An actor prepares. A Muppet simply is.
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Mandy Patinkin’s most difficult project isn’t exactly what you’d expect. It wasn’t Homeland, it wasn’t Criminal Minds (although he did grow to find that one pretty distasteful). It was working with Elmo. On his and his wife’s podcast Don’t Listen to Us With Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody, the actor talked about the time working with Elmo made him want to kill himself. “I had a scene in Elmo in Grouchland with just Elmo and me. I felt I was off in that scene,” he said. “I wasn’t responding the way I wished to be with Elmo. We finished it, and I went to the trailer, and I was ready to kill myself. I just thought I failed Elmo.”
Luckily Patinkin had his therapist on speed dial for just such occasions: “My therapist said ‘Just stay with the discomfort.’” Classic Elmo-related therapy advice, right? Patinkin sat with his feelings, let them pass, and would work with Elmo again in a heartbeat. Turns out you’re never too old to learn something from Sesame Street.
I love myself. The muppet will be fine. You can do this. This is from our advice podcast Don’t Listen To Us. You can hear it wherever you find podcasts or watch it on our youtube channel. New episodes every Wednesday! Link in bio. If you’d like to help us make this first season we’d be most grateful. We’ve been moved over the years by all the stories our followers have shared in their comments and we’d love to be in conversation with you. Share a question, problem, experience, triumph, absurdity, dilemma, regret or piece of bad advice you’ve gotten in the past. Or send an email or voice memo (2 minutes or less ideally) to askmandyandkathryn@gmail.com , or record at the SPEAKPIPE LINK IN OUR BIO! Simply click on the button to record and make sure you aren’t too far from your (micro)phone. In addition to selecting recordings we’ll be in touch with some folks to be in conversation for the show. This will be a small percentage of contributors, but If you’re comfortable with that, make sure to leave us a way to reach you. Just a few notes: You don’t have to be funny or interesting or smart or charming or edgy. We are just excited to hear from you! If you are willing to share with us just know that whether we use it in the show or not we deeply appreciate you making the effort to connect. Leave a review if you feel like it, apparently that helps the thing get seen by the other thing and the algorithm speaks to the numbers which programs the… you know… the things and stuff! Here’s to trying something new, being in community with each other and making stuff with family and friends! #mandypatinkin #kathryngrody #elmo #confidence Thanks to @lemonadamedia for hosting us and our great team for making this with us: @katrina.onstad, Debbie Pacheco, @welterweight_sound @bellowsmedia
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