#22 Across the Pond & Beyond: Acting, Life, and Laughs with Drew Bales

In this episode of Having a Laugh, Shayla Tharp sits down with her friend and former flatmate, actor Drew Bales, for a hilarious and heartwarming chat. The two reflect on their time living together, sharing plenty of goofy memories and inside jokes that only true friends can appreciate. Drew opens up about his journey into acting, the challenges of drama school, and the toll COVID-19 took on his mental health. From music to personal anecdotes and laughs, this episode is packed with fun, friendship, and plenty of lighthearted moments. And, of course, don’t miss the rapid-fire question segment!

Drew Bales - Instagram

Shayla - @shaylatharp_
Having a Laugh - Instagram

https://shayla-tharp.carrd.co/

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 3:02 Life Updates and Moving to LA
• 5:58 Drew's Journey into Acting
• 11:59 The Impact of Drama School
• 18:01 Navigating Mental Health in the Arts
• 24:06 Creative Pursuits and Future Aspirations
• 30:01 Cultural Differences and British Humor
• 36:00 Music Preferences and Inspirations
• 42:09 Rapid Fire Questions

Transcript

Shayla Tharp (00:00)
Well, hey everyone, this is Shayla Tharp and you're listening to Having a Laugh. First of all, have to... Okay, this is Drew Bales. He lives in England. He's an actor, performer.

but most importantly, we lived together and the whole reason why I named this podcast having a laugh is because of you. Because, yes, because Drew, real up and close and personal already, but I mean, I don't know if you want people to know, but you sleep talk. Okay.

Drew Bales (00:23)
Yes, it's me. I'm the Origins.

No, I'll happily tell the story. I do. I didn't realise I did until kind of around that time. It was, I think, 2018. I went up with my parents to London. We went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and stayed at either a Premier Inn or a travel lodge, one of them. And during the night... I'm so popular, already... I'll get rid of that on my email.

Shayla Tharp (00:40)
Noooo

Classic.

You

people already wanting to talk to you.

Drew Bales (01:04)
already, crazy. And in the middle of the night, I woke up my parents by screaming at the top of my lungs, I'm just having a laugh!

Shayla Tharp (01:17)
way you told us it, you were like, I'm just having a laugh. And it just, my God, it killed me. And I never forgot it. yeah, I'm just having a laugh.

Drew Bales (01:28)
I'm very angry in my sleep. It's very... I don't know what that is. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (01:34)
It's probably something deep and subconscious. Yeah. I like to think. Well, thank you so much for being here. I miss you. When did we last live together? Forever ago. Like two years, three years. God. To 20, to 21. Yeah. Yeah. wow. And it's 24. Ooh. Ooh.

Drew Bales (01:38)
Yeah, because I'm generally quite cheery, I like to think. Yeah, weird.

Pleasure. I miss you. Yeah.

Yeah, 20... 2019? No, no, no, no, no, no, 2021. Yeah.

Yeah, time is scary.

Shayla Tharp (02:05)
Time be flyin'. So how are you? You got your masters. You did things. I'm so proud of you.

Drew Bales (02:10)
Yes. Yeah. Kind of just doing bits and bobs. Yeah, I was up in Birmingham for a year doing a media production course. Yeah, just a year. It flew by, to be honest. Yeah, I got to do some cool things and stuff. yeah, I know, I forget I was there all the time. It's a very strange side quest in my life.

Shayla Tharp (02:20)
Is that how long you were there? Just a year?

Yeah. Yeah, I f

I always forget you were there.

You

Yeah. Yeah.

Drew Bales (02:40)
I like to just take big swings and sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don't.

Shayla Tharp (02:46)
That's fair. think, I think, that's wonderful. And you were my first and only trip to Birmingham so far. Yes, I did. And I was like, wow, the other side of England. Wow. Looks a lot like the other part.

Drew Bales (02:53)
Yes, you came to visit, didn't you? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we went through sort of the bull ring, city centre. It was Christmas, yeah. So it had a very London -y vibe to it. I found with Birmingham, when you veered away from the bull ring and city centre, it got a bit weirder. Yeah. I don't think I ever left the house and...

Shayla Tharp (03:05)
It was Christmas! Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Scandalous. Yeah.

Drew Bales (03:25)
I think I always had a strange interaction with someone when I left the house over there. It was interesting.

Shayla Tharp (03:30)
Well, yeah, to be fair, I did in London as well. yeah, it's the same. It's the same. So everything's been going well. How's the parents? How's the cat?

Drew Bales (03:34)
Yeah, which is like London. Yeah.

parents are good, the cats are good, yeah. Love in life, love in life. How are you?

Shayla Tharp (03:45)
Good, good, good. I'm alright, I'm moving to LA in like three weeks. no, come with. yeah, I wanted you to come with me.

Drew Bales (03:54)
Wow, fabulous. Goodness. Yeah. Are you taking any cuts?

Shayla Tharp (04:00)
Triggered. No, I can't right now for the first year. I'm going to give it like a year because I'm not entirely sure if I want to be back there for good yet. So I want to go back, work, get ready, and then if I love it, I'll have the cats come over. Good to go. If I don't love it, we'll figure out plan B and go somewhere else. But I'm trying to just be.

Drew Bales (04:14)
Okay.

Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (04:28)
relaxed and chill, but I'm panicking. But I think it'll be good and I hope you come visit because that would be so fun to show you around Hollywood.

Drew Bales (04:34)
Yeah.

Yes. well yeah, I've never been to America, so...

Shayla Tharp (04:42)
wait what? Yes you have.

Drew Bales (04:45)
I've never been to - no I haven't, no.

Shayla Tharp (04:47)
I thought you've been to, like, New York or something.

Drew Bales (04:50)
No, no, not me. No. No, no, so when I was in Birmingham, I visited my friend in Sheffield, and that was the furthest north I'd ever been. So I'm not very well travelled. I haven't been abroad, Shayla, before Covid, since before we met.

Shayla Tharp (04:52)
No, not me.

RUH!

COVID, where's the place you love to go and where is it? Greece? And you're like, we have a house. We have a house in Cyprus. Well, we're just, we're just popping to Cyprus.

Drew Bales (05:14)
Cyprus. We have an apartment in Cyprus! We're just off to Cyprus. I haven't been to Cyprus in a very long time. Talk about it all the time and never go.

Shayla Tharp (05:24)
my god, what are you doing? Have you been working like 24 -7?

Drew Bales (05:32)
Basically, that's kind of it. It's working, but also not having the funds to go on holiday. I mean, I have to go somewhere next year. It's just, I have to, because it's been far too long, far too long.

Shayla Tharp (05:33)
Yeah.

I feel that.

You gotta.

Mm -hmm. Great. Cool. You can come with me. So, I'd love to get to know a little bit about you, your childhood, what was it like, who did you look up to, did you always want to be a performer, actor?

Drew Bales (05:52)
Yeah.

Yeah, it's funny, I never really had a defining like, yes, I will be an actor. But I always loved films from when I was really, really young. I had all the Disney VHSs just lined up. That was my childhood, just watching things and was very aware even at that time of...

Shayla Tharp (06:13)
You

Mm -hmm.

Drew Bales (06:31)
credits and sort of looking, yes, that's an actor playing this role. And, you know, I very quickly became a human Wikipedia when it came to films and stuff like that. So it was kind of ingrained in me by the, by the time I was seven, I got involved with an amateur theatre company, that kind of age where your parents are just throwing you at clubs and seeing what sticks. And think my parents had tried for quite a few years to

Shayla Tharp (06:39)
Wow.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Drew Bales (07:00)
get me to do some sports and quickly realised that wasn't gonna be me. And yeah, ended up being part of a theatre company which gave me, I mean, in my first year, I was given a great opportunity to be Chip the Cup in the touring production of Beauty and the Beast, yeah, when it came down to Devon, yeah. And through that company did...

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the King and I as well through the years. Yeah, yeah.

Shayla Tharp (07:32)
I remember that. When did you do, you did the, that TV show or something where it's like good in Germany or yeah, what was that?

Drew Bales (07:39)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was through that company as well. So that was 2011 time. So was about 13 around that point. Yeah, so it was an educational DVD that I think they still use in Germany now teaching students English. And there were two series of it. So I did it with my good friend Claire. It was quite sitcom -y, but...

Shayla Tharp (07:49)
wow.

Drew Bales (08:09)
but all the dialogue you had to say very slowly and be very clear and go, hello there, I'm off to the shops. Yeah. And it was great fun. I got paid very nicely for it. Yeah, yeah. No, some of my favorite days are just putting that DVD on with a couple of friends and getting hammered.

Shayla Tharp (08:17)
Yeah, that's cute. I'm still waiting for my copy of it.

and having a laugh.

Drew Bales (08:36)
Yeah, having a laugh, because it's the only way I can get through it. It's not my finest work.

Shayla Tharp (08:41)
love it. I love it. And you're such a kooky person as well. Like you love the Grinch, like Jim Carrey -esque, the cat in the hat. We love those goofy things and I think that's such your personality. You're just such a goon.

Drew Bales (08:51)
Yeah.

It is. The Grinch was one of those films that I had on VHS that I've probably watched The Grinch more times than any other film. Maybe Shrek 2. Shrek 2 might be up there as well. But The Grinch for sure. And that kind of started my Jim Carrey obsession as well, which was a massive influence on me. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (09:10)
Hehehehe

Yep.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. And obviously Mike Myers. So were those kind of... Who else did you kind of look up to then as a child?

Drew Bales (09:34)
Yeah, well, interesting. It all kind of happened at seven. Seven must be a really defining, defining year. Yeah. Well, when I was seven years old, Doctor Who came back after being off the air for years in the UK, came back in 2005. And that blew my mind. So when it came back, was Christopher Eccleston. And then a year after that, David Tennant.

Shayla Tharp (09:39)
What happened at 7?

Right? Mm -hmm.

Who was it?

Right, okay.

Mm

Drew Bales (10:04)
took the role. I remember watching that first episode as it aired and being so annoyed because I couldn't watch the second episode because we were going to France and this was back in the old days where you know if you didn't pop your VHS in to record it you had it. There was no BBC iPlayer or catch -up you were done for until the video came out.

Shayla Tharp (10:19)
You can't. Yeah. It's gone.

Ha ha ha ha!

Mm -hmm.

Drew Bales (10:32)
That just totally blew my mind and became a ridiculous fan after that.

Shayla Tharp (10:39)
So then what was the point where you were like, I want to do that?

Drew Bales (10:44)
Well, this is it. went through, so I do a show every year with my amateur theatre company and really I was mainly there for the friendships that I made and I just sort of over time fell into it. I got to sort of, think the age of 15 when you start to pick your options and stuff like that and I just kind of realized, well, this is what I'm good at. I mean, I was good at English, but I wasn't.

most academic person in the world. Maths, I was so happy to get my C grade when I finally got my GCSEs. And yeah, science was a a shit show as well. So it was always the arts for me. It was always the arts. My dad was always a musician as well. And my mum's very artsy and you know, so.

Shayla Tharp (11:14)
Mm

Ha ha ha!

That's right.

Mm -hmm.

Drew Bales (11:38)
It was kind of a given. I never went, I will be an actor, mother! But it was... it just happened. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (11:41)
It is time. And how has your journey been through that? Like, so you got your GCSEs. Did you go straight into like, just focusing on drama or I can't even remember. Did you go straight to, where did we go? East 15 and then took a break and then came back.

Drew Bales (12:04)
So, did my GCSEs, then you do two years of A -levels. So I moved school to a school that was great. Had a really good drama department, a lot of money put into it. I did, yeah, drama A -level, performing arts B -tech, and English as well. And my parents were very supportive about it all. They wanted me to do the English, just so I had something else.

Shayla Tharp (12:09)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Good.

Something.

Drew Bales (12:32)
But yeah, those two years were probably the formative years for me in terms of getting to constantly be putting on shows and putting things into practice and really kind of honing my craft at kind of early stage. That was when I really was like, okay, yeah, this is what I want to do. Audition for drama schools in the first year.

and got into East 15. And yeah, was just madness. I was only 18 years old when I first went to East 15. was ridiculous.

Shayla Tharp (13:12)
That just sounds not right. Like that just sounds wrong.

Drew Bales (13:15)
Yeah, it was. I was too young. I was too young.

Shayla Tharp (13:21)
But did you take like a break or something and then you came back to East 15 or?

Drew Bales (13:25)
Yeah, it took some time out because yeah, I was too young and yeah, came back and then Covid hit and that was that this is when we met at a grand old time stuck in that house.

Shayla Tharp (13:34)
yes. yes.

That's where I step in.

I mean, we had a few good months before COVID hit. So like we were doing normal stuff. And then it was just like me and you are locked down together for a year. Like straight up, just like we're isolated like in a prison for like a year.

Drew Bales (13:46)
Yeah. Yeah.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

We could have been anywhere, that's the thing. I you'd moved from a whole other country and, well, Devon is so different to London, but we could have been anywhere because we couldn't go on the Tube at times.

Shayla Tharp (14:03)
Yeah, I mean.

Yes.

Yeah.

The rules were so, do you remember the rules being so strict? Like you can't have more than five people in your house. You can't have, you know, anyone over. And like, it was intense. And like, I think we both kind of had a good month, a bad month, we're gonna lose it month. I mean, I think I hit February and I was like, I can't do this anymore. I was like, guys.

Drew Bales (14:21)
Yeah.

Mmm.

Yeah, it was, I remember it being November. There was lockdown one. Lockdown one was lovely in this country. It was the spring, it was March, April and just gorgeous weather. Obviously a lot of terrible stuff going on, but there was at least an ability to sit in your back garden. But November lockdown was just awful. That I think nearly finished me off.

Shayla Tharp (14:43)
I hit a wall in November.

I enjoyed it.

I was like, yeah. Yeah.

Mm -hmm. Lockdown two.

No, I know. Remember when I was like, I mean, I'm not going to go into it, but like that November, I was like, I can't even go back to school. Like, I'm not doing well. I'm not well. And yeah, it was, think that almost finished us all off. And I think we were all about to finish each other off. Cause I was like, I'm going to kill you guys. I'm going kill you. I can't do it.

Drew Bales (15:08)
So, let's enjoy.

Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (15:32)
But we survived and I'm so proud of us. We got through by just, know, binging every TV show, which I kind of, I don't know, whenever, I mean, I don't want kids, but if I ever have grandkids, I'm gonna just be like, these moments with my husband, Drew, were so important. You really got me through that COVID period.

Drew Bales (15:50)
Yeah.

Yeah, well you too, you too. Because god, could you imagine if we were in a house with just people we utterly despised, it just, it would have been game over, no.

Shayla Tharp (16:09)
I even struggled with you guys. And I liked you. I was like, get out of here. And then I'd be up in my room and you guys would just walk on in, which is totally fine. But it would be so funny. I'd be like reading my lines, doing something. And then you two would barge in and be like, Shayla, she's doing this. I, she didn't do this. She's on the toilet and I need in the bathroom.

Drew Bales (16:11)
Exactly, yeah.

Yeah, it's a great time. It's a great time.

Shayla Tharp (16:36)
It was absolutely horrible, but I loved every second of it that I think back on. So I'm glad you were there. How have you been? So we after that, we finished off school, you went to Birmingham. Have you done any more productions or anything since you've been out? What have you been kind of like gearing towards? Have you been doing more editing or I know you like to edit videos and

Drew Bales (16:46)
Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah, I did a lot of editing when I was really young. had a YouTube channel at the time, did a lot of that kind of stuff. So it kind of scratched that itch going back to it for my masters and I'd like to go back into that.

Shayla Tharp (17:10)
I - yeah. -huh.

Drew Bales (17:21)
At the moment I'm learning how to drive and that's quite an important thing to have if you want to work in the TV and film industry. Yeah, so I've kind of put the brakes on it for now as I'm just learning how to drive and working at a SEN school for the time being, which I'm really loving actually. It kind of works for me and the skills and stuff. I'm a teaching assistant there, looking after kids and yeah, it's...

Shayla Tharp (17:29)
It really is. Yes.

What do do there?

Aww.

Drew Bales (17:52)
just really fun, really rewarding, because I've done retail, I've done enough retail and that's not rewarding. I'm happy to give that up. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (17:55)
Did you? Yeah.

No.

Yeah, you'd be such a great teacher. mean, you're kind of childlike in just every quality. like, you're very mature. It's just, you have a childlike Jim Carrey -ness to you that kids would love. What ages are they?

Drew Bales (18:06)
Hmm.

Yes.

thank you. But on the, so it's kind of the whole range. It's both a primary and a secondary school. So we kind of work with all kids. Yeah. So it's pretty full on, pretty full on, but really, really nice group of people. I've really, really enjoyed it. And also I've done a few actory bits on the side. So the theater down here, the theater royal where I was

Shayla Tharp (18:27)
wow.

Huh.

Mm

Drew Bales (18:46)
chip the cupping and stuff. I did a weird thing called the 24 hour plays. Yeah, which was a really fun experience and kind of scratch a niche. I'd always wanted to be part of a rep company and just consistently churn out shows and stuff and change roles and do that. And it was kind of that, just distilled in one day. So we were split into a few groups.

Shayla Tharp (18:53)
Yeah, I saw that.

Mm

Yeah.

Drew Bales (19:16)
So was three actors, a writer and a director in each group. We were given a theme for the writer to do what they will with. And then the following morning we received the script from the writer and performed it that evening. No, thankfully we had it in our hands, but we'd rehearsed it all day. And so we weren't really looking at it too much.

Shayla Tharp (19:32)
Did you have to do it off book? Okay. Okay.

Mm -hmm. I've done a 24 -hour film one. So, like, you write the script and then, like, you film it in 24 hours and it's done. But, like, I couldn't imagine doing one on, like, in a theater. And did you have a full audience or, how did that work? Whoo!

Drew Bales (19:46)
but it was so much fun.

Yeah, Yeah, full audience. I mean, I feel like half the audience were my family. Because everyone went to see it. But yeah, Richard was lovely of them. Bernard was there. Bernard was there, yes. My grandfather.

Shayla Tharp (20:10)
Aww, bless him. Was Bernard there?

Bernard, Bernard, your gran, your grandfather that writes books.

Drew Bales (20:22)
He does. He does indeed. Yeah. Are we we are we a quintessentially British family?

Shayla Tharp (20:24)
Yeah, I love your family. I think they're great. I think.

True, yes, yes, 100%. my God, couldn't, the day that you said, I knew, I was like, you are just so quintessential British, is like we were having KFC first of all, and you go, can you hand me the serviette? And I go, the what? The serviette, and I was like, the hell is that? You like, the napkin? I was like, my God.

Drew Bales (20:37)
I don't know, I don't know.

Let's serve here.

Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (21:03)
I was like, that can't be topped. That was so quintessential. Never heard of it.

Drew Bales (21:06)
No, no. Was Lollipop Lady up there as well?

Shayla Tharp (21:12)
Lollipop lady?

Drew Bales (21:13)
So know, know, those traffic, do you call them traffic wardens? Where they have the stick and they... Crossing guard, yeah, we call them lollipop ladies.

Shayla Tharp (21:17)
Crossing guard, a crossing guard. Yes. Lollipop ladies. my God. like everything in England, you guys just, what are the ice creams that I used to make fun of? Like I got so angry one week and I was just like, this is so stupid. Why are all your ice creams like knobbly, bubbly, but no big bobblies. Like it's so absurd. Just fricking say lollipop or ice pop.

Drew Bales (21:38)
Nobly bubbly, yeah. Nobly bubbly.

Shayla Tharp (21:47)
Nobly boblies. And I, yeah, you are so quintessentially British and I love it.

Drew Bales (21:47)
Yeah, nobly bobly.

I'm proud to be.

Shayla Tharp (21:57)
Good. And how has, just to switch topics super quickly, your acting journey, so it seems, I guess, how old are you now around?

Drew Bales (22:13)
26 now.

Shayla Tharp (22:15)
No, no. So you're ancient. And this journey has been a long one. Have you struggled with your mental health at all?

Drew Bales (22:16)
Yep.

Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think particularly during COVID, that was really very hard. And I kind of, finished that course for the first time in my life, sort of going, is this actually what I want to be doing? I'm really wrestled with that for a for a good year. And only recently, really in the last year, as things have just cropped up, have I sort of found, you know, the real passion for it again.

Shayla Tharp (22:38)
Mm

Drew Bales (22:52)
It's interesting. I found that a lot of things have just come to me without me needing to pursue it, which I quite like. It's kind of like, it's like what they say with relationships, if you don't go looking for it, it will suddenly just happen. So yeah.

Shayla Tharp (23:04)
Yeah.

Exactly. Did you have any like moments throughout your undergrads or anything like that where you were like, I don't know if I can do this career or was it just when we were at East 15 that really plummeted that for you?

Drew Bales (23:28)
I think it was towards the end of East 15 definitely.

Shayla Tharp (23:32)
They killed any love or passion I had for the craft whatsoever. I was like, I hate everything about this. I want out.

Drew Bales (23:41)
Well, I kind of reached a point with it. Obviously you go through the first year and it's about building you up and breaking you down. Well, breaking you down to build you up, I guess is the phrase that they would use and giving you roles that are against your type and trying to stretch your range or whatever. I'd get all these...

notes and I get feedback saying you should do this you should do this you should do this or less of this less of this and I remember being frustrated at the time thinking well these are the things these are my bag my this is my bag of tricks like this this is what I've been doing for years and I now can't use that bag of tricks I've got to make a new bag I kind of got to the end of third year going you know what I'm gonna do what I want and it it wasn't that I rejected everything I learned at age 15 I learned a ridiculous amount

Shayla Tharp (24:17)
Hahaha

Mm -hmm.

Drew Bales (24:35)
I think I just grabbed my new bag and poured a lot of the old bag back in and weirdly got my best feedback, which was really, really quite bizarre.

Shayla Tharp (24:38)
Yeah.

Yeah.

That's how it works. Well, it's like the thing once you kind of stop caring, it's like, okay, cool. Yeah, that worked great. But I had to get to that point as well at the school where it was like, I cared so much and I loved everything and I was used to a certain way. And then they were just like, And I mean, I just liked a lot of it, but I do think

Drew Bales (24:54)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (25:15)
going through it made me better and it'll continue to make us better but I mean...

Drew Bales (25:24)
Yeah, it's hard. It's really, really hard.

Shayla Tharp (25:26)
It's hard and I don't think it's for everybody. And I don't know if it's even really, I want to say it's like not great for us because like mentally it was just being beat up.

I want to say it's like not great for us because like mentally it was just being beat up. I do at your school at East 15. I mean, when I, my undergrad I got in California was very similar to the the East 15 way, but not so, it seemed a little behind the times.

Drew Bales (25:39)
Do you think it's behind the times now? I think the world is a lot... yeah.

Mmm.

Well, the teachers would try and, they would tell you, we're not going to give you good feedback all the time. Don't, don't do this expecting us to go, that was brilliant. That was brilliant. We're going to pick up on the things that aren't working. and we're going to be harsh because that's indicative of the people you're going to meet in the industry. But nine times out of 10, I, I've met phenomenally nice people in the industry. And so.

Shayla Tharp (26:08)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Drew Bales (26:32)
That's where I struggle with it.

Shayla Tharp (26:34)
Yeah, and I also felt like the teaching way, they didn't really want to be personal with you or like really become your friend. And like teachers in America, they're more about being personal with you. Like, how's your family? How's your day? And they're just like, no.

Drew Bales (26:47)
Yeah.

But I've always had that before East 15. I've got great relationships with previous teachers that I've had and they've been amazing mentors to me. It's just that drama school thing. Yeah, there is a detachment there.

Shayla Tharp (26:59)
so it's a British thing.

Mm

Yeah, it's such a detachment and I didn't like that because I want it, I thrive off like the attention of the teacher, the good attention. I'm like, thank you, you love me, yay. And they were not giving it to me. They were just like, ugh.

Drew Bales (27:28)
No. It's an industry where you've got to make connections and you've got to network and it could benefit them getting to know you as much as the other way around. So it's their loss really.

Shayla Tharp (27:33)
Yeah, and I felt so alone.

Yes, it was exactly who wouldn't want to get to know me. Rude. Rude. And was your masters better or worse that way?

Drew Bales (27:48)
Yeah, exactly.

It was 50 -50. It was great to have a nice relationship with people there and with the staff. The staff were very nice. The course was a bit disappointing really, but my mental health was fine. I had a perfectly serviceable time. It was fine. And it all pay off in the long run when I...

Shayla Tharp (28:17)
Good.

Good. That's not bad.

Mm -hmm.

Drew Bales (28:26)
Go down the FilmTV Avenue.

Shayla Tharp (28:29)
Exactly. And as long as your mental health was good, then that's fine. I mean, that's fine. That's a win. That's a win. So I also want to know, like, what were some of your biggest, like, hurdles in the industry? Like, what are something roadblocks that you came upon? Like, I'm trying to think. I don't know. Like, not that your Plymouth accent is...

Drew Bales (28:33)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (28:58)
is bad or wrong, but was that a hurdle? Like, was your accent different from other Londoners?

Drew Bales (29:04)
It's really weird. So when I grew up down here, I was considered quite posh when I had my school because I didn't have the really strong Devon accent. No, I don't. I don't. can hear there are vowel sounds for sure. House for one thing. Mouse. Yeah. And it wasn't until I...

Shayla Tharp (29:12)
huh.

And you don't, you don't.

House. Ma Maus. Yeah. Maus. But that's about it.

Drew Bales (29:32)
moved to East 15 really where I heard those vowel sounds. I felt like I sounded more Plimothian when I left Plymouth. So I never really saw it as a hurdle. That aspect, I think what I was talking about just, I felt like over time, during my time at drama school, I was being fit into kind of a cookie cutter model version of myself when I think

Shayla Tharp (29:35)
Hmm.

Drew Bales (30:02)
me as me was far more interesting. mean, there were a lot of people in my year that kind of looked like me. So I think by the time I got to the end, I felt like we were just indistinguishable.

Shayla Tharp (30:06)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah. Did you ever struggle with like body image or, you know, anything like that?

Drew Bales (30:25)
I didn't know, mean, I've always been quite lanky and thin. I do remember doing a drama school audition, I won't say which one, but I did have to take my top off. Yeah, quite strange. Yeah, my parents afterwards and they were like, not sure on that. No, I mean, again, drama school were quite, they wanted me to...

Shayla Tharp (30:27)
Good for you.

I'm calling the cops.

We're not going there.

Drew Bales (30:53)
pack on the pounds in my first year because I was very small in that first year but no I didn't let them affect me. Go away. Batter them away.

Shayla Tharp (30:53)
Mm -hmm.

Aww.

Good. Good way. Good. I'm proud of you. Look at you go. Aw, shucks. Did you, I know you're big music lover. Did you, are there like a genre of music you listen to when you're wanting to be inspired or helping you get over something?

Drew Bales (31:11)
shucks.

God. I'm listening to music constantly. It's just an ongoing thing. But since probably, well, since 2017, I think, I've been doing Spotify playlists. I will put, I will do monthly playlists of 10 songs, like the 10 songs I've listened to the most in each month. When it gets to sort of 12 months, I'll then collect those.

Shayla Tharp (31:30)
I know.

Drew Bales (31:55)
that in a playlist and then just keep this archive basically and then those are just the playlists I constantly listen to and I'll if I want to go back to what was what was 2019 Drew listening to I'll stick that playlist on and

Shayla Tharp (31:59)
Mm -hmm.

You know, you could just make a yearly one, just instead of monthly, just make the yearly one and just stick everything.

Drew Bales (32:14)
Yes, but I'm an old fart and I've started it this way so I'm kind of stuck in my rubbish. Yeah, and I get given the discover, well the Spotify Rats one at the end of the year which is basically the same thing, but because it's my curated one it's different. So that's me. Yeah, I have all kinds of rubbish.

Shayla Tharp (32:17)
God you are. my God, you're so British.

The same thing, yeah.

Mm -hmm. It is. What's on it?

Drew Bales (32:43)
It's mainly alternative rock, because that's just what I've grown up with, but there'll be some weird outliers, often influenced by who I'm living with. There's loads of stuff that comes up and I'm like, yeah, that was a Shayla song. It does happen. Exactly, yeah.

Shayla Tharp (33:01)
I have plenty of Drew songs that pop up because I have a playlist that I've made for you and now it's over on Apple Music so you don't even listen to it. Yeah, I just have it for my own sentimental reasons and I just continue to add I just continue to add songs off. I'm like that's like Drew and I add it. Yeah, and I think you're the cover of it Yeah, you're on my Apple Music

Drew Bales (33:09)
Is it really? wow.

I that! Yeah. That's lovely. Am I right?

My goodness.

Shayla Tharp (33:31)
what is - hold on. Yeah, it's called Drew Bales. And it's just full of songs that remind - -huh.

Drew Bales (33:37)
the cure at the very start. I've been listening to the cure all day.

Shayla Tharp (33:46)
Well, this song, yeah, it reminds me of you. And then the next one Shrek 2. Linda Cardellini. just yeah, anything. Smashing pumpkins I got for you. Yeah. Bebadooby. Bebadooby. Bebadooby. She's lovely. Love that.

Drew Bales (33:50)
Well there you go, I literally listening to the cure on the bus home. Of course, of course. A classic. Yep.

Of course, of course.

Beep -a -doopie. Yep.

Yeah. I do like Chappellrone. I've only come across her recently. I've loved Chappellrone. I've really loved the Charli XCX album. Yes, it's bloody fantastic. I have it right here.

Shayla Tharp (34:16)
Do you like Chappell roan?

Yeee!

Really?

Well, that's so interesting. I don't know why I didn't think that you would necessarily go for that.

Drew Bales (34:44)
No, it's very out of pocket for me, but good music is good music. And I heard people talking about it early on in the summer, listened to it, and I was like, yeah, this is sick. Yeah, it's bloody great. I'm into Nine Inch Nails, which is very sort of industrial rock. And a lot of it, I mean, a lot of it's kind of 90s club rave, but a lot of it's very...

Shayla Tharp (34:47)
Yeah.

You had a brat summer.

Aw, good!

thought you were gonna say the same.

Mm -hmm.

Drew Bales (35:13)
industrial as well. It's very good.

Shayla Tharp (35:16)
Yeah, I like Guess with Billie Eilish. That one is my favorite. And then the Apple one, and that's about it. That's about it. That's it. Yeah, it's too much for me. It's too much. There's just a lot happening.

Drew Bales (35:20)
Yes. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah! That's it. That's my cutoff.

No, I get it. It is, it is a lot happening. But that's why it's great. I feel like it's captured the zeitgeist of -

Shayla Tharp (35:36)
I have too much anxiety for all that.

everything. Well, she's British, right? Yeah, I feel like there's like that British club rave vibe that's in there. And I can't, I can't relate. I want to. I'm not a Bratzomer. Good. I really loved her album and the whole thing. was like, I haven't felt that way since like, maybe like

Drew Bales (35:44)
Angry. Yes. Yeah.

It's very yeah, yeah, yeah big time

No. Yeah, but yeah, enjoying chapel, right?

Shayla Tharp (36:12)
Lady Gaga's country album or whatever that one was. yeah, Joanne. That was so good. So how has life been with like when you have lulls between your acting jobs, what are you doing? Do you still continue to write? Do you do anything other creativeness?

Drew Bales (36:15)
Yeah, yeah, chauvin.

Yeah.

Yeah, basically that's all I do. I have to be doing something. I might not always complete the project, but I'm always doing a project. I'm literally facing three guitars right now and a big amp and it's like, I need to practice guitar more. I was, well.

Shayla Tharp (36:42)
I'm - yeah.

Mm -hmm.

What guitars do you have?

Don't you have a white one?

Drew Bales (37:04)
Yes! So there's this one, this one's quite new. She's very beautiful, look at that neck.

Shayla Tharp (37:06)
Ooh, she's beautiful. That's my - they got little birds on it! That's - that's so cute!

Drew Bales (37:13)
little birds yeah this one you'll recognize this is the one that that sat in sat in my room yeah there she is there she is and then i've got an acoustic one which will be a pain to get out from the corner yeah so continuing with that i i did do a novel writing thing over november

Shayla Tharp (37:20)
Your room? Yep, there she is. There she is.

Yeah, fair enough.

That's right!

Drew Bales (37:42)
There's a NaNoWriMo, a national novel writing month, where you have to write 50 ,000 words in a month, which I did. And I still, I said, yeah, yeah, it was really fun. I wrote a weird fantasy novel, which I will come back to. At this rate, it will be November again when I'll really attack it. I've made a lot of notes for the second draft.

Shayla Tharp (37:44)
huh.

How'd go?

Do you have your grandpa read it?

Drew Bales (38:10)
I will give it to my grandpa eventually. That's the whole reason I wanted to do it, to be honest, because he wrote his novel over Covid and I was like, I will write you one back, good sir. See ya. Yes!

Shayla Tharp (38:12)
Good.

I see your novel and up you a s another novel.

Aww. Well good! I think that's great. I want to read it.

Drew Bales (38:32)
Yeah. Yes, yes. Yeah, so always doing something. It's just a load of hoax. Well, it's a fence of... I should be promoting it. It's amazing. It's an amazing fantasy tale about a group of orcs and... An orc? They're kind of one of the main fantasy creatures.

Shayla Tharp (38:36)
What's it about?

It's a load of bollocks.

It's an orc.

Drew Bales (39:02)
often enemies so in Lord of the Rings they're sort of like the ogre -y looking people yeah they show up in everything World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons yeah Dungeons and Dragons as well I try to do every so often that's like the ultimate actor's game

Shayla Tharp (39:07)
Okay

Mm -hmm. I didn't know they had a name.

The ultimate. Yes. That is a good one.

Drew Bales (39:23)
And I brought that to my school as well. And some of the kids are obsessed with it now.

Shayla Tharp (39:28)
I'm sure. I remember when I was a youngin' in the 90s, we brought Pokemon cards and then they had to like outlaw it because we all just got too hype about it.

Drew Bales (39:36)
Yeah. That happened at my school, but it was erm... It wasn't Polkloy cards, it was Doctor Who cards. Yeah. But they were like top trumps. The stats and everything. I've got them, I've got them somewhere.

Shayla Tharp (39:41)
just fighting over cards.

my gosh.

yeah.

I bet you do. I bet you freaking do. Yep, that's what happened with us. We were going too hard and they were like, get out. Get those out of there. God. Well, do you mind if I ask you a few rapid questions?

Drew Bales (39:58)
Yeah, but they were outlawed. We weren't allowed to bring them in.

Absolutely far away.

Shayla Tharp (40:14)
Right, they're usually not rapid because I end up interrupting and going into detail but ask what it's called. What's something people get wrong about you?

Drew Bales (40:22)
Okay.

The thing I always say, people who don't know me very well think I'm just this like, happy positive person all the time. And I'm not, can be a cynical bastard for sure. No, no, exactly. But I know when someone doesn't know me well, when they'll sort of turn to me and go, true.

Shayla Tharp (40:32)
Mm

You ain't gotta tell me.

Drew Bales (40:50)
You're just so happy all the time, aren't you? Like, are you ever not happy? You know, just think, yeah. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (40:54)
Yeah. Yeah. I also think that's kind of, hear me, I am interrupting. I also think that is kind of British, very British of you. Lots of, I mean, from my point of view, was a lot of people would be happy up front and then behind the scenes. Yeah. And Americans were more like, we're going to speak on that immediately if I'm unhappy about something.

Drew Bales (41:15)
and then it sets in. Yeah.

Yeah, that's probably better.

Shayla Tharp (41:25)
Hit or miss? Hit or miss? What's your guilty pleasure TV show?

Drew Bales (41:27)
Yeah. Yeah.

Glee.

Shayla Tharp (41:33)
I thought you were going to say Eastenders.

Drew Bales (41:36)
I... no, EastEnders actually. I Glee, Glee, watched the whole way through and recognized it for what it was and I love it. I just don't care. EastEnders for sure. EastEnders I absolutely adore and do not miss an episode. Yeah, well, the next episode's in 13 minutes. I've gotta go. yeah, love it. If it honestly...

Shayla Tharp (41:42)
Yeah.

Yeah. Are you still watching it?

God, we gotta hurry up.

Drew Bales (42:05)
All I really need to achieve in my acting career is a bit part of new standards. That's all I need. That's all I need, really.

Shayla Tharp (42:09)
Eastenders. Yeah. I hope somebody hears this and hires you immediately.

Drew Bales (42:16)
Yeah, yeah, well, I could be Phil Mitchell's long -lust son. We both have no hair, yeah. Exactly.

Shayla Tharp (42:20)
absolutely. Absolutely. Speaking of the no hair, I mean, you had hair when I first met you. I like the shaves. I like it.

Drew Bales (42:27)
Yeah, so that... do you? I'm glad. Well, you like Bruce Willis, that's why. That's why.

Shayla Tharp (42:33)
I do. I do like that. What is your favorite childhood movie?

Drew Bales (42:39)
health, the Grinch, Mulan, Cat in the Hat.

Shayla Tharp (42:41)
Yeah. Yes, Mulan. I forgot. Mulan. Nightmare Before Christmas.

Drew Bales (42:46)
Make me land!

Nightmare Before Christmas, yes. Big one. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (42:54)
Yeah, I like I already knew the answer. What was your last Google search?

Drew Bales (43:00)
Ooh, let me check. I bet you it's something really boring.

Shayla Tharp (43:02)
Give it to me.

Drew Bales (43:05)
god.

Shayla Tharp (43:05)
Tell me.

Drew Bales (43:08)
I just saw Pearl Jam. Well, it's about guitar, it's quite a serious subject. Well, there's a member, well, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers that got done for using his phone whilst driving, I think, and hitting someone, basically. And he's been a part of Pearl Jam recently. So that was my last Google search.

Shayla Tharp (43:37)
That seems right up your alley. -huh. What's your go -to karaoke song?

Drew Bales (43:39)
Yeah, music related. Go to karaoke song. the killers. All these things. All these things that I've done. Or maybe under pressure as well. I do under pressure a

Shayla Tharp (43:45)
Yeah. Ooh, which,

Ooh, yeah, that's a good one. Dasa gave one. But you would be good at killers.

Drew Bales (44:02)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (44:03)
Halloween's coming up. What's your next Halloween costume? Are you gonna do anything for Halloween? You Brits don't really do too much for Halloween. It upsets me.

Drew Bales (44:10)
No, and I never did trick or treating either when I was a kid because my parents hated it, so we never did it, which is really sad. Yeah, Phil hated trick or treat, so never did it. I've done Halloween partays since partays.

Shayla Tharp (44:16)
I'm upset.

Phil?

Partays! Yeah.

Drew Bales (44:37)
I don't know who to go as this year. Well, I've never done Jack and Sally and I feel like we'd be a good Jack and Sally, so I need to come and visit when it's Halloween.

Shayla Tharp (44:43)
I know and I feel like that's...

So the days that I asked you to come drive to California with me, and you said no.

Drew Bales (44:54)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll definitely, we'll definitely catch up. We'll definitely meet. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (45:00)
We'll circle around next year.

What's one thing you're exceptionally good at?

Drew Bales (45:05)
Exceptionally good at.

Shayla Tharp (45:08)
Yes, exceptionally.

Drew Bales (45:10)
getting things done early. I'm being early. I've always been early to things. I hate being late for things. It fills me with dread. So when people are late, I cannot fathom it. It drives me round the twist. I don't enjoy. So I'm very good at that.

Shayla Tharp (45:14)
You are good at that.

I see it.

huh.

Round the twist.

Drew Bales (45:37)
Round the is that not a - okay, that it tries to round the twist!

Shayla Tharp (45:39)
Round the twist. Once again, never heard of it. Leave it to Drew. Never heard of it.

Drew Bales (45:45)
There we go. This is very educational for your audience.

Shayla Tharp (45:49)
I learned about every, every day I learned like a new British word from you and I'm still learning somehow. taste walls, my room looks like a tip and I was like, what's that mean? And you're like, the tip? Like the tip? And I was like, the dump? That's what we call it. The dump. So gross. What's one thing you're exceptionally bad at?

Drew Bales (45:54)
Yeah. Tis was.

Yeah, it's like a tip. That's it.

The dip!

Multitasking. Just everything. Conversation, tasks. Yeah, I cannot. Really bad, really bad. And I wish I could get better, but it's the same with my projects as well. I hone in on one until completion and then I go on to the next one. I have to do things at a time. Yeah, yeah. I've always been like it.

Shayla Tharp (46:15)
Yeah.

my god, that's right! You are so bad!

My gosh.

It's all coming back to me.

I would literally be speaking to you full on conversations, but if you were like cooking, you'd turn around and be like, what? What? And I was like, Drew, come on. It is pretty bad. I'm not gonna lie. That is true. That's the first step. Who do you look up to for inspiration?

Drew Bales (46:44)
terrible. Yeah. Yeah, Mm -hmm. Yeah, it's bad. It's bad.

But I'm aware at least.

Yeah.

Ooh. Drew Barrymore.

Shayla Tharp (47:10)
Amen.

Drew Bales (47:13)
What a ray of sunshine she is! Been through so much.

Shayla Tharp (47:15)
What a ray of sunshine. She has been through so much. I that's a great name. What a legend. What is your favorite hobby?

Drew Bales (47:20)
has a great name.

and what a legend.

Favorite hobby? Favorite hobby at the moment? I've just started learning Japanese. Yeah, yeah, So I've been really, really enjoying that. Bit of Duolingo, yeah, yeah. Though I'm trying to do, be a good boy and do like textbooks and stuff. I've just been learning. So there's three kind of alphabets, if you will, with Japanese. Hiragana, katakana, and then there's kanji, which is like 2000.

Shayla Tharp (47:34)
Wow. On Duolingo.

my.

Ugh.

Drew Bales (47:58)
characters. So I've been doing flashcards to help me learn and yeah, just been really enjoying that. I've got everyone on Duolingo. Yeah, it's good fun.

Shayla Tharp (48:05)
That's cool. Do you have like a reason for doing it or do you just like it?

Drew Bales (48:12)
I think it's my desire to get out of this country next year, mainly, and yeah, and just sort of see what happens. Who knows? There might be some interesting acting opportunities in Japan in the future.

Shayla Tharp (48:18)
You're planning.

There could be. Do you know any other languages? I can't remember.

Drew Bales (48:32)
No, and I should because my mum was a French teacher, so I should know French. And my French isn't horrendous, but it's not good. I should know French. So it's almost writing a wrong as well. I should know another language.

Shayla Tharp (48:37)
That's right, yes.

Mm

Yes. Yeah. Well, good for you. I wish... Yeah, and then it'll be super easy. Finally, what songs are on your most recent playlist? I know we already touched on this, but I need real ones so can mic them down. Good.

Drew Bales (48:53)
So I'll learn one of the hardest ones and then come back to French. Yeah.

Wow. Well, I can tell you. Yep, I can get up the September 2024 playlist.

Shayla Tharp (49:13)
Good, because I'm putting it in my playlist. I am.

Drew Bales (49:16)
So first up we've got The Emptiness Machine by Linkin Park, the new Linkin Park song with the female singer, which I've quite enjoyed. We've got...

Shayla Tharp (49:28)
Sorry, go ahead.

Drew Bales (49:30)
sorry, you froze for a second. We've got Morning Dove by kind of a more independent guy called Max DiRado. I highly recommend him. He is released one of my favorite songs of the year called America. I came across it through TikTok and it was kind of just a crummy video where he was strumming the guitar in front of his mirror. It's like dirty mirror.

Shayla Tharp (49:32)
was just excited.

Drew Bales (49:57)
It's one of the best songs I've ever heard. It's fantastic. There's a song called Hunger Games by Bob Villain, which is a good song. It's about, do you remember this morning with Phil and Holly?

Shayla Tharp (50:01)
We'll look at.

I kinda like that.

yeah.

Drew Bales (50:14)
Yeah, do you remember when they were doing a segment where they were like spinning a wheel and and if the person got the lucky strip or whatever they got their electricity bill sorted or something it's like some horrible dystopian future it's about that. I've got the prodigy breathe and and the cure the cure at the very very bottom to wish impossible things so there you go.

Shayla Tharp (50:19)
Mm

Yeah.

What a G.

yeah!

Aww. Yeah, that was a very Drew playlist. I appreciate it.

Drew Bales (50:45)
a very Drew playlist. It suddenly turned into a music podcast for a second.

Shayla Tharp (50:49)
Speaking of this so random, but do they do the morning show anymore? They're both gone, right?

Drew Bales (50:55)
They do, yeah, yeah, just a new lineup. yeah, there were many presenters before Phil and Holly, yeah.

Shayla Tharp (50:57)
our new hosts.

not in my world. It's just them. I don't know. Well, you survived. You did it all. I'm so proud of you. This was easy going. Thank you for being here. Come back any time. good. I love you.

Drew Bales (51:05)
No, not in my world, it's still there.

You

Yeah.

It's an absolute pleasure, I've loved it, yeah. It's my first first podcast I've ever done, I think. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (51:25)
good, I'm glad to be the first.