How We Role: A Podcast for Actors Launches

There are numerous celebrities known for their kindness or for promoting kindness. We've learned that defining yourself as a paragon of kindness has its dangers and pitfalls. First, if you are play-acting that role, the public will eventually find out. Ellen Degeneres and James Corden discovered that revelation out the hard way. 

Second, the world is too often not a "kind" place, with too many people blaming others for their mistakes, denigrating entire groups of people because of who they are, how they act, where they come from, and what they look like.

 In essence, kindness is not the default setting for human interaction. Then, you meet a man like Robert Peterpaul. Robert is the host of the The Art of Kindness (AOK) podcast. The Art of Kindness (AOK) bills itself as "A positively star-studded podcast that converses with and celebrates artists from all areas of the entertainment industry (Film, TV, Broadway, etc.) who use their platform to make the world a better place. Join The AOK as we sprinkle positivity around like confetti and get to the bottom of what kindness really means through compassionate conversations."

 In every episode, host Robert Peterpaul elicits tales from Broadway people and celebrities about how they sprinkle kindness throughout their world. Peterpaul always asks each guest, "What does kindness mean to you?" He also asks guests how they react to people praising them.

The show began in July 2021, produced by the Broadway podcast Network, and has released more than 150 episodes. Since the podcast began, the host Robert Peterpaul has gotten married, interviewed the legendary Carol Burnett on the show's 100th episode, again celebrated World Kindness Day. 

Like many talented, driven, and exceptional people, Robert wanted to explore another challenge.

He has recently developed a brand-new podcast called How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks. You can listen to the trailer here.

We asked Robert how he developed this new podcast. He confessed: "I was a Casting Networks user first and foremost! In addition to acting, I've always been a writer and entertainment journalist. Over the years, I've had the good fortune of interviewing actors whom I admire greatly. Though I may have been interviewing folks for entertainment news-style pieces, the actor in me couldn't help but get nerdy about the craft with my questions. Seriously, I'd be on a red carpet asking people about their methods. I yearned to write for an outlet where I could share helpful tidbits like that with my fellow actors, and so I organically found a home with the Casting Networks news team. We've been rolling along together ever since."

Robert continues: "After writing for Casting Networks (CN), I fell into making quirky videos for their social media pages. I really loved sharing informative and relatable content with my acting community in a way that brought joy. And, even more so, I LOVED connecting with CN's community of actors. I started getting messages asking me things like, 'How do I format my resume?' or 'How did you get your agent?' It was a privilege for me to pass along any golden nuggets I had gleaned over the years, but I only know so much. I'm a huge proponent of creatives not waiting for someone to give them the permission to create, so I tried to walk that walk and pitched Casting Networks the idea for a podcast."

Robert explains the podcast this way: "Starting from the beginning, How We Role will answer the how's every actor faces. From how to get headshots all the way to (one day) how to produce your own film, we truly want to go brick by brick down the yellow brick road of an actor's career."

Robert continues: "This podcast is the little engine that could. After industry strikes and other tribulations, I'm so proud that we're finally premiering, and I can't wait to bring all of that knowledge to this journey."

What would you like listeners to know about you? "I'm one of YOU!" Robert insists. "And I so look forward to growing together. I hope How We Role exists as an open mic for creatives to get their questions answered, hone their crafts and, ultimately, feel less alone in this wild business. Following a dream can be hard. My intention is that How We Role is a soft place for dreamers to land."

If you haven't heard Robert Peterpaul's The Art of Kindness, Ear Worthy strongly suggests you check him out. His interviews with Broadway and other celebrities sparkle, and his focus on kindness in those interviews set the show apart from a basic celebrity interview show. Unlike those shows, Robert isn't looking to dig up dirt. Instead, he's searching for the kindness these successful people exhibit in the world. It's refreshing. 

"Acting is my happy place and actors are my people," Robert shares.
"I've always found solace in scenes. My parents tell me that I tried to entertain the doctors straight after I was born in the delivery room. It didn't stop there. Growing up, I used to cut out fake tickets and charge my family admission to watch me do who knows what kind of show in my living room. Fortunately, I've graduated from coffee table stages to real ones."

Robert made his Off-Broadway debut at age nine and was then cast in the Broadway musical Seussical. Since then, he's been riding the acting rollercoaster, with all the ups and downs that all actors know so well.

On stage, he's been fortunate to work around the country in shows like BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, NEWSIES and JERSEY BOYS, and being named "Connecticut's BEST ACTOR" by BroadwayWorld along the way.

On-screen Robert has been in TV shows like, CBS's BULL, ABC’s PAN AM and comedy sketches for THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT and films like Netflix's KING COBRA, SONY's WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT and most recently the Amazon feature SITTING IN BARS WITH CAKE alongside Yara Shahidi and Bette Midler.

When asked about what listeners can take away from each episode of How We Role, Robert observes: If each episode has merely one (and I think there'll be a lot more) tangible piece of wisdom that sticks with listeners, I'll have done my job. I consider getting to make How We Role happen a gift, and I hope it's just that for listeners. A gift that keeps on giving.

 

Check out the trailer for How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks, and then listen to the show when it launches on February 11.

While this new show is ostensibly a podcast for aspiring actors, I think the listening audience is broader than that. After all, don't all of us have a little "ham" in us? I played Macduff in my high school's production of Shakespeare's Macbeth and received stellar notices. Then, I was cast in the musical South Pacific, where the drama teacher discovered I couldn't sing.

 

Career over, but I always wondered what could have been? Want to hear my DeNiro? "You talkin' to me?"

 

If you wonder the same thing, listen to How We Role: A Podcast for Actors by Casting Networks.