- 3 months ago
"You have to kind of like integrate them in a little more, so I think it's just been a little overwhelming for us to have so many of them," Schroeder said of the cast.
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00:00Hi, I'm Stassi Schroeder and I'm in studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:07Hey there, Stassi, how are you?
00:09Hi, good.
00:10Thanks for being here.
00:11Yes, thanks.
00:12Okay, so you have a lot going on.
00:13You have Vanderpump Rules, you just bought a house, you have your podcast, you have a
00:16podcast tour, you wrote a book.
00:18Yeah.
00:19Super busy.
00:20Are you feeling...
00:21Fuck my life.
00:23You know what I mean?
00:24Do you love it or do you hate it?
00:25Or what's going on?
00:26You know, I thrive when I'm busy, but I am the ultimate complainer.
00:31You know, I love to be busy, but I have to be able to bitch and moan about it, like, throughout
00:36the whole process.
00:38I'm overwhelmed.
00:39Were you just sort of riding the wave and going, well, this might be a good idea to do next,
00:42or this is a good opportunity, I can't say no?
00:44What were your...
00:45What's your mindset?
00:46Because you could have just very well stayed on the show and, you know, not necessarily
00:49branched out.
00:50No, yeah, no.
00:51And I'm not somebody who's like, don't say no to anything.
00:53It's like, no, I love to say no to things.
00:56Like, I pride myself on being able to just say no.
01:00I think that there's so much that I want to do and that I want to accomplish that if people
01:05are willing to pay attention still and they care still, it's my time to do it.
01:12So I'm just trying to take every opportunity that comes my way that I want to do and enjoy
01:19it.
01:19Yeah.
01:20You know?
01:20I kind of want to go slightly back to the beginning of Vanderpump because it's such a
01:24good reality show.
01:25Vintage.
01:26Well, it's more so about, I guess, you when you were in it because in the first season,
01:32I guess, at what point did you realize that it was kind of a hit and that people were really
01:36responding?
01:37Like, was there a moment where you were like, oh.
01:39No, it was very slow and steady.
01:41Because people do ask me that a lot, too.
01:43And they're like, when was the moment where you're like, whoa, you know, I've kind of like,
01:46I'm kind of successful or like, this is a successful show.
01:49And it was just very slow and steady for me, I think.
01:53I don't feel like anything was just overnight.
01:56Okay.
01:56Maybe that's good because sometimes people that, you know, find themselves in the limelight,
02:00someone is like screaming at them on the street and it's kind of jarring to be like, oh, I
02:04guess I'm a star now.
02:05But as we were being screamed at on the street, like after season one, we were all still broke.
02:11So, you know what I mean?
02:12So, it didn't feel like we were accomplishing anything because we were all still struggling
02:19so much.
02:20So, maybe that's like what's kept us humble and just like really appreciative of everything
02:26that we're doing.
02:27So, some people, we had, I think it was in one of our Hollywood Reporter articles, actually,
02:32there was a small, like a reference to sort of comparing Vanderpump to Downton Abbey in
02:38a way because you had Housewives that was like, you know, Lisa Vanderpump and her friends.
02:43And then there was Sir.
02:45I never thought about that before.
02:47So, Downton Abbey is one of my favorite shows.
02:50I don't know how I missed this.
02:52So, we're the servants, basically.
02:55Servants.
02:56S-U-R.
02:57I didn't mean that, but that's leading into my next question, which is how do you sort
03:02of think that it's going to evolve?
03:04Because now you guys are all super successful.
03:06You're not broke anymore and you're not like working at Sir and, you know, how can the show
03:10sort of go on and are you expecting spinoffs or how do you see it evolving, I guess, in
03:14the future?
03:15I think, listen, we're a real group of friends.
03:18Yeah.
03:18Like, we're not like the Housewives where it's like this one's interesting, this one's
03:22interesting, let's cast them and then make them go on trips and lunches together.
03:27We were cast because we were truly all dating each other and we were truly all best friends and that hasn't changed.
03:35So, even when we're not filming, there's still the people that I call and hang out with and travel with and spend holidays with.
03:42They're my chosen family.
03:44So, as long as, I mean, I don't see that ever ending, the fact that they're always going to be in my life.
03:51It's like, how could this show not just grow with us?
03:56You know, you can't just take one of us out and replace us because we're still around each other.
04:01I know.
04:01No matter what.
04:02So, I mean, it's if viewers want to see us, if they do want to grow with us.
04:06We obviously aren't going to, you know, pretend to go work at SIR, but it's, you know, I wonder, I wonder, do people want to watch us growing up?
04:17I have really enjoyed it and I'm kind of skipping ahead a little bit in what I had planned, but I have to say, I feel like you of all people have had such an interesting arc on the show.
04:27And I know it's your real life, too, but it's like seeing you evolve and grow and learn has been so amazing and so fulfilling.
04:35And I was actually curious, like, did you feel that as you were, just as the show was going on or was it not, was it watching things back and noticing how, you know.
04:46I still don't feel it.
04:47Oh, really?
04:48I still don't feel it.
04:50People are like, God, you're just, you've grown so much and like, you know, you used to be such a C-U-N-T, like, you know, and such a psycho.
04:58I'm like, I still kind of feel like the same person.
05:00I'm just like a little calmer, a little wiser.
05:04Maybe.
05:04You know, I don't see it the way, when people talk about that I've had, like, a character arc, I see so many people saying that and I'm like, I don't understand it, I'm just living.
05:14Don't most people have a character arc as they age?
05:18Yeah, I think that's part of it, too.
05:19So, to me, it just feels normal.
05:21It's like, I've just gotten a little older.
05:23Do you watch the episodes back, though, ever?
05:26Like, old ones?
05:27Or, like, as the seasons are going, like, do you sit down after, you know, seasoning?
05:32Yeah.
05:32I watch all of that.
05:34Okay.
05:34I watch everything.
05:35I'm sorry.
05:35I can't, I'm not one of those people that's like, oh, no, I don't watch this show, I don't watch it.
05:40Oh, no, I need to know everything that's going out there.
05:42I have to know what the rest of the world is seeing.
05:46Yes.
05:47Like, I have to torture myself and watch it, absolutely.
05:50Are you still sort of shocked to see people, what they say, maybe, in their single interviews behind your back?
05:55That's never hurt my feelings.
05:57Okay.
05:57Because I feel like, you know what, maybe because I'm such a real Housewives fan.
06:00Do you like Housewives?
06:01Love.
06:02Okay.
06:02So, I've been such a fan of the Housewives franchise for so long that I remember when they all got mad at Bethany after, like, season one or two for her interview bites.
06:13And I'm like, that's what makes the show funny.
06:17Like, no one wants to see an interview bite where you're just like, yeah, I really like that person and it was great.
06:22It's like, that's, it's part of, it's, you can't take it personally.
06:26Yeah.
06:26It's just, like, what interviews are, it's like saying what you were really thinking in the moment that you just, like, didn't have the balls to say because you were just being polite.
06:37That's how I view interviews.
06:38And I can't fault anyone for what their own thoughts are, even if they are bitchy.
06:44So, that's never really hurt my feelings.
06:46Well, I don't know if I could take it.
06:47So, it's a very specific kind of person.
06:49You're very thick-skinned.
06:50I would be crying in every episode, probably.
06:53But, oh, you were talking about replacing, how you can't replace anybody.
06:58They have brought in some new cast members this season.
07:00Just a few.
07:01Yeah, just a few.
07:02And I was one of those people that was like, oh, I don't know about this.
07:05Like, in the first episode, I was like, I don't know about this.
07:07But, what do you think about the new, the rookies of the show?
07:12Who's going to make some great TV, do you think?
07:15I think Dana's, I mean, as I've been watching, I'm like, Dana's pretty good.
07:18She's, I laugh at everything that she says.
07:21She's honest.
07:21She's open.
07:22She's not afraid to really get in there.
07:26The other girls, I don't really know that well.
07:30I, and, you know, they think they're just a lot younger.
07:34And so it's, it's like if I were to go on Housewives, you know, they'd be like, what is this bitch doing up in here?
07:40It's like, that's kind of how I feel about the other ones.
07:43It's like, I don't know how to relate to them.
07:46And I'm all about, like, a new cast member when it's like, like, Lala caused a lot of drama.
07:52Now one of my best friends, James, causes a lot of drama.
07:56Great for television.
07:57But you have to kind of, like, integrate them in a little more.
08:01So I think it's just been a little overwhelming for us to have so many of them because we kind of just don't understand what we're doing.
08:07Yeah, it started off maybe, like you said, like, a Lala and then a James or, like, slowly, Raquel.
08:13But then this season was just like, here's a bunch of new faces.
08:16Yeah.
08:17And, yeah, it was, I mean, I don't mind it either as long as, I don't know, I wouldn't want them to get rid of any of the original cast unless you guys didn't want to be on there.
08:25You know what?
08:26It would be ideal, bravo.
08:28This is the camera I'm supposed to be looking at, right?
08:30Bravo.
08:32Spin us off.
08:33Spin the OGs off because I need more airtime.
08:37Okay, so the next thing was your podcast.
08:42You have, I was looking, I was doing, in my research, I was wondering how many episodes and it said 278 episodes.
08:50I didn't even know that.
08:51At this point, which seems nuts.
08:53When did you first have the idea, like, what made you want to start this podcast?
08:57And then, skipping way forward, what made you want to go on tour with it?
09:03Okay, well, I was approached about doing a podcast, like, six years ago.
09:08And I was scared shitless because I was dating somebody who was on radio at the time.
09:14One of my best friends is a radio host, so, and I see how hard it is.
09:18I was, like, always, like, at SiriusXM and I'm like, how do these people just, their brains have to be on?
09:24Like, there's no, you can't, it's not like filming a reality show where you can kind of just, like, sit back sometimes and just chill out.
09:31It's, like, you really have to fill up that space.
09:35And so, I was terrified and I just was, like, okay, if this is something that is just so terrifying, that means I should probably try it.
09:43And they gave me a six-month trial and it did really well.
09:46And then I ended up loving it.
09:48And so, here we are, five years later.
09:52Yeah.
09:52I mean, I think it's so much fun because I can voice my opinions a little more clearly on a podcast and talk about things I want to talk about.
09:59And if I want to fucking talk about Downton Abbey, I can't do that on Vanderpump Rules.
10:03No one cares.
10:04You know?
10:05This next segment will be great.
10:06Stassi's going to talk about Downton Abbey for seven minutes.
10:09Yeah.
10:09I mean, it's, you know, to be fair, like, I would probably listen to that.
10:13But, okay, so what's a typical tour?
10:16What's your tour like?
10:17What's the live show?
10:17What can people expect from that?
10:19Well, so that was another thing I was terrified about doing.
10:22So many people are like, you have to do a tour now.
10:24You have to do a tour.
10:24I'm like, oh, hell fucking no.
10:27I love stand-up comedy.
10:29I love going to comedy shows.
10:30I think it's, like, the scariest job you could have to stand up and try and make people laugh.
10:35Granted, a live podcast, I'm not trying to make people laugh.
10:38I'm not a comedian.
10:40But I do have to entertain them.
10:42So I was, I said no for a really long time.
10:45And finally, I just put my big girl pants on and was like, let's do this.
10:49And if we're going to do this, let's make a set.
10:52Let's have great lighting to distract people from the fact that I'm not as talented as I would like to be.
10:59And make just, like, a full-blown show out of it with just fun segments.
11:04I could have Bo there.
11:06I can have my friend Taylor there.
11:07And it's just been, it's fucking wild.
11:11I can't believe, every time I go on stage, I'm like, I look in the audience and I'm like, how did I get you guys here?
11:16How did, how did I convince you that this was worth taking a night off, getting a babysitter and buying these tickets?
11:24It's, it's really fucking cool.
11:27Yeah, it's very exciting.
11:28And congratulations on that.
11:30The last thing, though, is your book.
11:32So, I read your book and it's so, it's very much everything I expected it to be from you.
11:38I have to say, my favorite part that was probably the last chapter where you talk about mistakes.
11:45Yeah.
11:45Because it was just very, you're very open in general, I think.
11:50But hearing someone just truly write about messing up and owning it.
11:55Makes me cringe even when I think about it.
11:57But why was that important to have in the book?
12:00And because it, like reality TV and like my podcast, like I really feel like I pride myself on showing the good and the bad.
12:10You can't just show this manufactured, like manicured version of yourself.
12:16It's not a fucking curated Instagram page.
12:20If I'm going to pride myself on honesty, that means I'm going to have to acknowledge and talk about the things that are very embarrassing and suck.
12:30And it literally like makes me sweat when I think about those.
12:34But it's just, you know, it is what it is.
12:36And I learned from it.
12:37But I just think it's important to just be honest.
12:40Yeah.
12:41Have you had any meaningful feedback from fans?
12:43Like has, what's maybe a moment or something where someone's really like connected with you?
12:49A million.
12:50I'm really lucky that when I go on tour or when I do book signings, you know, people write me these long letters.
12:57Or they're crying and explaining that like they were sick and in the hospital or someone close to them died or they were going through a breakup.
13:07And reading my book or listening to my podcast was what got them through it.
13:12And that is like I save all of those notes.
13:15I save all of those cards and reread them sometimes when I need a self-esteem booster.
13:20But it makes me feel like, oh, my gosh, I have a purpose that's not just entertaining people by being wasted and yelling at someone.
13:30It's like, okay, if I helped just one of those people get through a death, wow, okay, I contributed something, you know.
13:39Yeah.
13:40Okay, well, are you going to write another book?
13:42I am.
13:42I'm doing it right now and it's hell on earth.
13:44Amazing.
13:45It's so, it's, I thought that the second time it would be easier, but it's not.
13:49It's way harder because I think I had such a very clear, clear, clear vision for the first one that now it's like, okay, well, my vision is clear, but it's just not.
14:01I had been prepping for this one for so long that now this one, this one's harder.
14:06All right.
14:07Well, can't wait to read that one whenever it comes out.
14:09Thank you so much for stopping by.
14:11Thank you, everyone, for watching.
14:12Check out Vanderpump Rules.
14:13Listen to Stassi's podcast.
14:15Go see her live show.
14:16Go buy my tickets.
14:18And there's something else.
14:19No, I guess those are just the three things.
14:21That's enough.
14:21That's enough.
14:22Yeah.
14:24No, but thank you so much.
14:25Thank you, everybody, for watching.
14:26Thanks.
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