When Anson Mount and Branan Edgens started The Well podcast, they wanted to do something that would allow celebrities to talk not about the things we know they do but about the things we don’t know that they do. They talk to anybody and everybody who you might never have heard of who are doing interesting things. That is the energy Mount brought to his live recordings of the podcast on Friday, first at 11:30AM in the Hilton Salon with Danny Trejo and then later that afternoon at 2:30PM in Hilton Grand West with Todd Stashwick.
Prior to both recordings, Mount took some questions about the podcast from the audience, covering how they find guests, bringing the podcast into a place that includes a video component, and making time for the podcast, which has meant more impromptu installments of “The Drop,” a feature of the podcast where Mount and Edgens have shorter conversations that don’t require quite as much research and preparation. In one video promo of an episode, Mount can be seen sitting with Edgens in a frog onesie. A fan asked him to explain, and he said that he and Edgens were sitting out on his front porch in November and “it was colder than I wanted it to be.” Instead of going inside and going upstairs for warmer clothes, Mount instead put on the onesie, which had been his Halloween costume that he wore with his daughter. It was Edgens’s idea for Mount to put the hood up.
The conversations with both guests were wide-ranging, covering everything from their early careers to playing D&D. Mount’s first question to Trejo, after explaining the podcast’s aim to find out what makes him, Danny, a creative being, was “What makes you a creator of worlds rather than, say, a destroyer?” In response Trejo spoke at length about his time in prison in the late ‘60s and how he thought he would never get out. Trejo’s plea to his personal higher power was to be allowed to die with dignity, promising that he would “say your name every day” if that would happen. When Trejo not only didn’t die but was released from prison, it prompted him to live a life where he was doing something for somebody every day. “Do whatever you can for that guy next to you and life gets better,” said Trejo.
Trejo told a story about a movie he made in 1991 that required him to film in San Quentin prison, which is one of the places Trejo had himself been incarcerated. There he met an inmate who was engaging in some risky behaviors on the inside, purposefully antagonizing other Mexican inmates who were from a different region. Trejo spent some time talking with that inmate and many years later at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, he saw the same individual, who was now clean and working with drug abusers. That former inmate moved in with Trejo and became his assistant, then years later was instrumental in saving Trejo’s son from dying from abusing drugs and getting him into a rehab. Trejo concluded, “God pays you back.”
Now Trejo spends a lot of time giving back to various communities, including working with autistic children and dropping in on local Alcoholics Anonymous meetings wherever he is shooting, just to see what he can do to help. Trejo talked about finding his moral arrow through his uncle Gilbert who was a “dope fiend” and armed robber. The lessons he learned from him carried Trejo through many difficult situations.
Mount wanted to know if there was anything that Trejo could point to that made him realize he could become an actor. Trejo said that in some ways prison was the best place in the world to learn how to act because no matter what happened you had to stand there and look cool or unafraid, even if inside you’re pissing yourself.
At the second recording, before introducing Stashwick, Mount noted that Dragon Con is one of his favorite cons, calling it the Mardis Gras of conventions. “I think half of you are already drunk, and if you’re not, you will be soon. You know what, if you want, drink it now. If you brought it, toss it back. It’ll make you a better audience member.”
After again explaining the aim of the podcast to get to “the juice” of what makes Stashwick a creative being, Mount asked him what he does that is for himself. The immediate answer was to play a lot of Dungeons and Dragons, which is something Mount also does for himself and was a topic of a longer conversation later. But Stashwick also said that if he needs to solve a problem in his writing, he turns to music and the outside to help. He said that he finds if he distracts his body, it will allow his mind to process and write his way out of whatever the issue is. Mount noted that he will do the same by hitting golf balls at a driving range, even though he doesn’t play a lot of golf. “It occupies the judgement,” agreed Stashwick.
The conversation turned to Stashwick’s time in Second City in Chicago, which Mount said was to acting the way that being in the Navy Seals was to being in the military. Stashwick’s ultimate goal after training at Second City was to get a spot on Saturday Night Live. He did audition for it in 1995 where he had to do some impressions as well as some original characters, which included a cat burglar who narrates all his actions and a little boy forgotten at a sleepover.
After talking some more about Stashwick’s early career, Mount declared, “F it, let’s talk about D&D,” which Mount also plays. He asked Stashwick what is probably the quintessential gamer question, how do you find the time? Stashwick grinned and said that he doesn’t have a little child anymore, unlike Mount whose daughter is a toddler. He also said that he does everything else in his life so he can get to the D&D table. Stashwick takes his hobby seriously. He has a game table set up with mini figures and a little fog machine for the atmosphere. As a Dungeon Master, he doesn’t want the game to be easy. He engineers his campaigns so that if a player pokes at the world, he wants to world to poke back.
Like Mount, Stashwick was playing D&D at the same time of the Satanic Panic that swept nerd culture in the 1980s. He said that after returning home from Bible camp, he gave away all his books. Many years later, after discovering eBay, Stashwick started buying back copies of the books he’d given away, finally getting his friends together to play in 2015. He’s been in the same campaign with them for 6 years, and the campaign he runs has been going for 2 years. Stashwick also runs D&D games with friends and celebrities to raise money for charity, which Mount immediately said he wanted in on.
After the podcast recording, Stashwick was kind enough to stop for a chat and display some of the swag and ribbons he’s gotten from other attendees to the Daily Dragon. Prior to coming, he’d heard that Dragon Con was one of the wildest cons around. He said he’d had a lot of fun so far and was really looking forward to seeing some of his friends that he doesn’t usually get to see in addition to all the Trek people.
Mount was also gracious enough to answer some questions about the podcast after the recordings. One of the hallmarks of The Well is that guests tend to be vulnerable and open when speaking with Edgens and Mount, which isn’t something that’s easy to achieve. Mount noted that for himself, his parents instilled in him a great sense of empathy and the importance of listening. “Also, having worked in front of cameras and microphones the majority of my life, now, unlike most people who haven’t done that, I’m not burdened with that kind of filter that a lot of people feel when they’re suddenly being recorded. For me, it’s very easily an intimate conversation, immediately,” said Mount.
During the recordings, Mount said that he and Edgens want to record the podcast until it’s not fun anymore. It’s still fun, even though they’re not able to do the output they’d like to do because of how busy they are. Mount added, “What’s funny is that if we didn’t do this, Branan and I would just keep having these conversations anyway, so we might as well.”
Unfortunately, due to a scheduling mishap, Edgens was not able to join Mount this time. Hopefully, Mount will bring some more live recordings to Dragon Con in the future and Edgens will be able to join him. In the meantime, you can find the podcast at thewellpod.com. Mount is at Dragon Con through Sunday, and you can find him on Instagram @ansonmount.
