Welcome And Guest Introduction

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 today is actor David Webster, who plays Elliot on The Way Home. You might recognize him from The Luckiest Girl Alive and Ginny in Georgia. And now he can be seen in Unibomber, which is out in Netflix. David plays Roy, a fictional fellow Harvard classmate of the Unibomber himself, Ted Kuzinski. David, thanks for joining us today.

David Webster 0:51

And thank you very much for having me on the show. It's

Growing Up In Northern Ontario

David Webster 0:53

good to be here. So tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? So I'm from Canada. I'm from a place called Sudbury in Ontario. It's in northern Ontario. It's a uh it's a mining town, small little kind of quainty vibes. And uh yeah, I grew up just uh hanging out with uh with the fam. You know, my I'd go catch frogs with my dad sometimes, going biking and stuff. Um pretty pretty uh normal childhood, I would say, up until up until the acting stuff started, that is. And what age did the acting stuff start?

First Roles And Early Creativity

David Webster 1:28

So I started at 12. Basically, what happened is my mom put me into like a local theater production of Les Miz, and I played Gavroche, and somebody there suggested that I do a competition of sorts called Faces of the North that was going on up there. And uh and I did it, and there was an agent there, and she scouted me, and then I started going down to Toronto to do auditions and stuff, and uh kind of kept at it until I was until I was 18, and that was when I really started to book stuff.

Greg Staffa 1:59

Now you said your mom got you into it at the beginning. Was there a creative side to you that you looking back now saw at the ages of four or five? Were you a creative person? Or is this something that your mom just thought, hey, this sounds fun, here's an opportunity, let's give it a shot.

David Webster 2:16

Um, I was absolutely with uh I I um did this thing when my cousins came over one time where I made up the entire house into different sets from Indiana Jones and like built like the big plane from uh from the first movie out of cardboard and stuff, and like basically kind of recreated the mo the all of the movies in the house. That might have been a bit of an early sign. And then also like in like third grade or whatever is just part of the curriculum, there has to be a school play, and I did well in that and I really liked that. So it was kind of I think an obvious choice for her to put me into that. And I also like I I wrote lots of stories and stuff. Um I did a lot of writing as a kid. Um, they weren't very good, but uh but but I did do them, so I think that it was a it was a pretty reasonable step for my mom to take to be like, I think you should do this, I think you'd like this. And she was right.

Greg Staffa 3:08

No, I don't want to look too much into it, but you mentioned you know you grew up, you collected frogs with your dad and stuff like that. I have to wonder, growing up that far north in Canada, was there almost like an isolation to where acting or pretending was kind of an escape for you, or was this just something fun that you enjoyed doing?

David Webster 3:30

Um, I I think it wasn't that isolated. Like it's one of the it's one of the bigger kind of centers that people live in northern Ontario. It's the only place with a Costco. So on the weekend we would we would get everybody else from Northern Ontario converging to the uh to the Sudbury Costco on the weekends. So it wasn't I wouldn't say it was that isolated, but uh definitely starting acting, it was it was a bit of uh it it seemed like a bit of an impossibility to try to like really get seen, which I don't think was really the goal of either me or my or my mom at the time. Because with with actually getting into the industry, it was basically just luck. I was kind of in the right place at the right time. Without that, I don't know. I I I wouldn't say necessarily it was an escape from from anything. I think it was just something fun that I was doing.

Greg Staffa 4:18

And you said you you're done more and more stuff as time progressed, and then you finally really got into it. Was there kind of a tipping point that you can attribute back to where you realized that this was beyond just a fun thing that your mom got you going on or a fun thing that you were doing that this is a possible career?

When Acting Became The Plan

David Webster 4:39

I think that that switch happened when I was 16. So I I know I said I didn't book like a ton between like basically like I I did very well right when I started because I was pre-pubescent, then I hit puberty, and that kind of that's a bit of a career killer for a little bit until you're done puberty. It's for all of us it is. Yeah. When I was 16 though, I booked a role in uh are you familiar with the show Lock and Key on Netflix? Um so originally that was gonna be part of a different network. The the the show had been like uh softly green lit, I'm gonna say they were making a pilot. At the time it was the most expensive pilot in Canada. I don't know if it still is, but at the time it definitely was. It was being directed by Andy Machete of It 2017. He uh or I I booked a part in it, it was a pretty big part. When I booked that, and then they were like flying us around the country and private planes and stuff to make the shoot. I was like, okay, I think that this is now like a pretty viable thing. And I remember talking because I in my brain I have like a set of priorities. Number one was bodily health, number two was school. And I talked to my parents, and I was like, I think that number two and number three should be switched around, and acting should go to number two, and school should go down to number three. And they're like, I think that's fair. So that was kind of the point when that happened. And then there was some, you know, behind the scenes stuff that went down, and the show ended up going to Netflix, and they remade it from the ground up. So that didn't end up coming out, but the the the effect that it had of me kind of being like, This this is what I'm gonna do, and this is what my uh my future, I think I'd like it to be, that was where it was. And then when I turned 18, I started to book more because you can work as an adult, and I still looked like a teenager. I still kind of look like a teenager.

Greg Staffa 6:32

You

Why Canada Films For The US

Greg Staffa 6:33

come from Canada, and Canada has a lot of of film and and TV that they do, but it's all US-based for the most part. Canada is becoming a little bit more uh popular in some of the shows that they do, but early shows like Flashpoint or Dew South really paved the way of being Canadian-based shows that were produced in Canada that were Canadian versus a US production going up to Canada and filming and being a US production that happened to be in Canada, but they also use Canadian actors, they use Canadian talent, they use Canadian set designers and stuff like that. This might be above your pay grade, but why is there such a disconnect? And it's it's slowly catching up, but between Canadian productions that are Canadian versus US productions that are filmed in Canada when they're both using the same talent or using the same designers, or using the same, you know, all that stuff. Why isn't Canada producing more of its own Canadian productions? That's a really great question, Greg.

David Webster 7:42

And you know what? I ask the same thing myself. I think that it's basically part of it is that a lot of things that are made in Canada are at least that I've worked on, have been like government funded. Like I worked on uh a CBC show called Strays. And like they exist, but I don't think that that same sort of culture that maybe existed in the early 2000s with Canadian shows that were made for Canadians, I don't think that that's quite there anymore. I think like, you know, off the top of my head, like uh the Kenny versus Fanny, uh trailer park boys, these shows did really, really well internationally. And I think that there's, I don't know, uh there's more of a, I'm gonna say, our a reliance on US business coming up here. And when there was some risk of tariffing that was going on, like around Canadian productions, um, there was some worry, although I was like, I think that there could be a big opportunity here for Canadian creators because all the infrastructure is up here, right? We have the studios, we have the manpower, we have the skill sets, right? I think that there for Canadian creatives who want to try to make things, it's a great time because all that stuff is up here. But I don't know. I think I think it's just we're waiting for the right project. And also, like, I I think everybody like working on a US production up here is at least like career-wise, one of the better things that can happen because it's gonna reach more people that way. Um so I feel like there's there's there's a bit of that bias in terms of the audience shift. I I guess I'll phrase it this way. Um, with Canadian, with American content, there's less of an uphill battle, right? So if I'm working on an American thing, I'm it's gonna be seen by more people because there's just more uh uh methods for it to reach people down there. Up here, if you're trying to make a show entirely Canadian, Canadian, Canadian, and you're trying to get it out of Canada, that's a much steeper of a uphill battle. I think that that will change and there will be more Canadian productions that that happen up here and that might reach uh wider audiences, but um I guess that's it. They're just they're they're coming up with the money right now, so um they kind of the the infrastructure that exists is mostly going to American productions. Interesting.

Greg Staffa 10:04

I didn't mean to put you on the spot there. I just find it. No, it's a great question. It's a really great question, actually. They they both draw from the same pools. It's hard to believe that they're treated so differently. Yeah.

David Webster 10:16

It's just I I guess it's just it's it's the mechanisms in which they can deliver it to audiences, right? Like um big streamers from the states come up here, everybody has Netflix or Prime or whatever the heck. So it reaches people very easily. But here, like if you make something Canadian, you try to put it out there, like it's gonna go on. I feel like best case scenario, you get Crave. Um, if you're dealing within Canadian um systems um in exclusively, and uh Crave is a great like like Crave is great, I'm not dogging on Crave at all. Um but uh yeah, I guess the the the the mechanisms for delivering it to international audiences are more difficult.

Early Credits And Real Hurdles

Greg Staffa 11:01

So you started acting, you started doing a little bit more productions, you did things like Carter and Strays, which you mentioned. You're doing you know six episodes of Strays, and so you were successful early on. What was that like to kind of build the confidence? You I it seems like you had a lot of luck early on, and that's kind of rare for a lot of actors and actresses. Did it I don't want to disminish anything by saying you know it was easy for you, but what were some of the kind of hurdles that you faced in you know getting your name out there at an early age?

David Webster 11:37

Well, I think so the the earliest things that I did, like that I think I I was extremely lucky to to get was I did um Beats of the Beautiful Game, uh that the uh the music video for Janelle Monet's uh heroes cover. Um I did Odd Squad, which was a uh uh like um like a local Canadian show, but lots of kids watched it, like it did really, really well. I I guess through my teens, yeah, I did book those things, but they weren't like huge roles or anything. Um Strays was was a bigger role, but that came when I was 18. But there was like a good five or so years in my teen years where like I was just basically doing like um short films and kind of whatever smaller roles popped up. But yeah, I think uh that like in between of like, okay, well, you know, I was booking a lot, now I'm not. Maybe this was kind of a flash in the pan of whatever, and then I booked lock and key, and then I I I kind of mentioned that already, but I sort of was was decided that I I could make a career out of this. Then when I turned 18, I mean, there was a lot of you know what is a big part of the the my luck at 18 was the fact that COVID happened right when I turned 18. So the industry shut down for the first little bit of COVID. And then as it started up again up here, there was a lot of opportunity for Canadian actors because it was easier to get Canadian talent rather than to get the paperwork for American talent to come up here during COVID. So that coinciding with me turning 18 and and being able to work as an adult was really advantageous for me. But yeah, I would say like the bigger hurdles are booking something like lock and key and then having it not come out or just all you know, the teen years of of not really booking anything. I I would say those those are probably the big hurdles.

Rejection And Building Thick Skin

Greg Staffa 13:22

Being a teenager for most of us sucks. You're dealing with, you know, relationships, you're dealing with puberty, you're dealing with, you know, education. As an actor, uh, there's so much rejection that you have to go through. You're auditioning for things that you're not getting. Combining all that into being a teenager, just dealing with teenager angst. How is your process and how do you because there has to be a lot of you know, you have to be thick thick skin, you have to be able to take that. And it's hard enough for a teenager to deal with a relationship, let alone you know, trying out for a part that he didn't deal with. It seems like as a teen, there's a lot of stuff that is going on. How do you find ways to process and kind of accept the the risk that you're taking as an actor as far as just putting yourself out there and and facing that rejection? I mean, you had a big opportunity that seemed like they were whining and dining you, and then it just fell through. How you know is that something that you get accustomed to? Is that part of the risk that you just accept in being an actor?

David Webster 14:35

Yeah, of course. Well, I I was really lucky when I started because I I the the idea of not taking rejection personally in this business came to me very easily. I don't think there was ever a point. I think before I did my very first audition, I kind of figured that out. Um, and I did it, and I didn't book it because who would who would ever book their first audition? I was I don't know, I I was I was fine with that. And then I think what helped is that I ended up actually booking my third audition, which is unusual. That really so it was like, okay, so it is possible. It's not like a total shot in the dark, but uh, but yeah, I dealt with the rejection very easily as a kid. And then my teen years, honestly, I was kind of really blessed with my teen years. I had a really lovely high school. I went to uh I'll give them a shout out. I went to to Llewellyn Park Secondary in Sudbury. It was a shout-out, and uh they were lovely there. Uh it was I I've I don't know, I never really felt I wasn't like super duper social or anything, but I never felt like alienated because of that. It was just nice. It was a nice high school, and it made, I think, those teen years about as as nice as they could be. But uh yeah, it uh the what is interesting though is that there are different kinds of rejection. So other forms of of rejection aren't quite as easy as like when it's in this business, because when it's in this business, like you have no idea why. You could you could have been you could have been fantastic and they loved you and they loved you, but you don't get the part anyways for some reason. So you know, you don't take it personally. As far as like, you know, working on this giant pilot and then and then it not coming out, it was really that blow is really softened by the fact that when I was working on that pilot, I started writing. That was when I first started doing my screenwriting stuff. Because I was like, well, if if um something, you know, this this amazing could could happen in the acting world, why couldn't it happen with some of the stuff I want to write? So I started writing and I was just so engrossed in that when the pilot got canned. That I kind of I wouldn't say I didn't care, but I was kind of like, oh, okay, well, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna keep doing my thing, keep writing. Then about a year later, I was starting to be like, oh man, that kind of sucks, but whatever. I don't know. It it's definitely good for helping build a thick skin, but I think I was blessed with already just kind of having a thick skin. But yeah, I wouldn't say that being a teenager in this business was particularly difficult for me, at least as far as I could tell at the time. Looking back, I was like, okay, I think I was a little like I had a little more teen angle than I realized at the time. But uh yeah, the business is very good for helping you develop thick thick skin, and that definitely helps in your teen years and as an adult, honestly.

Greg Staffa 17:22

It

The Power Of Family Support

Greg Staffa 17:23

sounds like your mom, especially, was very instrumental in in getting you involved in acting. How important has it been to have a family that's supportive in what you're trying to do and the challenges that you face? Because as a parent, I would assume that it's hard to watch your kid take risks and not necessarily fail, but you know, have an opportunity like you have and then to lose it. Uh it must be tough as parents. Was there any pressure at any point to say, hey, why don't you try this as a backup, or was it always just supportive and and go for the acting? It was always supportive.

David Webster 18:01

Honestly, I owe so, so, so, so much to my mom and my dad. Because in those early days of of working, like that first year of being an actor, we were I was maybe driving down in that first summer down to Toronto like three times a week. My mom would drive me back and forth. That's a that's an eight-hour, uh four to eight-hour drive, depending on traffic, each way. So probably 10 hours in the car in total, three times a week. I was super duper blessed to to have that kind of support. And my dad has always been um super supportive as well. And and he was the the one that I remember when I was talking to about making acting my number one priority. He was super duper on board with that. Even though he's like, he's a lot more of like a like a like a science-minded guy. He's not not a super arc de farcy type, but he uh I don't know, he he he believes in me. They both believe in me. And my mom still helps me a lot, like she keeps me organized. Yeah, I get a lot of support from my parents, which I'm very, very grateful for. And yeah, and also uh my my mom, when I was a kid and I worked on sets, she'd have to come with me because uh the union rules. So anytime I run into somebody now who was there when my mom was there, also, that's the first thing they ask about is always how's how's my mom doing? She really liked she's a very, very likable person and she leaves a big impression on people. So so yeah, very, very blessed, both my parents, very supportive.

Mentors And Finding A Set Family

Greg Staffa 19:34

And you have the support of your parents, but a lot of your acting was as a younger, a younger, I don't want to say child, but a younger man. Was there anyone influential, you know, whether it be an actor or a director that kind of took you under your wing that was almost a mentor to you that you can talk about, or was it just business where you come and you do your thing?

David Webster 19:59

I think uh as a kid it was a bit more business. Andy Machete was really nice to me uh and and and a very lovely director to me when when I worked on the the the uh the pilot for Lock and Key. I think in my I'm kind of getting out of the being a kid, but just like as a young man, I guess. When I was working on The Way Home, Evan uh Williams and Kyler Lee on The Way Home, I think were really, I mean they took me under their wing. Um they were really, really lovely to me. A lot of advice. I I gained a lot of this sounds a little silly, but I gained a lot of respect for my own profession through watching Kyler on season two of The Way Home and just how much grit she had to be doing everything she was doing. Yeah. So so yeah, I'll say as uh Annie Machete was was was lovely. Uh Kyler Lee and Evan Williams on the way home, I would say were also mentor figures to me.

Greg Staffa 20:56

And let's talk a little bit more about the way home. You had done you know various projects, you'd done an episode here, an episode there. You're fortunate enough to do six episodes in the strays, you'd done three in the dark. So you you know you had come and done you know three to six episodes, but the way home was really, you know, your big 21 episodes, you were in it. What was that like in that transition to almost finding a home for yourself as an actor? You know, you don't know where the future held, but to be able to have some place where you were actually able to build a character and build a history with it.

David Webster 21:37

I mean it was pretty much as as you put it, it was like finding a home away from home. Like a when you work with the same people that much, they really become like a like a family. You know, on season two, I was seeing uh because I I also did uh I also did a co op on um on uh on the set of the way home for for college. So I I guess actually switch. back to your last question the mentorship Alex the um who was was my uh the the the writer was my uh was was my supervisor for that that little co-op ship um and and she was really lovely to me as well but but yeah it's uh I don't know it really is like building a f a family and there's I was spending more time with them than I work was with like the my my roommates that I live with. Yeah I it it's it's very different working on a series for a long time than it is working on a show for as kind of like a guest star or working on a movie because I find with movies what happens a lot is uh everybody kind of hits their synergy in the last week of shooting all of the actors together all of the crew together and then it's done. So on a series you get to really ride out that synergy that you reach and then by the end you've you're you're you're like a big family. Yeah it's really lovely. I'd love to work on a show for a long period of time like that again and be able to build a character kind of uh have a lot of time to kind of explore a very long arc yeah nothing but positive things to say you had mentioned before that during COVID you started doing some writing for yourself with the way home now after COVID and being in it for such a long time were you able to have input make notes about your character that were included in the show or is it basically you're given a script and you do what's on the script?

Earning Trust To Rewrite Dialogue

David Webster 23:26

That's a great question because I uh I did exactly that on the way home. I in season one I spoke with Alex and I was like hey like I'm I feel like I'm feeling this kind of instinct with the character and I wanted to talk to you about it a little bit and that was that I think that Elliot was starting to get really frustrated with with Alice because in the the show I'm gonna spoil it a little bit but it's been out for a while so I think it's okay what what happens is like she uh she time travels back to the 90s I meet her she's like I'm a time traveler and in the future you said that I can talk to you about stuff and I'm like ah okay and and everything in my life prior to that point seems to be like so great and going so well and whatnot. And then she shows up and starts prophesizing all of these bad things that are going to happen. And then they do. So this girl shows up in my life and everything starts to go wrong is is basically what goes down. And I feel like there in the character starts to be a little bit of resentment especially because she kind of comes in is like Ellie what are you doing? I need that this this this I need this and what are you like ah so I spoke to the writers and I was like I I feel like I should I we this is a a thing do you think we could explore this somehow and then the last episode they kind of wrote in a little scene like that and I was like okay cool I'm I'm really happy they did that whatever I don't know what's gonna happen with season two I don't know how much I'm gonna be in a season two and I ended up being season two quite a lot they were they were really really kind to me and then even better I think my first arc that I kind of have with with Alice when uh season two restarts is we explore that idea of me being angry with her even more I was reading the the the scene where I kind of like blow up at her in the barn and I was like this isn't quite reading how I think Elliot would say it. So I went to the writers and I was like it just it it's not working for me. Would you be because this was the kind of like you know inspired by by my idea about the character would you be willing to let me kind of rewrite the scene and real rewrite my dialogue from the ground up on the day. And so that was a lot of trust they put into me which I really appreciate. And they went okay so my whole like big monologue that I kind of give to her in the barn I made that up on the on the day. So yeah I I my my my sort of writing experience I think really informed that and I would say that my acting experiences and my writing experiences really inform each other. Like it's it's it's a it's a give and a take but yeah I I did get a lot of that kind of creative freedom on on the way home which I really appreciate.

Greg Staffa 26:17

And was that I mean that doesn't sound normal to me in in talking to other actors and actresses that you'd have that much freedom was that just the culture on the set was that something that you've felt in other you know aspects of your acting where you've been able to talk to a writer and say hey can I can I change that because I I would assume a lot of jobs you know whether it be acting or whether it be manufacturing if someone came into my department and said hey I want to change everything that you did a lot of times just instinctively we kind of close up and kind of get you know defensive is that something that was just unique on that set or do you feel that you have that ability in other aspects of acting too so I think you're right that's not a super normal thing.

David Webster 27:07

And I probably wouldn't have asked if they hadn't kind of really taken my idea and stride that I gave them in season one. That was kind of the only reason I and also like I had worked with them already so I was comfortable with them enough to ask but if they said no like I would have I would have understood. So no it's not a super normal thing but I do often I have observed a lot with like number one and number two like the the the the lead actors on a thing they give a lot of creative input that is a pretty normal thing but uh I think for like my level of role on that that was a little unusual. So I would say it was a combination of like them being very open-minded and also them kind of trusting me a little bit because they had gotten to know me and and kind of how I thought about storytelling and and stuff like that.

Greg Staffa 27:56

So yeah a combination of both I I suppose now you were able to play Elliot for about 21 episodes is there any other character you've done in the past whether it be a short or a TV series where you're only on it for one episode that you wish you could have developed into a 21 episode story? It's a great question.

David Webster 28:19

Let me think about it for a second maybe not 21 episodes but I did really like I I found it very interesting to play my character on Lucky Score Alive. I found that was was was like I I put a lot of work into going to that place on that on that shoot. So it would have been interesting to have had more time to kind of play around in it especially in the earlier stages of the story but uh but also it what we got from that was about what we needed to see for that story. Honestly uh playing Max on Draves I think would have been fun to to to have done more of that character. I I had a lot of fun playing that character. Michael and in the dark I think also Michael and in the dark I think would have been is is a pretty good answer. Recently something that I I can't give any details about but I shot recently I really like the character I did for that too and when eventually that comes out I could I could talk about that more but I could definitely see shooting 21 episodes of that kid.

Unibomber And Playing Fiction In Fact

David Webster 29:23

But anyway yeah lots lots of things lots of things now you are in Unibomber which is out on Netflix you play Roy who is a fictional character who's a Harvard classmate of the Ted Kazinski who plays the Unibomber what drew you to that yeah well I think it's it's such a unique story and perspective on the Unibombert because my my well how I first auditioned for it was through my American representatives and they sent the script and the and the name of the project and everything. So I I got to know what it was very quickly and I read this um the script and I was like wow this is this is I can't believe that we're doing a thing about him in Harvard because I think that's the most interesting part of his life with some of the stuff that went on so I I really just wanted to be a part of it as soon as I knew that. And also it's such an like I'm gonna say an important story a notable story in American history. It's a big part of the American zeitgeist and and I found a lot of honor kind of taking part of that I have kind of an odd question next I don't mean to put you on the spot so if you don't have an answer just say you don't have an answer.

Greg Staffa 30:39

Okay but there's the movie Young Guns 2. Okay I love I don't know if you've seen it or not but it's it's a western okay in the film Keith Sutherland spoiler but it's been out for many years his character is killed in an epic shootout.

David Webster 30:55

It looks great in real life the character lives for many years and dies an old man but his scheduling wouldn't allow him to to do it you play a fictional character in a real world with real events is there any concern as an actor when you do that to play someone fictional that you know there's so many real characters that could have been created how do you approach being a fictional character in a real environment as far as portraying that even though he's not real but it helps drive the story in telling the real story of what happened is there any is there any kind of weight or conflict or how do you approach a role like that where the story is real but you're not but you're there to to help drive things along is there any contemplation or a different approach to that um not really great question by the way uh not really I think basically when even when you are like telling a real story at the end of the day when you're making a film I think that it's it needs to be a film first and it needs to be a a a product that that that kind of makes people want to watch it first and you need to tell an effective story first. So like for example uh Lawrence of Arabia that it's a biopic technically but I feel like it's a movie first and that's part of why that movie is so fantastic and so well thought of and so timeless is because it if it was a totally fictional story it would still work and be so engaging. So Roy basically I I was like okay well he's operating as like a cog in this machine that is the story and what we're trying to communicate. So I was like Roy is going to basically function as um someone who who can kind of be opposite of Ted in a lot of ways like socially and and in terms of uh how likable he is and it it it creates an effective sort of uh other or like a mirror image of of what Ted is and and that is effective at communicating what the story is trying to communicate. So at the end of the day like when when you are in a film even if it is inspired by true events it it still is a film first and foremost and you have to be working towards telling the story. Does that make sense?

Greg Staffa 33:25

It does and it kind of ties into my next question which is you know the way home is not a true story. So when you're given a script it's not like I can go and research you know about you know who Elliot was or or whatnot where the unibomber is a true story even though your character was fictional do you approach either of those differently when it's a true story do you did you do research on the unibombert because it's the the story that you're trying to tell not necessarily recreate a documentary you're there to tell the story that was written do you do the research did you learn about the unibomber you know or was it just things that you picked up about the unibomber while filming it so I I did do a bit of research.

David Webster 34:11

The thing is that I was already like like decently I'm gonna say decently well read on on the unibombered to people who really know about the unibomber's not but I think compared to the average person I probably know a little bit more than than average. But uh but yeah I did I did um some further research on him and uh his time at Harvard and and kind of what he was like and how what people thought of him at the time so I could kind of inform my opinions of him as the character. But yeah at the end of the day like this this the script is kind of your um your your your guiding force through this whole situation you kind of have to trust the writers that they uh the the the what the writers put together so yeah um a bit a bit of both but yes I did I did do my my own research.

Streaming Shifts And Physical Media

Greg Staffa 35:00

What was that like as far as you know you do stuff for Netflix the different things that you've been on the streaming networks do you see a difference in working for Netflix film versus working for you know some on the other network it's a great question.

David Webster 35:19

You ask really good questions Greg I I wouldn't say so but I also haven't worked highly enough uh in in high enough places with Netflix to have really noticed a a a considerable difference. Actually no I I guess there would be um I like working with Netflix Netflix is good um it's different I I feel like that the biggest difference between different networks is how much they communicate that I would say that's probably the biggest difference.

Greg Staffa 35:50

Yeah when you started off you did some shorts you did some you know single episode appearances like that but back 10-15 years ago we had things called DVDs we even had things called VHS things yeah you could make a smaller movie or a smaller you know show that necessarily didn't find its legs but then would go on DVD and become cult classics and people would rent it and they would make up the money that way they'd make it up through DVD sales or VHS sales and now we're not seeing that avenue of of financing coming in is everything's going to streaming people aren't buying DVDs anymore stores like Best Buy are no longer really selling DVDs as an actor do you see a concern coming as far as it's harder to make these smaller independent films or independent stories where the financing isn't going to come in a backdoor like a DVD sales I think if you asked me five years ago I would have said no I I would have said that I think that now is is one of the best times for smaller things to to kind of get seen because of the internet because you can use the internet to put stuff out there and things have done.

David Webster 37:08

Well and you know what I still think that's true to an extent although I do think that um the the world of streaming is starting to become a little bit more like uh like cable and I think that things uh basically if you can get put onto a streaming service it might not necessarily be made by that team like for example the way home was made by Hallmark but then it's gone to Netflix recently and it's done very well on Netflix. So that still happens but you still need to get made by or still it still needs to get made and it still needs to end up on Netflix somehow. But I do think that there are things that the internet has kind of helped take off for example the the the amazing digital circus was a was a was a YouTube animated series and then it got a movie this year which which did crazy numbers in the box office. It was like competing with Star Wars. So it in no you you won't get that same kind of like making the money up through DVD sales after the movie's done its theatrical run or whatever like that I don't think will happen but that's just because most people don't buy physical media anymore which I do think is a shame because well I mean in my apartment we have a a big big big shelf full of DVDs and Blu-rays and stuff. So the big reason for that is because things go on and off of streaming. So it it's easier and more reliable to have a physical copy of of the things you want to see. But but yeah I feel like the way that things can get attention now is is different. It's just it isn't so much that it'll find its success later, although certain things have as much as you can kind of catch an algorithm or whatever with your film or your project that you might have not been able to to do before. You know, this is an example so much of a of a project getting picked up but a person Kane Parsons made YouTube videos he did a YouTube short or uh YouTube short films then he got uh a directing deal with A24 to make backrooms. So the internet has basically I think provided new opportunities for things to be seen but the older way is is I think kind of dead in the water and I do see some as as things become more like cable I do see a world where it starts to get harder new things have uh a little bit more difficulty again finding their footing. But but that remains to be seen.

Writing Goals And The Mirror Question

Greg Staffa 39:38

We'll see how things shape out wrapping things up and I I do appreciate you coming on you talked about how you had started writing during COVID the way home gave you I would almost say a very empowering a very empowering feeling as far as being listening to you and and taking your advice and letting you do some writing which had to be a shot in the arm have you continued to do some writing are you looking at doing more writing or is acting really taking up a lot of your time that that's your main focus?

David Webster 40:09

I have thankfully I have continued to write uh I worked I was working on developing like sitcom pilots and stuff last year which kind of has have taken a backseat to a feature that I've been working on this year. And I'm about three drafts in and uh I'm just doing a little bit more editing and then I'm going to try to shop it around. I really I really believe in the idea and I've kind of taken a lot of what I've learned working in things and and kind of educating myself and watching lots of movies and reading lots and all these things into this project which hopefully people might there might be some good news about in the near distant future. So but yes I have continued to write and I plan to continue writing I have a bunch of new projects that I want to start very soon. So yeah I would say that uh at this very moment is in the last like month or so acting has definitely been taking up most of my time but uh as things kind of calm down probably in November uh and December I'm gonna get back on that horse. Uh but yeah hopefully I'll have some good news to share at some point soon.

Greg Staffa 41:11

Nice. And final question is when I ask all my guests when we say David Webster it's hard not to mention you know the way home or Elliot or now you have the unibomber so we you know David well we don't say David Webster the unobomber but David Webster from the film Uni Bomber we associate the roles that you've played with who you are.

David Webster 41:35

But when you get up in the morning you go into the bathroom splash water on your face and look in the mirror who is it that you see wow uh hard questions today I don't know I see some I I think everybody's always kind of trying to figure out who they are. I don't think that question entirely goes away but I think that that is something not to be frustrated by but instead something to be empowered by a little bit is that I I could kind of change how things are in my life and who I am. But what I try to do and what I try what what I think is the the easiest thing to do to be fulfilling is I try to be good to the people in my immediate circles and do right by them because I think that that is how you make the world a better place is in your own personal way trying to uh improve the things that are in your control which is basically how you treat people and I think that if everybody did that uh that is how you truly beat uh evil that exists in the world so yeah that's who I that's who I see I see somebody who tries to be do good by the people around them.

Greg Staffa 42:46

Well unibomber is out on Netflix and you can also catch the way home which is your big series that you've done is also on Netflix as you said. David Webster thank you so much for coming on and I look forward to seeing what the future projects and acting has in store for you.

David Webster 43:02

Thank you very much Greg it was a pleasure great questions by the way great questions.

Greg Staffa 43:06

Thank you