greenwell 20:40

Greg Staffa 20:40

You went to Hollywood. Was there anyone and you started taking on roles and you're you knew this, I mean you, you'd done some plays by this point but was there anyone instrumental in your early on career that kind of took you under their wing, was a mentor to you? Or even during a guest appearance, someone one of the actors kind of pulled you aside and worked with you? Was there or anyone like that?

Stacie Greenwell 21:02

Hmm, that's a good question. There have been several kind people to me who I've worked with, who I've enjoyed working with, but I have not oh, you know what I tell you. I do have someone in mind oh, this makes me sad the director, jean-marc Vallée, who directed me in Sharp Objects. And also, what else did he direct me in? Something else Goodness, now I can't remember what it was, oh, big Little Lies. He and I got along so well and we developed a nice friendship and I just I really admired him and and he would I would have a role on one of his movies and he would expand it and give me more to do it.

Stacie Greenwell 22:06

I remember when I worked on Sharp Objects I had a few scenes and I told him okay, I guess I'm wrapped for the day. I had finished my last scene, he said, oh, no, no, I want you to stay. And he ended up putting me in a really emotional scene with Amy Adams, and usually when I do emotional scenes, I know that they're coming up. I prepared them, I've worked on it. This he just threw me in. He was like, okay, I need you to go work with Amy Adams on this, and there's a death involved and it's a whole big scene and I had no preparation and it ended up just being wonderful, absolutely wonderful, and he believed in me. He gave me more to do than was even on the page, than I had anticipated, and him having faith in me like that and letting me try new things meant the world to me.

Stacie Greenwell 23:07

And he actually passed away. I guess it's been it's been over a year now, I think he passed away maybe two years ago recent, feels recent and um, he was just really a great, a great guy and a wonderful, a wonderful director. And um, yeah, he and he stayed in touch with me, even between you know, different projects. He was working on something new and asked me hey, what are you up to? I'm gonna put you in this new thing. And so I would definitely say, uh, he, he was a mentor for me and I miss him. I really do.

Greg Staffa 23:48

That's a touching story. Thank you for sharing that with us. So you've had a bunch of guest starring roles where you've appeared in one or two episodes. Is there a particular one that stands out? That was one of your favorites.

Stacie Greenwell 24:02

Well, you mean not counting the current thing that I'm doing on Cross?

Greg Staffa 24:08

which is bigger?

Stacie Greenwell 24:09

than a couple of them.

Greg Staffa 24:10

Yeah, that's more than a couple.

Stacie Greenwell 24:12

Okay, that is more than a couple, because that one I like the most. Let's think I remember working on Modern Family. That was a big deal for me because I was such a fan of Modern Family and I remember meeting the casting director and it was like, on my list of 10 shows I would make a list of the shows that I wanted to be on and that was one of them and I was able to meet one of the casting directors. He called me in for an audition and I just was so excited to work on that show'm Ty Burrell and I was like, oh my God, I was trying not to be too much of a fangirl, but I just I think he's brilliant and he allowed me to be able to play in the scene. He kind of gave some suggestions how about we do this? And, mind you, this is a small part. It wasn wasn't a huge part, but it was just so much fun to be able to create with one of my, one of my heroes it's always good to hear is.

Greg Staffa 25:34

I mean, I'm based out of minnesota, so my, my ties to hollywood are not exactly there, uh. But you know, I'm a fan of tv and so, like when I went to, when I went and visited la, when you had your list of top 10, one of my things was to go to see the house where back to the future was, but it was also to go see the modern family houses, just to drive by and take a picture.

Greg Staffa 25:58

But I also went uh, I forget where it was. I think it Colorado. I thought he has a bar that he owns. He does I think it's in Colorado. I could be wrong. I was doing a lot of traveling and I knew he had a bar, so I went and visited. It was just a cool little bar. So it's always great to be able to be out of Hollywood and hear stories of people that you're a fan of being. When you're asked who are the nice people and experiences to hear that the people you admire are also the people that people are talking about, like you.

Stacie Greenwell 26:33

So I think he's great, and I remember hearing him talk about how he almost quit acting before he got the job on Modern Family, and when I hear stories like that, it just reminds me to keep going, no matter what, you got to be in the game to win it. So keep going, because you never know what big break is right around the corner yeah, and he seems like such a nice guy.

Greg Staffa 26:57

It's in Utah, he has a bar in Utah, so that's where I was. It's always great to hear, because you never know. I mean, one of my biggest fears in doing this is, you know, having an idol and having someone come on and go yeah, that guy was a jerk to me and then kind of take that away. So I'm glad that the people I'm looking up to are the same people that other people are talking to about looking up. Is there a role that you did that you know we're always doing? You know, is there a role that you did that you know we're always doing? You know we're always redoing things and bringing back old shows and stuff like that. Is there a character that you had from the past that you may have done, one episode of that you'd love to see brought back for a couple episodes, even if the show's not around? Is?

Stacie Greenwell 27:42

there a character that was always kind of near and dear to your heart. Well, I did a stint on Good Girls where I played a building inspector, and she was so much fun. She was so funny. I did a lot of physical comedy with her, which was something that I hadn't done too much before, and I just really like her. And it's so funny because I only did a couple of episodes of that show, but I've had some people recognize me from that show, which is funny because when you're doing a guest star, you don't necessarily expect to be for anyone to recognize you on the street or at least I didn't. But many of the times that people have recognized me it's been from that particular character and I thought she was so much fun. That whole show was great. So, yeah, I would love to have done more with her.

Actress on Role Impact and Development

Greg Staffa 28:44

I think that's one of the fascinating things about acting is we never know. You know the characters that you create. You never know the impact or the you know the meaning that or a doctor and their mom went through something, or they see something in the character that you brought to life that remembers, reminds them of someone in their past, and so you never know the impact that some of these even minor characters that you're creating has an influence. So I guess it doesn't surprise me that someone would recognize you for a minor role, because that role might've had profound influence. You know on their life or a moment of time that they were going through something, that seeing that little episode could have changed everything.

Stacie Greenwell 29:32

So you're so right, greg, that's, that's exactly right, and people have shared that with me. You know, they either relate to a character I remind them of someone they know, or they just were able to laugh at something that I did, or cry. You know, whatever it might be, to be able to make people feel something or make people think about something is a huge honor to be able to have that impact on somebody.

Greg Staffa 30:02

Now you've done a number of guest star spots. What is the overall kind of mood? Because it's almost like doing a temp job every few months. I mean, you're walking into a new environment with a new cast that's already been established, with directors that have usually been directing episodes and stuff like that. You're walking into an environment, a world that's already been created. Is that enjoyable, is that stressful for you? How do you approach walking and knowing that you're only going to be there for perhaps a few days?

Stacie Greenwell 30:32

At first I used to make myself be small on set. I would go, I would do my job. I would try to stay out of the way. I wouldn't really talk to the stars too much. I was really kind of shy.

Stacie Greenwell 30:48

And then I realized somewhere along the way that that wasn't necessary, that I should be able to talk to anyone who I'm working with and be able to be my full self and to be confident because they've invited me on the show, because they think that I can play the role well and it's an honor, but also I'm giving a gift as well, like it's an exchange, and I don't have to feel so small when I'm on set. I can be my full self and I can talk to these stars because they're people and nothing's wrong with that. And so when I started being more confident and said and I don't even mean when the camera is rolling because I did feel confident about that part, you know, because I had prepared for it and I felt good about that part, but it was the in-between takes where I would try to just disappear and at some point I realized hey, why?

Stacie Greenwell 31:56

Why you have a right to be here. They want you here. Just be a normal person. Just be a normal person and everything will be fine, and so that made my experience much better, when I was able to be my full self.

Greg Staffa 32:13

So you've had a few recurring roles that have increased over time. Now we come to Amazon's Prime Video's Highly Anticipated Cross. What drew you to that?

Stacie Greenwell 32:25

Well, when I got the audition, I was really excited about it because I had seen the movies and loved them and the idea of basically being able to see more of this character through a series. That was exciting. And my character. She's great. I loved her. She's strong and she's outspoken and she's smart and it seemed like the type of role that I would really enjoy.

Greg Staffa 33:02

Now, I haven't read the books. I'm aware of the books, but is this character drawn from the books or is this character created exclusively for the series?

Stacie Greenwell 33:10

This character was created for the series.

Greg Staffa 33:15

The way I see it. It's almost kind of a Reacher kind of they want this to be several seasons. Is that your anticipation of this becoming like a Prime's kind of anchor series of like a Prime's kind of anchor series of Like a Reacher?

Stacie Greenwell 33:32

Well, I definitely hope so. I would love that to be the case. We've already actually done two seasons already, even though the first season has just dropped just a few days ago Because of the strikes and what have you. The timing was off when we originally wanted to uh, you know, to release it so, but amazon liked the show and so they gave us a second season.

Greg Staffa 34:00

So we're, we're already, we're already started, and hopefully it'll just continue and continue tell us a little bit about the cast and what's it like working with them.

Stacie Greenwell 34:10

Wonderful. Ben Watkins is the showrunner and creator of the show and he has first off. He's awesome, just a really nice guy, smart, obviously Talented and just fun to work with, and he's assembled people in the cast who are like that as well. You know, albus is absolutely lovely, he, and he has so much experience, he's done so much and yet he remains just a humble, sweet guy and fun to work with. So, and and everybody in the cast is like that isaiah, my partner on the show, mercedes she's awesome. It's just a really, um, talented, but also just a a cast of good people now this is this is his first leading role, isn't it?

Greg Staffa 35:05

I mean, he's been on on leverage and stuff like that, but isn't this his first carrying a show?

Stacie Greenwell 35:12

yes, he's done a lot of things. He's done a lot of movies and tv shows in the past, but this is his first leading role, I believe, and he's doing a great job at it. He's, he's ready for this and I think the world world is going to love him. In fact, I already know they've already begun to just show how much they really enjoy him in this role. His personality.

Greg Staffa 35:38

Like I said, my knowledge of him is really limited to leverage, but just his personality you had to wonder. You know he's due for something great. And Ben Watkins is another great person. He actually was my first uh. First time someone invited me to set was by him, or at least he backed up me coming to visit a set. I wasn't able to uh, but his lead actress and actor both said we wanted to come to set and ben was said we want you to come to set. And Ben was like yeah, I want you to come too. Wasn't able to do it, but they did. Hand to God, I believe, is what he did.

Stacie Greenwell 36:16

Oh yeah, oh, that's amazing I was invited to set.

Greg Staffa 36:20

That was the first time that I kind of reached my career, had reached that pinnacle where I was noticed enough for my writings and stuff that he invited me and I wish I could have done it but being in Minnesota I couldn't, but that was something that always stood out. He was especially kind and loved his work on Burn Notice and other stuff that he's done. So I'm excited for.

Stacie Greenwell 36:42

Cross.

Greg Staffa 36:43

Is there anything that brings? I mean, now you're creating a role that is more established than just a guest star spot. Is there a different process for you when you, when you take on something like that that's going to have long-term depth, do you have much input on your character? How does that all work out?

Stacie Greenwell 37:05

well, yes, they have allowed me to have input, which has been great. They allow me to bring the humor to the role, which is awesome. A lot of it is written, some of it I get to put in, and it's just wonderful being able to watch a character evolve over time. You know that's been, that's a new thing for me to experience and it's, it's been great, and it's every time you walk in and you you get a new script. You never know what's going to happen. So that's always exciting as well to see this character experience new things.

Greg Staffa 37:48

As an actress, if we take away the time, if we take away the money that's involved, do you find more enjoyment in a long-term character development like Cross or a one-time appearance where you can kind of create anyone and be that for a day and then pull out of it and be someone else the next day?

Stacie Greenwell 38:05

I definitely enjoy the longevity of it all just because, like I was saying, you get to grow like real people and you get the audience to know you better and better. You get to do different things, and so I love growing with the character. However, I think it has been a special gift to have been able to guest star the way that I have and visit different sets and work with different actors. I'm so glad that I had that training ground because I do feel prepared for this type of role, where I get to grow. And also what's nice is, aside from the acting, is the real life, the family that you're able to develop when you're working with the same actors, the same crew, the same hair and makeup people. All of that's really great. To not always be the new person, you know, the new kid in school. It's nice to be like no, these are my, these are my people. We're developing a relationship as well, so that's also a gift.

Greg Staffa 39:16

Is there anyone out there that you haven't worked with that you would love to work with at some point?

Stacie Greenwell 39:21

Oh yes, regina King. I adore her. I think she is a wonderful, amazing actress, and I have been a fan of hers for a long time. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to the day where I'll be able to work with her.

Greg Staffa 39:37

Now. You've had a very talented career as an actress. Now the lawyer stuff is well behind you. Is there any point in time where you you know you're finding yourself in the car and you're thinking back to the lawyer days? Is there any regret or anything that's missed about the lawyer days, or is it all looking forward to the future?

Stacie Greenwell 39:58

No, sir, I don't miss anything about being a lawyer. I remember being very anxious all the time and thinking about what I had to do for the day, and it was like this, this terrible anxiety, that stayed with me day in and day out, even when I was at home, and I hated it. And now you know, obviously I still get nervous sometimes when I'm auditioning or I'm on set, but in general I feel a sense of peace being in this life and I would not want to go back at all. It's all going forward.

Greg Staffa 40:45

If Steven Spielberg came up to you and said'm out of ideas, but I have a lot of money, is there a role, a genre, a character, a name, a historical name? Who would you want to play if I gave you this money that you could create that story? Who would it be? Or a genre.

Stacie Greenwell 41:06

That's a really good question. As far as a historical person, or well, one genre that I have not done that I think would be fun is a rom-com. I love romantic comedies I do. I watch them all the time and I think it would be fun to be in one of those. But in general, I like dramedies, I like to be able to have my drama and I love comedy as well. So if I could mix both of those, that's my genre. And as far as a person, I do have someone in mind. Yes, if I were able to play someone and I hadn't thought about this, but a friend of mine pointed out that it could be good for me to play Katonji Jackson, the Supreme Court Justice that could be really interesting. Somebody told me that I kind of look like her and that I do have a legal background. It could be interesting to take a closer look at her life and how she got to where she is. So maybe that is something that I could work on in the future.

Greg Staffa 42:26

Nice. Now finally well, not finally, but almost finally wrapping things up here, a lot of actors and actresses. I mean your bio, what I read is pretty much cut and paste. I mean I put my own little spin to it, but anywhere you go and search your name, your bio is relatively the same. You know it started off as a lawyer. You know yada, yada, yada when you get up in the morning and you go into the bathroom you splash a little water in your face.

Greg Staffa 42:59

who do you see in the mirror? We associate so many of these new actors and actresses with the characters that they play. It's you from Cross, and for years now you'll be associated with that role, versus all the other stuff that you've done in life. But who do you see when you look in the mirror?

Stacie Greenwell 43:19

Just the same old Stacey that I've always been Someone who appreciates every day. I'm my mom's daughter, I'm my husband's wife All the things that are most important to me, you know, and the relationship that are most important to me. I'm proud. I'm proud to be my mom's daughter and my husband's wife. I'm proud to be my mom's daughter and my husband's wife and I'm proud to be a person who goes after her dreams. And so I still see that young girl who was in high school. I used to actually do stand-up kind of comedy. I call it stand-up comedy in the cafeteria. You know, it was just. It was a girl with big dreams, and I'm still that girl with big dreams. So it's just the same old me.

Greg Staffa 44:23

I've always been All right For my final question not really a question, it's a pitch Because right now I'm sure there's several law legal dramas out there. I know Suits is starting a spinoff with their Suits LA in 15 seconds because I don't think you've done it yet, but that little girl still wants to do her musical lawyer drama episode. Make your pitch to the Su suits people or someone out there. We need to get the little girl to fulfill her dream.

Stacie Greenwell 45:00

Yes, I think I'd be great as the singing lawyer. It's been in me all my life. I'm just looking for the right opportunity and you won't be disappointed, for sure.

Greg Staffa 45:12

Looking forward. Is there anything else that we can look forward to seeing you on?

Stacie Greenwell 45:17

Yes, I do have some projects coming up, but right now I'm all about Cross. I'd love to come back and talk to you when the new things are about to be released, but there are some things on the fire for sure.

Greg Staffa 45:30

Okay, well, check out Cross on Prime Video. They released all of their episodes for Season 1 on November 14th, so they're all there, they all dropped and I look forward to talking

Actress's Inspiring Career Transition Journey

Greg Staffa 45:41

to you again. Stacey, thank you so much for your time. It's an inspiration to talk to someone that's so driven and has the courage to do what they've done, because I don't think I mean, looking back, it sounds so easy, but I doubt it was that easy when you're making those choices of giving up career aspirations and going in a whole new direction. So I find that deeply inspiring and I appreciate you coming on and taking the time to talk to us about it all.

Stacie Greenwell 46:07

Oh, I appreciate you saying that taking the time to talk to us about it all. Oh, I appreciate you saying that. Thank you so much for your time. I really enjoyed talking with you.

Greg Staffa 46:15

That does it for this episode. Thank you.