NYCC ‘25 INTERVIEW-A-THON: Tiffany Smith

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Hey everybody, I am Tiffany Smith.

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am the voice actor and writer behind Masters of the Universe, Andra, and you are listening to the Oblivion Bar podcast.

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you Welcome to the Oblivion.

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rules.

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Thanks Joining us today is someone who, without question, fully embodies the term multi-hyphenated.

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She's an actress, former show host, and internet personality whose work spans across television, film, and the entire world of geek culture.

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You've seen her on shows like Supernatural and Jane the Virgin, heard her voice as Hot Girl in the video game Lego DC Super-Villains, and watched her bring Meghan Markle to life in Lifetime's Harry and Meghan.

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becoming royal.

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She's also been a familiar face in the nerd space hosting DC Daily on DC Universe.

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She was a field correspondent on AMC's Geeking Out alongside Kevin Smith and Greg Grunberg.

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And she has appeared on countless other fan favorite programs across IGN, Collider and the CW.

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Today, she's here to talk to us about her latest project as the writer behind Masters of the Universe, Andra, a brand new one shot from Dark Horse Comics coming out on October 1st.

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that puts a spotlight on one of Eternia's most compelling heroes.

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is our absolute pleasure to welcome Tiffany Smith onto the Oblivion Bar podcast.

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I'm so excited to be here.

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I got a little tired just listening to all that stuff.

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You've got an extensive resume.

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I'm glad I gave myself time to breathe because jeez.

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Yeah, we were talking a little bit before the recording and we've come to the conclusion and just so everyone at home is, you know, everyone listening at home.

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This is the pronunciation that we decided on.

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Andra, right?

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Like that's what we decided as we decided, Tiffany.

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I gotta do the whole thing over again.

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Yeah.

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It's okay.

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You're fine.

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Everyone.

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It's funny because like, I think it's like when people say hawn or haan.

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Yeah, it doesn't bother me.

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I'm like, I will always say Andra.

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And if people say Andra, that's okay, too.

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I always say yes.

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I know it's just when I say gift.

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It's a G.

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Yeah, I think it's a GIF as well.

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Like I've always just said GIF.

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And I know again, it's one of those accepting things.

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You just know that you're wrong, but you know, it's okay.

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Well, Tiffany, as we sort of mentioned there in the intro, you've worn a ton of hats and found success pretty much at every single one of those ventures.

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I've heard you say in a recent interview with Collider back at San Diego Comic-Con a few months back that you really want to transition this focus of yours in your career to basically just acting and writing.

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So before we get into this, Andra one shot.

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I actually want to get your recollection on sort of the call you got for the show when you eventually found out that you were going to be voicing Andra on the Netflix show.

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Yeah, so what's so crazy is I think that, you know, working in the entertainment industry, there's no like clear path.

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There's no you do this job, then you do this job, then you do this job, and then you're going to book this thing.

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uh It's not like any other industry where you are an assistant and then you do this thing and then you're going to get this thing.

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So, yeah, I hosted for a really long time and I still host and I absolutely love it.

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But there came a point where I was like, I really want to start doing more acting, more voice acting.

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And so I started kind of taking classes on the side and I didn't really tell people because I was like I'm very much that person that's like Until I feel like I'm really good at it Like I didn't want to tell I didn't want to start putting myself out there especially because I mean you guys know this but you get to meet so many people as hosts and you know you get to Work in this space where it was like I didn't want to start Telling the people that I got to interview that I was like hey I'm auditioning for projects that you might be a part of until I felt really confident in what I was gonna be able to do in the room And so when voiceover stuff started happening and I started auditioning for that, I was really lucky because I got to be on DC All Access and I got to talk with such incredible voice actors and such incredible voice directors and get their input on putting together great DC animated movies and how voice actors do what they do in the booth.

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And so I remember when the Masters of the Universe one came up, they were doing two shows at the same time.

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uh Master of the Universe, the one that was more aimed at a younger audience and then our show.

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And so I auditioned for both of them at the same time and I didn't know who I was auditioning for.

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I actually think it was just sides that were for Tila for both shows.

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And I remember I was like, I just took such a long time doing the audition because I was like, I wanted to be as good as it possibly can be.

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And I had gotten to host stuff with Kevin Smith before.

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So I was like, man, I want him to hear these and be like, dang, Tiffany did a great job.

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And so I remember just re-listening to it and then sending it off and being like, okay, I did the best that I can do.

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I just have to let it go now.

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And I forgot about it, because that's kind of what you do as an actor.

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can't stay too focused on them.

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It's always in the back of your mind when it's ones that you really want, but I had to kind of let it go.

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And then I remember getting the call that was like, you got it.

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And I was like, what?

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oh And I think one of the things that still sticks in my mind that I'm so thankful for is I had a conversation with Kevin at one point where he was like, I just wanted to let you know that like Mattel listened to the tapes and they picked you.

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And then they were like, what about Tiffany for this?

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And he was like, yes.

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Which that just made me so much more confident because it was one of those things where I was like, it's amazing when you're getting to work with your friends.

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But I think when you're creative, it's so.

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you hear that thing of like, it's about who you know, and that's so wonderful and so helpful.

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And yes, you do want to work with your friends, but it's a whole other level of confidence building when it's someone that you don't know that chooses you for the character because your voice is right.

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And then when your friends can be like, yes, her.

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So that felt amazing.

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It was really, awesome.

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Yeah, you know, it's, interesting.

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Like a lot of opportunities come.

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It's like luck plus talent, right?

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Like it's a lot, it's a lot of that I think, and not only just in showbiz, but I think in a lot of industries, but it seems like, and you could tell me that you'd be the better person to ask here, but I think in my own dumb brain, I see someone who could be like an internet personality and maybe that transition to voice acting would maybe be a little easier, not totally easy.

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Of course, that is a totally separate talent that you have to have.

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But I think like, being an already successful, great internet personality like you were hosting, again, DC Daily and the stuff over at AMC, that move over to voice acting, did it feel seamless at all or was it a whole other talent?

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I feel like every single one of them is a new, you can take some pieces from it, but it's still a new skill.

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Because podcasting and hosting is, there is a comfort because you're in front of a camera and you're chatting, but the other side of it is, there's stuff where it was like, I remember being in the booth for one of the scenes and it was like, okay, so you're falling off of a ship and then you're rolling on the ground and then you're picking up your gun and firing.

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And I'm like.

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uh Let me just play that in my head really quick.

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Yeah, and so was like, Colette Bennett-Sunderman is our voice director for uh Master of the Universe and she's amazing.

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And she was just like, literally she was just like, and I was like, okay.

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So I realized that like I'm a good mimic.

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Like when people can, when they do that stuff and I'm like, that's what that sounds like.

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And when you hear other actors do it, you're like, okay.

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And so that's one of the things that I think I joke about this, but it's so true for me.

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Anytime I work with anybody, I'm like, whether they want to be a mentor to me or not, they're going to be, and I'm going to learn something from them.

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And so I feel very lucky that I've gotten to be around such incredible talent and watch them, um, that I will soak up everything that I possibly can along the way.

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That's one of the things where it's like, I think as a host and you know, there's certain things, like I said, I think you take along with you, but there's so much stuff where it's like, you know, just being able to know what it sounds like to take a punch versus giving a punch.

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That's not stuff that you do in your regular life.

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So you pick that stuff up along the way.

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I think one of the biggest things that I also do is I feel really confident in asking questions and being curious.

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Like if I don't know something, I will ask someone because there's so much stuff that you don't know until you've done it.

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And even on Masters of the Universe, I had such amazing talent around me where Susan Eisenberg, I will always be so thankful to her because I remember we did our first session and for us, We started recording right before the pandemic.

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And so I only had one session with other actors and the rest of it was just in the booth by herself.

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But I had a session and Susan Eisenberg was there.

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uh And afterwards I was like, can I grab lunch with you?

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I mean, she's an incredibly prolific voice actress.

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She's done Wonder Woman.

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She was our sorceress.

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Like she was just incredible.

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And so I grabbed lunch with her and I just literally asked her a hundred bajillion questions.

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And she was so kind and wonderful and so helpful and just so available to me and really encouraged me and was like, cause I said to her, was like, I've never taken a character from the beginning of a show through a whole season.

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And she was like, I never would have guessed that from that one session.

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She's like, got this.

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yeah, so that was, that was a little bit of the, I don't know.

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Did I answer your question?

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kind of just rambled.

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absolutely.

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No, you totally did.

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You totally did.

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You know, the inquisitive part of it is so important, right?

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I think that's that's I think one of the most valuable and actually that's a trait that I always find really impressive with anyone, like especially with like other friends and folks in our, uh I guess, peers, like podcasting friends and such people that have that inquisitiveness about them.

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And I totally agree with you.

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I have this thing where I like being the dumbest person in any room that I've been.

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I to just soak up all of the talent and knowledge from the other awesome people around me.

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So I totally get that impulse.

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in terms of like, again, segregating talents over here, scripting comics is its own very specific talent.

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And I want to sort of noodle on this idea and it being this, you know, very specific thing that you possibly had to learn.

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So what did your preparation look like when you were given the green light over at Dark Horse for this Andra series?

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So the comic book was interesting because I've always had it on my list that at some point I wanted to write a comic.

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uh I grew up reading comics and so getting to host a show for DC Comics and getting to be surrounded by some incredibly talented writers and artists, I think it got a little intimidating to me because I've gotten to be around such high level creatives in that space.

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And so I remember I was on a Zoom with one of the executives from Mattel.

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And we were talking about Motu and how the show was going.

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And he was just kind of like, what have you been up to?

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What are some of the other things that you want to do?

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And I was like, well, I would love to do more voiceover.

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And I was like, at some point, I would love to write a comic.

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And he was like, really?

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And I was like, yeah.

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He's like, have you thought about writing one with Andra?

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And I was like, I mean, I would love to write an Andra comic.

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And he's like, OK, well, can you send us some one page ideas?

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And I was like, uh-huh.

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And then of course, I get off the phone.

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I'm like, oh my god.

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what ideas do I have?

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Let's go.

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So I think it was something that I've always tried to focus on too is that you can be really lucky to be surrounded by great people, but you also have to sometimes be brave and willing to say what you actually want to do because half the time they don't know what you want to do until you say it.

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And so the fact that I even said and mentioned, he had no idea that I wanted to write comics.

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And so when I brought that up, he was like, how can we make this happen?

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um And so I sent over ideas to them and Dark Horse and Mattel signed off on an idea that I had.

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And from there, was kind of just, you know, again, reached out to some very good comic book writer friends that I knew and was like, what am I doing?

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Because it was, you know, it one of those things where I was like, I know how to read a comic.

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I've read a ton of comics in my life.

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uh But I hadn't really, you know, I even co-hosted a show that was like how to write comics.

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I've read books about writing comics, but I'd never actually sat down and had the like blank page in front of me.

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And so it was honestly a really intimidating, scary feeling at the very beginning and at a couple of times throughout the process.

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But like I said, I'm very lucky to have people around me who are incredibly supportive.

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And I think that it's one of those things that you just do it and as you go along, like now I look back and I'm like, sometimes you write things, I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but where you write something and then you look back and you're like, did I write that?

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Even in journals where you look back at something and you're like, what, who was that person?

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So yeah, so writing the comic was incredible and such an adventure.

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uh it's funny, cause I'll talk to TV film writer friends who've also written comics and they didn't say this to me when I started writing it, but they're like, now after it's done, they're like, we didn't want to tell you this, but you kind of picked the hardest medium to start in writing by yourself.

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And I was like, great, thanks guys.

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uh Cause they're like, you're not only writing the script, you're writing dialogue, you're storyboarding, you know, and on top of that, it's, can't write as much as you want.

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You know, you have to also pare it down.

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You have to make it limited.

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You're also figuring out like puzzle pieces with splash pages and the numbering and all of that stuff.

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So I think it's one of those things where When we read comics, I think it happens in film and television too, where it's like, when it doesn't work, you notice, but when it does work, that's when you know it's actually like a decent writer.

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So I'm hopeful that the comic works.

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uh It does.

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does.

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For everyone at home, know, Aaron and I have had a chance to read this comic early.

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It comes out on October 1st.

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We'll talk about that here in just a moment.

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like reading it, yes, it absolutely works.

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And honestly, and I hope this isn't like a backwards compliment, but I could never tell that this was like your first venture in comics, truthfully.

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So very, great job on that one.

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So.

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And Chris would know because he has experience in writing common well in well in in attempting in practicing right Chris.

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See, there's the main difference between you and I is that one of us has attempted and one of us has done it.

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exactly.

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I succeeded and actually got it out.

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Listen, it's like it's barely any different.

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Sure.

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Honestly.

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Sure.

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I have a follow up question that I hope that you may or may not have covered.

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one thing I was reading an article that you had an interview that you had participated in recently.

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You were talking about how with your experience doing the voice acting for Andra, it kind of gave you this very unique perspective.

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You feel like you're kindred spirits.

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You know her so well.

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Was it easier than anticipated to write that?

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But then also, did that create any obstacles to writing the other characters or did you feel that same kind of familiarity since you had been on the show for you know for so long?

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I think that there definitely was an ease in writing Andra's voice.

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em I remember the first session that I went into, because sometimes you'll submit stuff for voiceover and you put on a different voice or you'll amplify it or do different things when you're submitting an audition because you just aren't sure what they're actually going to want you to do when you're recording.

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Or you'll submit something and you come in and they're like, we actually want you to do this, this, and this.

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But when I came in to record, Kevin said to me, was like, Andra is you, but amplified.

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She is the fan girl who's excited, who loves this universe.

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there's a third grade photo of me with an action figure from She-Ra.

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I grew up loving this stuff, and I'm still that girl who loves all this stuff and gets so excited.

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So he's like, that's you.

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Andra is you.

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And she's so excited and effervescent and just like, that's what we want for this character.

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She's the audience's entry into this world.

00:16:51.490 --> 00:17:02.538
So I think that that made it a lot easier for me to write this character because there were certain moments and certain things that she sees where it's like, I knew I could just be excited about it and just amp it up a bit more.

00:17:02.538 --> 00:17:04.930
So that part of it came fairly easy to me.

00:17:04.930 --> 00:17:19.701
And so I think when I started coming up with an idea for where I wanted to take Andra's story, it was one of those things where, you you always hear, write what you know, kind of thing where it's like, what's something that I would want to talk about and really focus on?

00:17:19.701 --> 00:17:37.950
And I think also kind of dealing with being a woman in this space and loving this genre for my whole life and kind of feeling like a fish out of water or that imposter syndrome where you're not necessarily sure that you can take on the role that other people see for you.

00:17:37.950 --> 00:17:46.414
ah And that was where we've talked about this, so it's not any surprise, but the comic book takes place between season one and season two of the show.

00:17:46.414 --> 00:17:50.278
And so it's, we see her become man at arms.

00:17:50.278 --> 00:17:52.855
And so it's like, how does she take that on?

00:17:52.855 --> 00:17:55.017
How does she really embrace that?

00:17:55.017 --> 00:18:06.269
And I think sometimes when you get a mantle put on you, it's an interesting dynamic of like, how do you embrace this and how do you actually step into that new role?

00:18:06.269 --> 00:18:11.280
So I think that was where I could really put on a lot of my, put myself into that.

00:18:11.280 --> 00:18:16.432
Cause I think there's a lot of times where opportunities and things come up where you're like, I don't know what I'm doing and I don't know how to do this.

00:18:16.432 --> 00:18:19.653
And I don't know if this is really me or like someone else is going to help me do this.

00:18:19.653 --> 00:18:21.134
Someone else can take this on.

00:18:21.134 --> 00:18:22.233
So that part came easily.

00:18:22.233 --> 00:18:29.273
And then I think what helped too is because I got to watch the show and I grew up watching it that I knew all those other characters' voices in my head.

00:18:29.273 --> 00:18:35.354
I was talking to one of my writer friends and she was laughing because I talk out loud.

00:18:35.354 --> 00:18:37.212
So I write a lot of my scripts.

00:18:37.212 --> 00:18:40.594
voice text, I voice note them to myself.

00:18:40.794 --> 00:18:42.334
And she was like, are you serious?

00:18:42.334 --> 00:18:45.013
I was like, yeah, I literally will be like, and then I'll...

00:18:45.013 --> 00:19:09.760
was like da da da da da and then Orca showed up and he was like da da da da and then I take that and I'll like rework it into the script and I realized that I I think that that's because I'm an actor and so I'm used to doing scripting that way and so it's a lot easier for me sometimes to talk things out versus sitting in front of the computer and just typing because every time I tried to do that with a blank page I was like oh this is what writer's block feels like.

00:19:10.401 --> 00:19:11.402
Sure.

00:19:11.402 --> 00:19:17.337
So yeah so I think There were certain jokes and things that just popped up that I was like, that's Orko.

00:19:17.337 --> 00:19:31.278
Or when I was writing Marzo where it was just, know, we all have, I think if you grow up watching these kinds of cartoons or you have comic books in your head, you know what a villain, what this kind of a villain is supposed to sound like.

00:19:31.278 --> 00:19:35.501
There's a couple of Lord of the Rings-ish references in there because I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan.

00:19:35.501 --> 00:19:36.321
I've heard you say this.

00:19:36.321 --> 00:19:38.422
I've heard you say you're a huge Lord of the Rings fan.

00:19:38.422 --> 00:19:38.902
Yeah.

00:19:38.902 --> 00:19:43.396
Yeah, so yeah, so was really fun and it's fun to get to dip into different characters.

00:19:43.396 --> 00:19:53.877
That's why I think most writers, I'm like, they know what it is to be an actor, whether they want to be actors or not, because that's what an actor has to do is put on these different characters and become them.

00:19:53.877 --> 00:19:58.273
And so I think that that helped me be able to write these different characters too.

00:19:58.273 --> 00:20:05.137
Well, you definitely nailed it because the feeling of this while reading it is very Saturday morning, very old school He-Man because I grew up on it.

00:20:05.137 --> 00:20:05.878
I was the same way.

00:20:05.878 --> 00:20:11.632
I was the same kid taking my Ninja Turtles and my He-Man characters to school and then hiding them in my backpack.

00:20:11.632 --> 00:20:15.523
So when my dad picked me up, he didn't see that I brought them, you know, so I was the same kid.

00:20:15.523 --> 00:20:25.834
And it's funny that you actually talk about some of these inner conflicts that that that Andra was facing because you said that Andra has questioned what it means to be a hero.

00:20:25.834 --> 00:20:31.355
and often to walk the line between being a soldier and the morality of the choices that go along with being a soldier.

00:20:31.355 --> 00:20:39.698
And so what other inner conflicts did you really want her to face in this story besides the question of the mantle of leadership?

00:20:39.698 --> 00:20:57.326
know, and I think, you know, and I say that I relate to this and Chris can understand because being in the military, we both came from the military being thrust into a leadership position is just as scary as being put on, you know, in certain very stressful situations because you don't know necessarily what to do to be right all the time.

00:20:57.326 --> 00:21:01.122
what other inner conflicts did you want her to face?

00:21:01.122 --> 00:21:03.642
I mean, I definitely, the leadership role for sure.

00:21:03.642 --> 00:21:06.523
I think that that was a big one.

00:21:06.523 --> 00:21:12.164
The other one I think that hopefully comes through is the independence.

00:21:12.164 --> 00:21:20.416
I think that on the show, you we got to see Andra, she was a scavenger, you know, her and Tila went around together and she did her own thing.

00:21:20.416 --> 00:21:26.398
And then now, you know, she was looking for family and then she finds family and it's like, what does that actually look like?

00:21:26.398 --> 00:21:30.721
Because when you are someone who does things on your own for a really long time.

00:21:30.721 --> 00:21:46.134
how do you then kind of fit yourself in and actually accept help and accept others around you being able to support you when you need it and asking for help and allowing them to help you and not just feeling like you have to do everything on your own.

00:21:46.134 --> 00:21:56.897
Because I think that for me was one of the big storylines in this and just being able to accept that help from family, chosen or otherwise, because I think.

00:21:56.897 --> 00:22:02.320
That was a big piece in the show and I think it's still a really big piece for Andra to learn along the way.

00:22:02.320 --> 00:22:03.872
Choosing those friendships and things.

00:22:03.872 --> 00:22:18.101
And then I think the imposter syndrome where I think we all experience that in so many ways in our lives where it's just choosing the thing that you wanna do and having those moments where you do feel like a badass and then having another moment where you're like, what am I doing?

00:22:18.101 --> 00:22:19.691
How did I end up here?

00:22:19.692 --> 00:22:24.173
How am I the person that's supposed to make this decision or fix this thing or?

00:22:24.481 --> 00:22:29.564
feeling like you're thrust into a position and then you fail and then how do you pick yourself up after that?

00:22:29.564 --> 00:22:32.512
And was it really a failure or how do you learn from that thing?

00:22:32.512 --> 00:22:44.488
Because I think that something I constantly try to do for myself is if things don't necessarily go the way that I thought they were supposed to, what is the universe or whatever trying to teach me?

00:22:44.548 --> 00:22:46.519
What is the lesson that I can take from this?

00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:50.710
Because I have to believe and this is for me.

00:22:50.731 --> 00:22:53.594
I believe, I'm like, everything is always working out for my best interest.

00:22:53.594 --> 00:22:56.036
So what is the thing that I'm taking away from this moment?

00:22:56.036 --> 00:23:01.609
Even if in this moment I feel like it's a failure, this is something that's gonna be better for me in the long run.

00:23:01.609 --> 00:23:05.452
And maybe I can't see it right now, but like, what can I take away from this?

00:23:05.452 --> 00:23:17.397
So I think that that's something where it's, there are certain moments in there where I hope that, you know, people can see it may seem like a failure or it may seem like a disaster in that moment, but.

00:23:17.397 --> 00:23:23.405
in the long run it teaches her something that she needed to learn that makes her better at what she's doing along the way.

00:23:23.405 --> 00:23:24.346
100%.

00:23:24.346 --> 00:23:34.515
I think one thing that you've very much accomplished with this one shot is you've made her a little bit more approachable and relatable as a character.

00:23:34.596 --> 00:23:36.247
I can like just reading through it.

00:23:36.247 --> 00:23:46.625
I'm gonna read it again because I enjoyed it so much, but there's just these relatable moments, whether you're in a leadership role, whether you're a teacher, whether you're somebody who might have to teach something in the future.

00:23:46.625 --> 00:23:51.489
Like there are these moments in this where it's just, you've written her so well.

00:23:51.607 --> 00:24:01.888
feel like it's one of those things where I'm like, I don't want to spoil a thing at the end, but there's a splash page at the end that like, I mentioned this in another chat, but someone asked me what was my favorite page.

00:24:01.888 --> 00:24:07.634
And I was like, there was a page that came up for me at the very beginning before I even had the idea of the book.

00:24:07.634 --> 00:24:10.637
That is something else happening in the background.

00:24:10.637 --> 00:24:13.604
Yeah, that was a killer scene.

00:24:14.082 --> 00:24:26.309
that I was like, hoped that it's so like it's on one level it's a little cheesy, but also like, I want everyone to feel how special everyone is, even if they maybe don't quote unquote magic.

00:24:26.373 --> 00:24:28.397
No perf well done on that one.

00:24:28.397 --> 00:24:29.465
Yes Yeah.

00:24:29.465 --> 00:24:40.125
You know, I think if we continue on with Andra in this one shot, which again comes out on October 1st, that's it twice now, we'll say at least one more time during this conversation, but we will start to mind you for some spoilers.

00:24:40.125 --> 00:24:45.965
So let's just before we get you out of here, I want to just kind of I have a sort of a broad question for you here.

00:24:45.965 --> 00:24:50.306
And it's just again, you know, Aaron mentioned at the top so many hats.

00:24:50.306 --> 00:24:54.605
And I'm just going to list off a couple of things just so that people can really fully realize what's going on here.

00:24:54.605 --> 00:24:57.773
Again, we said already, but DC Daily AMC is geeking out.

00:24:57.773 --> 00:25:00.054
You've had roles in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.

00:25:00.054 --> 00:25:01.534
3 and Supernatural.

00:25:01.534 --> 00:25:04.213
You've been a producer for TV and for podcasting even.

00:25:04.213 --> 00:25:11.034
Of course, your voice acting roles we've talked about both on Master Universe and of course, Hawkgirl over with the LEGO DC super villains.

00:25:11.034 --> 00:25:13.193
And now add Comic Rider to this resume.

00:25:13.193 --> 00:25:21.413
So I guess my long-winded way of asking this question, Tiffany, is basically how do you stay creatively energized through all these ventures?

00:25:21.491 --> 00:25:22.762
I love all of it.

00:25:22.762 --> 00:25:25.022
Like, I love being creative.

00:25:25.124 --> 00:25:26.804
It's something that's just in my blood.

00:25:26.804 --> 00:25:30.665
And if I'm not creating something, I feel stagnant and bored.

00:25:30.665 --> 00:25:35.548
I think that, you the last couple of years have been an interesting time in the industry.

00:25:35.548 --> 00:25:45.192
Going back to the thing of like, it may not look the way I wanted it to look, but looking at it back and saying like, what is, what is the like silver lining in this?

00:25:45.612 --> 00:25:53.388
If we hadn't had the last couple of years that we've had in this industry, I don't know that I would have pushed myself in all of these different creative ways that I have.

00:25:53.388 --> 00:26:10.368
uh If we'd had normal pilot seasons where I'd been auditioning the way that I had been in the past, I don't know that I would have had the time to be able to produce and voice direct on an audio drama in the way that I've been able to do, or had the time to sit and write a comic book by myself.

00:26:10.368 --> 00:26:13.057
oh it did take a lot of time.

00:26:13.057 --> 00:26:16.178
Like it was not something that I just sat down and was like, oh, I'm just going to write.

00:26:16.178 --> 00:26:21.557
it's not an, it's not an easy, at least for me, it was, it was not an easy task.

00:26:21.557 --> 00:26:27.198
So, and I think anything that you're doing for the first time, if you care about it, it takes some effort.

00:26:27.198 --> 00:26:39.097
So I'm thankful because I think having more time and having to take a little step away from all the auditions just because the industry had taken a hit in the way that it has.

00:26:39.180 --> 00:26:47.853
it opened me up to be able to push forward in different spaces in the industry where it's like, okay, I can start doing more theater, which I'm in love with.

00:26:47.853 --> 00:26:55.095
I got to go to London and do a play a couple months ago, uh and I'm working and doing more stuff in the theater space here in LA.

00:26:55.095 --> 00:27:03.876
And I think it's one of those things that I think when you are creative, you'll find whatever space you can to creatively fulfill yourself.

00:27:03.876 --> 00:27:22.945
That's something for me where it's like, Of course, obviously I want to make money doing what I'm doing, because I want to make a living doing it, but at the same time, it's like, I don't think I've ever been as creatively fulfilled as I am right now, getting to do all the things that I'm getting to do and getting to create stuff with the people that I'm getting to create stuff with.

00:27:22.945 --> 00:27:31.607
And then when you're doing that, I think it's infectious, where I got to do a Kickstarter, where a couple months ago I got to...

00:27:31.607 --> 00:27:38.554
You know, we did the Kickstarter and so many people showed up for Deepest Darkest, film that I'm producing with Mark Bernarden and we co-created the idea together.

00:27:38.554 --> 00:27:44.028
But that put me in a space where I got to film and act with Rosario Dawson and Ernie Hudson.

00:27:44.028 --> 00:27:58.751
And you know, Rosario is someone that I've looked up to and respected as an actress for so long, where it's like doing the thing that you love, being creatively passionate about the things that you enjoy, I think really does open the door for other things where it's like you just.

00:27:58.753 --> 00:28:08.797
I mean, you never know what's gonna open the next door where it's like, it sounds so cheesy, but I love playing Magic the Gathering and I play a lot and I've posted about it on social media.

00:28:08.797 --> 00:28:13.138
And now I'm going to Atlanta to moderate a panel for them.

00:28:13.138 --> 00:28:22.402
And I did it in San Diego Comic Con where it's like, you just never know how things will work out and what doors will open or how they'll open.

00:28:23.137 --> 00:28:25.442
It's also wild how much you do look like.

00:28:25.946 --> 00:28:26.594
That's perfect.

00:28:26.594 --> 00:28:27.213
Yeah.

00:28:27.213 --> 00:28:29.594
also wild how much you do look like Meghan Markle.

00:28:29.933 --> 00:28:34.423
It is my wife watches her show right now and I'm just like, man, this is uncanny.

00:28:34.423 --> 00:28:40.881
Before we get to our last question, just got, I have one sort of, I guess, comic specific question for you here.

00:28:40.881 --> 00:28:45.976
You don't have to a ton of time on it, but Aaron and I, we're filthy name droppers, okay?

00:28:45.976 --> 00:28:46.435
We love it.

00:28:46.435 --> 00:28:48.528
We love talking to comic creators here on the podcast.

00:28:48.528 --> 00:28:50.829
You said you have some friends in the comic world.

00:28:50.971 --> 00:28:58.541
Would you mind just sort of letting us in on some of the folks that you are not only your friends with, but maybe folks who have helped you along the way with Andra and so on.

00:28:58.541 --> 00:29:06.891
I mean, Tim Sheridan is, I have to give Tim a huge shout out and his Green Lantern run that he did recently is so wonderful.

00:29:06.891 --> 00:29:08.692
If you've not read it, definitely check it out.

00:29:08.692 --> 00:29:11.766
But Tim was one of the people that I called a lot along the way.

00:29:11.766 --> 00:29:17.782
And I remember when I first started writing, when I was like, I'm gonna write this book, I was like, I asked him to write it with me and he said, no.

00:29:17.782 --> 00:29:19.114
He was like, you can do this.

00:29:19.114 --> 00:29:21.445
And I was like, are you sure?

00:29:22.958 --> 00:29:30.736
you So he is not only an incredible writer, but also a wonderful, supportive, awesome friend.

00:29:30.736 --> 00:29:33.038
So definitely Tim Sheridan.

00:29:33.038 --> 00:29:35.380
I feel very lucky.

00:29:35.380 --> 00:29:47.869
I've gotten to be around Geoff Johns and Jim Lee and Sterling Gates and so many incredible, Porn Sack who's doing his own thing and Jay Holtham and just so many great writers.

00:29:47.869 --> 00:29:49.651
Becky Clunin is one of my favorites.

00:29:49.651 --> 00:29:52.673
um I love Bill kind of.

00:29:52.673 --> 00:29:56.038
gothic romance dark stuff that she does.

00:29:56.038 --> 00:29:57.700
So I'm not was so amazing.

00:29:57.700 --> 00:30:06.807
I just finished reading uh the Zetanna the black label comic book run that I really, really, really enjoyed that.

00:30:06.807 --> 00:30:07.989
the bringing down the house.

00:30:07.989 --> 00:30:08.957
down the house.

00:30:08.957 --> 00:30:09.398
Yeah.

00:30:09.398 --> 00:30:17.281
uh And then I was also just reading the Jamal Campbell's Zatanna run that I really, I'm a huge Zatanna fan.

00:30:17.281 --> 00:30:22.944
uh that's my dream role to play, but I'm enjoying that.

00:30:23.086 --> 00:30:38.453
So yeah, there's so many comic creators that I'm like, this person and this person, because I just, I feel very lucky that I've gotten to interview and talk to so many of them throughout DCL access days and even Marvel days when I was doing stuff over there.

00:30:38.453 --> 00:30:49.269
And it's fun to then get to see all these people who then are now doing stuff within like the TV film space too, you know, where it's like, just reread uh Criminal the other day and they're doing a TV series of that.

00:30:49.269 --> 00:30:55.982
And I'm like that, I think the another edition of that, not Criminal, but like a, like a cool series.

00:30:55.982 --> 00:31:00.244
So I'm super excited to check that out.

00:31:00.244 --> 00:31:02.705
That's some of, that's some of my comic stuff.

00:31:02.733 --> 00:31:11.233
Generally, we end the show or end the interview, so to speak, we like to ask our guests what they've been kind of enjoying recently.

00:31:11.233 --> 00:31:15.153
I feel like you kind of already answered that, but we're still going to ask it.

00:31:15.314 --> 00:31:20.334
But this is your chance to highlight a comic, a movie, TV series, podcast.

00:31:20.513 --> 00:31:22.733
mean, anything really like album.

00:31:22.733 --> 00:31:24.054
What have you been listening to?

00:31:24.054 --> 00:31:25.173
What have you been checking out?

00:31:25.173 --> 00:31:28.165
What are you loving right now?

00:31:28.173 --> 00:31:35.123
um So I am in deep vampire mode right now.

00:31:35.123 --> 00:31:42.982
I recently watched Nosferatu and Bram Stoker's Dracula, the new Nosferatu.

00:31:42.982 --> 00:31:47.284
I'm about to rewatch the older one because I, so when I was younger.

00:31:47.284 --> 00:31:51.095
my parents wouldn't let me watch Dark Shadows, the one that came out in the 90s.

00:31:51.095 --> 00:31:59.436
They said it was too dark and scary and like romantic-y for me when I was little, so I would sneak downstairs and like pretend I was asleep under the coffee table to watch.

00:31:59.436 --> 00:32:03.808
And so I saw that it was on Amazon the other day and I was like, my God, I need to watch this.

00:32:03.808 --> 00:32:08.119
And that just like put me in a rabbit hole of like all vampire stuff.

00:32:08.119 --> 00:32:15.112
yeah, Nosferatu, Bram Stoker's Dracula, which like, I mean, he's just so good.

00:32:15.112 --> 00:32:16.701
He's so good.

00:32:16.814 --> 00:32:23.219
um And then one of my favorite shows on television, which I just say this all the time, is Interview with the Vampire.

00:32:23.534 --> 00:32:35.490
If people are not watching that show, the acting on it, the storytelling, and I hadn't read the original book, so I just finished reading Interview with the Vampire, and now I'm reading The Vampire Lestat now.

00:32:35.490 --> 00:32:38.803
But yeah, I'm in deep on the vampire mode.

00:32:38.803 --> 00:32:45.528
And I think part of what I love about so much of these shows right now, and Foundation is also another show that I'm obsessed with.

00:32:45.528 --> 00:32:58.114
but a lot of them are shows that the show runners and the actors are theater people, which I'm starting to realize that, I think I gravitate towards a lot of television that is a lot of theater peeps that are involved on the shows.

00:32:58.114 --> 00:32:58.953
I don't know why.

00:32:58.953 --> 00:33:04.198
I mean, I don't know if I can sense it or what, but yeah, those are some of the things.

00:33:04.198 --> 00:33:07.167
And then the new Sabrina Carpenter album came out and I really accepted that.

00:33:07.167 --> 00:33:10.894
it's like totally, you said album, so I'm telling you.

00:33:10.894 --> 00:33:11.981
No, nailed it.

00:33:11.981 --> 00:33:13.261
I've heard it's good.

00:33:13.261 --> 00:33:14.281
I've heard it's good.

00:33:14.281 --> 00:33:18.857
know it's from what I understand, it's got a lot of disco vibe to it.

00:33:18.857 --> 00:33:19.919
It really does.

00:33:19.919 --> 00:33:29.398
Yeah, and one of my friends literally like a week ago had just had a 50th birthday party That was all disco themed and then the album came out and I was like this could not have been better times you go.

00:33:29.398 --> 00:33:30.042
Love it.

00:33:30.042 --> 00:33:33.144
Once we wrap this up, I'm going to go finish up the last episode of Wednesday.

00:33:33.144 --> 00:33:38.958
you know, speaking of like, ah I have the new ones just came out, new second half.

00:33:38.958 --> 00:33:41.377
Tiffany, once again, thank you so much for being here.

00:33:41.377 --> 00:33:42.137
This is awesome.

00:33:42.137 --> 00:33:49.897
We don't want to take up too much of your time today, but we just want to make sure that, you know, our listeners and fans of yours get to hear you talk a little bit about Mastering Universe, Andra.

00:33:49.897 --> 00:33:51.817
Again, hit shelves on October 1st.

00:33:51.817 --> 00:33:53.258
So make sure you go to a little comic shop.

00:33:53.258 --> 00:33:54.837
Put that on your pull list.

00:33:54.998 --> 00:33:59.798
And Tiffany, of course, I have no doubt that you're going to continue on with comics and you're going to absolutely going to make something else.

00:33:59.798 --> 00:34:06.557
And I promise you, the next time you come on, there's not going to be so many technical issues and we're not going to be late and all these other things that went wrong today.

00:34:06.557 --> 00:34:08.945
I wasn't I wasn't going to expose us, but I did.

00:34:08.945 --> 00:34:10.246
So here we are.

00:34:11.827 --> 00:34:13.949
But, know, again, thank you so much.

00:34:13.949 --> 00:34:17.240
And before we let you go, how can folks follow your career?

00:34:17.240 --> 00:34:21.744
Is there anything you want to sort of tease or, you know, tee up for whatever you're working on next?

00:34:21.744 --> 00:34:22.664
Yeah.

00:34:22.965 --> 00:34:26.528
Anybody who wants to see everything that's going on, just follow me on social media.

00:34:26.528 --> 00:34:27.880
I'm mostly on Instagram.

00:34:27.880 --> 00:34:30.032
It's just Tiffany underscore Smith.

00:34:30.231 --> 00:34:36.918
The next thing that I have coming up actually is we are getting ready to launch the next season of our audio drama for Curious Matter.

00:34:36.918 --> 00:34:38.960
And this season we're going straight horror.

00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:43.603
It's called Karnacky Blood and Ether and it launches on September 23rd.

00:34:43.764 --> 00:34:45.804
So if you go over there, I'll have all the info on there.

00:34:45.804 --> 00:34:51.393
But yeah, that's where everything's going on and I'll have updates on Deepest Darkest on the movie.

00:34:51.393 --> 00:34:57.737
that we're producing and stuff and all the Magic the Gathering fun stuff on the Spider-Man deck, all that good stuff will be on there.

00:34:57.737 --> 00:35:00.798
And obviously, Andra coming out October 1st.

00:35:00.978 --> 00:35:06.581
We're gonna have a signing that's coming up, so I'll have info about in-person signings for the comic as well.

00:35:07.463 --> 00:35:09.003
I don't know yet.

00:35:09.804 --> 00:35:11.693
Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.

00:35:11.693 --> 00:35:13.041
I think she's messing with us.

00:35:13.041 --> 00:35:14.306
She's going to be there.

00:35:15.373 --> 00:35:17.634
I genuinely don't know.

00:35:18.474 --> 00:35:19.735
I'm really hoping.

00:35:19.735 --> 00:35:20.717
Well, we hope to see you there.

00:35:20.717 --> 00:35:22.090
and will both be there.

00:35:22.532 --> 00:35:25.518
again, hopefully then, but if not, we'd love to have you back on at some point.

00:35:25.518 --> 00:35:28.833
until then, Tiffany, thank you so much and hopefully we'll talk to you soon.

00:35:28.833 --> 00:35:30.972
So fun, nice to see you guys.