Sara Tomko’s Journey from Stage Dreams to Sci-Fi Stardom on Resident Alien – Episode 374

Jeff Dwoskin 0:00

All right, everyone. I'm excited to introduce my next guest, actor, producer, poet, singer, mental health advocate, Director, CEO of in the pocket productions, co founder of the overtones. Loved her in Once Upon a Time, Sneaky Pete and, of course, resident alien. Welcome to the show. Sarah Tomko, hello. Thank

Sara Tomko 0:24

you. Wow. What an introduction. You know, all the things, although I have to say, I'm not technically co founder of overtones, but I did get into the acapella group just a couple years after they were originated. So I'm like, one of the OG overtones. You know,

Jeff Dwoskin 0:40

I figured I was, I was like, I was like, I'm just gonna throw this in there.

Sara Tomko 0:43

I love it. Though. I was like, well, we're going back.

Jeff Dwoskin 0:47

I figured co founder was safer than, like, leader of or something, yeah,

Sara Tomko 0:52

yeah. Okay, we'll take it. We'll take it. I like it. Co founder. Okay,

Jeff Dwoskin 0:56

so this is exciting for me on a couple levels, because, like, I do love resident alien. I and I do like, so a lot of times when I interview someone, I'll like, go, Oh, okay. I'll be like, Oh, Sarah time, okay. And I'll kind of investigate, and sometimes I've watched what you know, you've done, or something like that, or I'll investigate other things. Like, I literally the other day, I'm a Netflix watcher, just so you know. Okay, so you're like, whenever I my timeframe is probably different than your timeframe in your time frame in your head, because I watch on Netflix. Okay, yes, love it. I literally just finished it last week, and I was and I went through one of those upset things where Netflix came back on. I'm like, Where the hell's resident aliens usually in. Just watched because I was ready to, because Season Three was only eight episodes, and, like, season two was like 16 or something. Jeff,

Sara Tomko 1:41

we've been on a real journey. Let me tell you. But I love that you discover, did you discover it on Netflix and then started watching it or so? It's like a more recent discovery for you.

Jeff Dwoskin 1:50

Yeah, resident alien is maybe you have this with your husband. Do you have shows that like you watch and then shows that you watch together? Yes,

Sara Tomko 1:59

absolutely. I'm currently, I'm watching dying for sex on Hulu. He is not, not that. He doesn't, he wouldn't be interested. But it just was one of those things that I started on my own. But currently, you know, we're watching The Last of Us, you know, like, together.

Jeff Dwoskin 2:13

Yes, we watch. We can talk well, we'll spend the last 20 minutes

Sara Tomko 2:16

talking about that, talking about The Last of Us. Great. So

Jeff Dwoskin 2:19

I, like, I went through this thing where I was like, the last episode of season three is so great. And so I was so excited for the next episode, and then it doesn't show up. I'm like, What the hell? And so then I had to search for it, and I searched for and then I finally like, Oh, that was the finale.

Sara Tomko 2:35

Yep, I know. You know. I commend Chris Sheridan, who's the writer, showrunner, and his team for what arguably is like one of the greatest episodic cliffhanger, like episode of a series. I mean, there are so many cliffhangers like every storyline, it's almost like we're begging Yale to try not to bring us back for a fourth season like, you know what I mean? Like we're daring you, not begging you. We're daring you to not bring us back to close all this up, right? Because you leave yourself wide open when you have just one Cliff hangover, like, but to have like, six or seven, it was such a cool episode. And I love that you just discovered it. You just had that experience last week. I love that people are discovering it now and giving it new life. We've been going since 2018 so we've had a long season of changes in roller coaster rides that we've been on with this show, including COVID and the strike in the industry. And the fact that we're still standing and that we have a season four coming is just fascinating. So I'm glad you're here, you've arrived, you've made it. I'm glad we finally get to have a talk about it, and I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about season four. I can't

Jeff Dwoskin 3:53

wait. I just but to me, it's, like, a little surreal. So like, admittedly, on the show, I talked to a lot of people from the six seasons, you know, shows from the 60s and 70s and stuff like that. Yeah, it's rare that I'm able to finish the show last week and then luck into being able to actually spend time with you a week later.

Sara Tomko 4:11

The timing is perfect. I'm so glad it worked out.

Jeff Dwoskin 4:13

That's a show I watch. That was my solo show. I want to re watch it. I'm gonna get my wife to watch it. I was

Sara Tomko 4:20

all right, I love it. I think it's always I've seen them all the way through, maybe, maybe twice, all the way through, possibly the first season. I've seen three times all the way through, just because we had that one in our vault, if you will, for so much longer. But season three is the newest, and I don't think, I mean, I saw it once, I think I saw it maybe twice, but that's like, I get to that point where I'm like, All right, that's good. I need to take some time away from it. Okay,

Jeff Dwoskin 4:49

so let's, let's go back in time for a minute. We'll work back up to to resident alien. Did you always know you wanted to be an actress? You

Sara Tomko 4:59

know my parents? If you asked them, they'd say yes. And I definitely got to a point in my youth after experiencing some musicals and plays in high school where I was, like, dedicated to pursuing musical theater and theater in general. But I think there was always a part of my brain that was like, Well, I still have to have a practical job, like it wasn't, like, in my mind, something that you just went for and that was it. And it wasn't until I realized you could major in it, like in college, that I was like, Oh, well, maybe I'll major in this until I know what I'm gonna do. You know, that was sort of the vibe. But, I mean, I've always been, since I was young, a ham. You know, I've always been someone who just my brothers. I have three brothers, but two older brothers that would always be like, No, you they're lovely, and we have a great relationship. But when we were younger, they were like, No, you can't play with us. So I would like improvise, playing with them, around them. So they'd be playing baseball, but they wouldn't let me play. So I would be the popcorn man, the bandstand, the coach, cheerleaders. Like I still would find ways to do what I now know is called imaginary circumstance. Like at age five, you know, I was constantly coming up with scenarios. I remember there would always be this, and it would always be at my brother's games. It'd be like a football game, and there'd be, like, those coolers that had like what looked like keyboard material on top. They had these like squares in the plastic, and I would pretend to type on it, and I would pretend I was the CEO of an office. I mean, I was constantly coming up with role play and character work, so I didn't really realize what that was until college. I mean, even though I had done plays and musicals in high school, I did that because I was good at singing and I was good at acting, and it just happened to be like I had tried out for all the sports I couldn't get on any I think I did field hockey for one year. I think I did cheerleading for a while, and dance team, where I found like minded spirits, and where I found that I had true gifts and talents, was in the theater and on the stage. I really understood the spotlight. I really understood that presence. But it wasn't until, I'd say, senior year of college that I did a play called bash, and it's this long monolog. I got to be this role called Medea Redux, and it was this long monolog about her loving someone so much that she harms another person in her life. I don't want to give any spoilers, just in case you want to read the play, but she is really messed up. And I just remember getting so into that character that I would black out every night after doing these shows and not remember what I had done. And I'd come out of that experience feeling like, wow, I really took on the life of another human being so fully. I don't know how I can ever not want to do that. Like I don't know how I would ever not do that. So thus began my like, my pursuit. I thought I was going to go to New York. I went to Ohio for two years just to make some money. I did a cabaret. It was like singing, dancing and sketch comedy. And I wanted to just like, immediately get a job after college, and then immediately start working on bookings. And I thought New York was placed, but then I visited a friend in LA fell in love the Pride Parade happened like the day I first got here, I was, like, entranced by all the beautiful, like souls and spirits in this town. Everybody wanted to talk about film and TV and art and theater, and I was just like, What is this place? La, is so magical, and it gets a bad rap on TV and in the magazines. It's so much more down to earth and suburban and lovely and and inviting than than the magazines say, because all you ever see is like Rodeo Drive or the red carpet events or Hollywood Boulevard. But this is a town full of incredibly beautiful, warm, loving people, and they all want to be artists in some way. So I just fell in love with LA and I never thought TV was where I was headed. I wanted to do film more than anything, but about 10 years ago, the trajectory of the industry started changing and shifting. And my agent, I remember at the time saying He's my manager. His name is Zach. We're still good friends to this day, but he at the time, he was saying, What about TV? And I remember that was such a like, oh, because if you were a film actor, you were a film actor, and if you were a TV actor, you were a TV actor. And if you were a theater actor, you were a theater actor. You did not like cross lines. I had left the theater, chose to pursue film, and eventually my manager said, Well, things are changing. Maybe I'll send you out for TV. And I remember the time being like, I don't know it better be good, because that was the whole vibe. Was like, film was sophisticated, TV was meh, and theater was like, the heart. Sure enough. We started seeing shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad and all these shows that started happening with some celebrity actors that was like, really good content. And. And wouldn't you know it, many years later, I finally booked my first big gig. I had had a few Death Stars Up to that point on television, but this was my first big booking. So I knew I wanted to be an actor from, I don't know, college age and on, but I didn't necessarily know I was going to end up in TV. And I'm still, to this day, pursuing film and theater, you know, like, I still have dreams to be on the London stage and in a movie that you can go buy tickets to. Like, I still have acting goals for my own career, but I'm so fortunate that I landed this show and this character and the time of it was the timing, especially, was Kismet. That

Jeff Dwoskin 10:39

is amazing. I you know, I would think, if you have a love for theater, I'm sure film is amazing, but TV seems to be, I would guess, closer to the idea of theater in terms of camaraderie, because, like a movie, you could go into a movie, you could be there for 30 days, and then that's it, right? And half the people you never see, like, I'm guessing that you're resident alien. People are family. Yeah,

Sara Tomko 11:01

I hear, I hear that, I think in terms of long term, yes, theater and TV have a longer arc. In terms of time, film is the shortest. Theater is like the midway point. And TV, if you're lucky, ends up being the longest point, right? But some TV shows only get the pilot or only have one season, so it's about the same as theater. So you're not wrong in that sense. But there are film storylines that go so deep and so dark or so meaningful that you can't necessarily reach that level on TV all the time depends on the TV show you're in, depends on the film you're in, that you could be easily be connected with someone after only three weeks of working with them on a film, more than you could seven years of working with someone on a TV show. Because with TV, even though it's family, and our show specifically, really does feel like a family. It's not that way for every cast, and you get to a point where it's almost like a nine to five job, you show up, you do your scenes, and you go home. So you don't always spend a lot of time with each other, unless you choose to. Luckily, my show, like I said, we're very close, and we do spend a lot of time together, but that's not the case for everybody. So I think, actually, I would argue that theater and film are a lot more connected in terms of how deep you go for the amount of time and how quickly you can become very close with those people in only a matter of a month or three months. No,

Jeff Dwoskin 12:32

you're right. You schooled me. I get it. I just hadn't thought of it. I was just, I was just thinking of it in terms of, like, being with the people longer and stuff like that. But yeah, right, you're right. I've talked to the people from Greece, and that film's 50. They mean, there was one movie, and they're, they still all chat together, you know, so, right?

Sara Tomko 12:49

And also, they've had such an amazing experience of having this movie blow up and it turning them into stars overnight, even though they were already stars, you know, you know, we're lucky if we get a TV show that lasts as long as ours has. So there's fortune there. But also, I'm curious what it would be like for people on Stranger Things or The Last of Us, or Game of Thrones, where not only did it last long, but it also was so deep and so rich that it might have become a bit of a detriment to their personal lives or to their relationships, because then you're so immersed in these worlds and with these fans, that's all you know. And I think it can go both ways. I think it's nice to have a balance of your personal life and the friends that you actually call your true friends and the people you work with, all right, yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 13:40

I think that is a great way to look at and that is how I will now look at it for the rest of my life. Thank you, Sarah,

Sara Tomko 13:46

yeah, I have helped you pivot into thinking about it in a different way, and I'm glad I was here for this moment and that and that your listeners were too frankly, I mean, you're

Jeff Dwoskin 13:56

right. I hadn't considered like, it's really about the emotional state that you spend with someone. You could, you could, I have friends that I spent one summer with 30 years ago that and like, I don't even remember people from any other summer, and so just because of that event, you know, the way they were together, I think

Sara Tomko 14:11

I'm, you know, again, this show has been, we went through so much with COVID and the strike and lasting, as long as we have that we have kind of the best of both worlds. We have this long term TV series as well as deep, meaningful connections. Because we've been through trauma, like as a cast, we have literally seen the world shut down. We've gone back to work in a COVID world. We We weren't sure if we would get work during the strike, and then we got a season three as soon as, as soon as we were done with season three, the strike started up after that, so we had just missed and didn't have to shut down again. I mean, we've been through the ringer with each other, so it's definitely, it's both for us, but that's not always the case for everybody.

Jeff Dwoskin 14:55

All right, so let's talk about some of your film work. Okay, so. So I saw that you did a few mock busters with asylum. Oh, yeah,

Sara Tomko 15:05

that was early, early career days,

Jeff Dwoskin 15:09

you know. But Sharknado is, like, one of my favorite movies. That whole series is one of my favorite things ever. So when I see asylum, I'm like, All right,

Sara Tomko 15:16

they got it going on, you know? It's funny. When I first got to LA, the things I was told was you want to get a part of, like the casting process for background actors, so essential casting. And you want to get an indie film, obviously, as much as you can student films, short films, anything you can do. And asylum was one of those companies that was like churning and burning, like six movies a year, which, when you think about that, it's insane. It's like they have, like, ultra low budget. They pay their people, but it is like, bare bones, bare minimum, but they're constantly working. And it's not necessarily about quality as much as it is about quantity. With the asylum, but they have a niche, and especially sci fi, is a place where their movies would end up. So I ended up getting my first film in. La was on an asylum film. I did three movies with them, but the first one ended up on Sci Fi. And so it's funny that I had sort of a full circle moment 1015, years later, when I finally book this show. And I'm like, sci fi has been like a home for me for a long time. But when I did those movies, Jeff, I was getting paid $25 a day. And each time I did another movie, I'd basically up it by 25 bucks. So by the third film I did with them, I was making 75 to $100 a day. And they would feed me and they would fly me to the places they needed to go, or whatever it was, mostly in LA but like, they flew me to Belize. So there was, like, some things where you were like, wow, this company is really doing it. And then other times you look back, you go, $25 a day. That is insane, but you have to start somewhere. And it was just a bunch of young kids just trying to, like, make art quickly. Those movies are a lot of fun.

Jeff Dwoskin 16:59

Oh, they're so fun I was doing was, was that one Doomsday, 2012 doomsday? Yeah, that was the first one. That was what Amy Dolans was in that

Sara Tomko 17:07

I flipped out because I knew her from she's out of control, and I loved that movie, and so I didn't say anything to her at first. But I think, like, five days into a shooting, I finally was like, Amy, I have to tell you something. I used to walk down the stairs to the song Venus, if you will, just like she does in her cute little outfit. And I used to pretend I was her in my cute little outfit. And she was floored. And we had the best laugh. And I just thought, this is the beginning, this is the beginning of my career, you know, like it was me and Amy Dolan.

Jeff Dwoskin 17:40

It's so funny. Like, I wonder, like, the mock Buster I talked to this guy, Thunder Levin. He's the guy who wrote Sharknado, 123, and four. So easy tell you, I was obsessed with it, but I was like, that's how I learned about like, mock busters. Like, you'd go to Blockbuster, and they're the ones that they they trick the people

Sara Tomko 17:56

trick you, and they make you get the wrong one. And it's so close. Like, Snakes on a Plane, snakes on a train, right? Like, almost the same cover art too. Like, it's truly like an art form. The mock Buster is an art form. Yeah, I

Jeff Dwoskin 18:11

love it, you. Let's see, I wrote down 3022 I just wrote this one down just because I wanted to ask you piece of trivia on it. Do you know what year 3022 takes place in

Sara Tomko 18:21

I mean, isn't that the year 3022, that

Jeff Dwoskin 18:24

is a common misconception. That's why I wrote it down. 2189 I don't know why. I just, I thought that was funny. Is, like, it's like, common misconception is this takes place in this year, not this year. Oh, but

Sara Tomko 18:36

that was, like, the was that, like, the numbers of how many days they were in space or something like that. I was, I think I did a small bit part at the beginning of that film, but I wasn't in that one as much, so I don't really know the storyline as much. And then, did

Jeff Dwoskin 18:48

you know Dede Pfeiffer, from your journey to the center of the earth? Yes, I'm just naming people who've been in my pocket.

Sara Tomko 18:56

I'm like, I love that. Okay, so dee, dee, obviously, is related to Michelle, whom I am a big fan of, but I did not talk to her about that because I assumed that probably was something that people do a lot, and I think it's rude like Dee. Dee's her own person. She's her own actor, like she's a wonderful, loving individual, and now she loves her sister, she loves talking about her family. But I never talked to her about Michelle, just because I was like, I want to give her the time of day on her own terms. She was so lovely to work with. I loved that movie because, again, I was with some young women in soldier form, and I got to do some really fun things out in the desert, mainly, yet, like, doused in spider goo. And then I have to, like, run really fast through a portal and, like, jump just in time for it to, like, land somewhere else. And I have fond memories of that experience that was very early days. I think I was like, 25 or something, doing that film, and it's, it's really fun. That's one I would definitely suggest you guys go out and watch, because there's like, three different versions of Journey to the city. On the earth, but I say ours is the best.

Jeff Dwoskin 20:03

They always are making that movie. It's a classic. It's, of course, was the leftovers. Your first TV, I'm sorry, HBO, it's not TV, it's HBO, right?

Sara Tomko 20:11

So it's different, right? And HBO has its universe. Now, you're right. It was my first time ever booking work on TV as a guest star, I had just been through a really horrific time in my life, and I sort of I got this audition at a very, very like low point. But I remember thinking, What have I got to lose? Like, I've lost everything right now in my life. I am just going to give it my all. And I went crazy in that audition room in the best way, like I really just, I was the cave woman. I acted out the whole 10 minute segment without any notes, any indicators from the casting. And I remember when we were done, her name's Victoria Thomas. She's an incredible casting director. She just took one look at me and was like, that was amazing. And I was like, yes, thank you. Like, all you can ever hope for is that you have a good audition. Like, it doesn't matter at that point if you book it. But I felt so good. And a couple days later, I found out I got it, and I had never had, you know, they always say there's like a sort of, like a track that you have to take in TV. And CO stars, being one of them is kind of them is kind of like you need to get your first co star, and then that will lead to a guest star, and then that will lead to recurring and then that will lead to series regular. But I was fortunate that this was something that came across my desk, and I was able to book it, and it went straight past co star into guest star world, which is not an easy feat, because there were so many years where I was just sort of auditioning and being rejected over and over. So it was such a good first win. It's a really loved show. It's a really fun show. It was really shot a lot like an indie film. It was just me and the crew out there in the it was Austin, Texas, so we were sort of in desert territory, but also there was a lot of foliage and rivers and the baby and, I mean, there's so much going on, it felt like I was doing a short film, but it was pretty cool to see it, like play back on TV. And I still have, you know, I was dirty and muddy and, like, you can't really see it's me all the time, but I do still have fans that come up to me every once in a while, and they're like, I knew you were the cave woman when I saw you on TV, and so that's always really fun. And you're like, Thank you. You're the one that knew.

Jeff Dwoskin 22:30

That's really cool. Yeah, more people will not like, once you like, you're in a show like resident alien, where more people see it and more people will see it, and then then you go watch, I remember, like watching grease two, and like, the little girl that was the sister of one of the pink ladies ended up, yes, I love her. She's super famous now. And like, yes, you're right. And so I was like, Oh, my

Sara Tomko 22:52

God, I know. And did you know that the woman who plays in Grease two, she plays, gosh, I can't remember her name. She was the blonde

Speaker 1 23:01

Lorna Luft, yes, I just found out that she was the daughter of Judy Garland. Yeah, she's liza's sister. I

Sara Tomko 23:09

had no idea. I was like, wow, that makes a lot of sense about her presence and her voice and everything. But I just didn't realize that Judy had two daughters. I was like, floored when and I found that out, like, literally, like, three years ago, it was and I loved grease two growing up, grease

Jeff Dwoskin 23:24

two is the best we get. We go do a separate episode. Just I had Adrian's met on and, like, we and we talked all about grease too. Yeah, I like that. Makes

Sara Tomko 23:36

me so happy, because I know all the words to all the lyrics. I love that movie so much. Oh, what a dream. I like. Think, I think about sometimes how I would love to see some of them at like a con, and just geek out myself.

Jeff Dwoskin 23:49

You know, the grease two. It's not called grease two. It's called, I think cool rider. But in the UK, it's a play, it's a musical. Oh,

Sara Tomko 23:55

my God, I didn't know, C, O, L, I, D, E, R, speaking of Michelle Pfeiffer, come on now. Oh, yeah, I need a C, okay. No,

Jeff Dwoskin 24:06

you keep going. I love that. It's a great song. The funny thing is, Adrian Smith was talking about Lauren aloft and saying, like, she had a better voice than all of them, like, times 100 and then, yeah, they didn't really give her anything to sing. She had like, bit parts, but like, you could

Sara Tomko 24:22

tell, you could tell that when she's saying, it was like, wow, she's a powerhouse. She doesn't get to do anything. I'm with you. I'm like, What's going on with this lady? She's amazing. Yeah, that

Jeff Dwoskin 24:31

was a mess. So I guess they were gonna break her out and grease three but I guess it didn't

Sara Tomko 24:36

happen the of course, of course, maybe still will one day. You never know, never

Jeff Dwoskin 24:41

know. I think it became High School Musical actually, right? Exactly. That's true. Oh, I have a question. So call of duty. Oh, wow.

Sara Tomko 24:49

So get this. What's really cool about Call of Duty is, I think it was Call of Duty I did like three video games, which is really cool, because it's such. Different work. I mean, you show up. It's not just voiceover. You're doing body work, like you get the green things all on you, and I think it was Call of Duty, but it was the first time I had done something like a significant part of the game storyline. I was just a bit part, because the CAMEO version of me that was the bit part, was actually Michelle Rodriguez, and what they needed was someone to be the voice and or for her to be the voice, but someone to be the body and to be the face. So I ended up getting to do like Michelle Rodriguez's, like action sequence stuff, but then she got to be the voice. So she clearly got paid a lot of money to do that, but I still felt connected to her in some way. You know, it was very fun.

Jeff Dwoskin 25:44

You mentioned, like, there was a lot of rejection and stuff like that, a lot along the way, before the left always is, yeah, so from 2008 to 2015 where, when the leftovers was maybe, you know, 2014 when you booked it, or maybe, but like, is it hard? Like, when, I mean, now is like, eventually the pot, you know, they say the goal is just, you know, dig two more inches for the goal, you know, and then boom, President alien. But like, right, is it difficult? Like, it's like, when you're going through, yeah, no, is it gonna happen? Because, like, for other people, you must be watching, it's like they're popping off, yeah,

Sara Tomko 26:14

I think in the time, look, I think actors know true, like lifers know that you're gonna have ebbs and flows in the business, and so you have to really, kind of prepare and manage for when you have the moments where it's really nothing's going on. It can be years and that between 2008 and 2000 Yeah, I think it was 2015 it seems like there's a seven year gap in there where I'm not doing anything. But what was happening, actually, was I decided to go study at Playhouse West studio. I decided to, you know, a lot of actors do that they like, will take on some sort of studio work. I was waitressing a lot and really trying to make as much money as possible. I was working on, like, because I was with this studio, we had projects in theater. We had projects that were doing short films. So I tried my hand at producing, like a small short with the studio group. You know, I was, I had been in like two plays that we put on there, so I kept myself busy for, I'd say, about three years with that studio. Other times there was just me working as a waitress and traveling and putting money on my credit cards that I couldn't afford and getting into debt doing headshots. I remember, I think it was 2010 that I paid the first time ever, like, $1,000 for my headshots. But it upped the game, like you got to a place where it was like, you gotta pay to play. You gotta take it seriously. You gotta, you know, try this, try that. I was on actors access backstage breakdown services now, casting, I was on all of these things, and I would treat it like a job. I would treat it like secret. You know, where I would wake up, I'd get dressed, I'd have my coffee, and I would, I would log in to these acting websites, and I would go to town submitting myself. I had an audition for Twilight, the movie, which I was really proud of, because at the time that series, the book series, had blown up and they were about to make the movies. And do you remember there was a female part in the wolf pack? I can't remember her name now, but she was like a sister of the brothers in the wolf pack, and I knew I was perfect for it, so I like, sent my headshot and my resume in. Like, this is when you used to, like, mail it. I would send it in weekly, weekly, because I was like, I had always heard persistence was the key. And sure enough, I'd say, two months later, after doing it every week, they got me an audition. Now, Jeff, I bombed the shit out of that audition. I remember getting there and, like, didn't know what to do with my hands or my upper body. I was, like, stiff. I tried to be as because I had been told, as a theater actor, you don't want to move too much. There's such a subtle difference between being on camera and being on stage, and I was still figuring out what to do with my body at that time, so I was just told, like, don't move. So I basically did the whole audition just like this. Yes, these are my lines. Everything's great. I hope you cast me. I'm perfect for this. After I had sent months worth of headshots to these people, I'm so grateful to them, to that casting office who gave me a shot, who basically said, Let's get her in here so we can shut her up, because this has got to stop. But like I so there was, even though you don't see it on the IMDB page, there's a solid seven years of me learning and figuring out technique and making community members with other actors and artists and building up relationships to get to the point where I can get into those audition rooms, getting a manager, getting an agent, doing a showcase. I did a showcase for ABC in 2010 that was a diversity showcase, so all different types of ages and colors and sizes and shapes, and we were being presented on stage to a huge group of casting agents. And I got my manager that night. So it's like, there's a lot that happened in that time, but it's not something that can be written down on IMDb. It's a huge part. Part of the business, which is just keeping afloat. Like my husband and I are sort of on hiatus again, like we just finished shooting season four. We don't have any income that we know of coming our way, other than maybe, if we're lucky, a season five, right? Like it's not officially canceled, yeah, we don't know what's going to happen with the show, so maybe, and he's an editor, filmmaker, and we have these ideas for things we want to work on. We're going to do a short film in August. We have a feature film that we're trying to pitch right now and get funding for. So we have all these things that are like in the works, but we don't know how long it'll be before we actually see results. So we have to think of things that we can do as artists to stay afloat. One of the things I'm thinking about doing is offering Tarot sessions. Actually, I was thinking it'd be really cool. I've been working with Tarot cards for many years, and I've done sessions for friends and family, a few strangers, like I did a birthday party once for a friend, but I just thought that that could be a really cool way to, like, connect with the fans of resident alien, where I could say, Hey, if you want to buy an hour session, we can talk, and I can do your cards, and I can help you, and you can help me, and it can be this mutual beneficial relationship. There's stuff that you have to always like as actors. You have to stay on your toes and keep motivated through those lulls, and you also have to just trust that whatever's coming for you will, and we're hustlers at the end of the day. So actors like we're never not busy. It doesn't seem like we're doing anything, but we're always doing something. Always. Thanks

Jeff Dwoskin 31:30

for sharing all that. I It looked like you were working throughout. I mean, there was definitely things in your thing,

Sara Tomko 31:36

little things, but I mean, you're not wrong. There is these lulls where it's like it goes. I actually used to do that all the time. I'd go to IMDb, and I would calculate. I would go to actors web pages that I really admired, and I would say how long before they did one project to the one that really got them on the map. And like, on average, it was about 10 years wherever I went. But I would look all the time. For me, it's fun to have that too now, like, you can go to my IMDb and you can see, like, the moment that I was just doing, like what I could to the moment I got the leftovers, which really was the first thing to put me on the map. There was even years between that and booking resident alien, and I'm still trying to get on the map. I mean, you're catching me at a time in my life and my career where, like, you know who I am, you know the show, but not everybody does. Like sci fi is beloved by sci fi fans, but it's not HBO, it's not Netflix. I mean, it is on Netflix, and so we're grateful for that, but, you know, like, there's a different vibe. I think sci fi and fantasy and horror get a bad rap, and they don't get as respected in the artistic world as they do in the fan base. And like, let's be honest, the first thing we're all clicking on when we go to watch a movie is some sort of horror thriller. Like, why are we not giving these movies awards, right? Like, what's going like, where is the fantasy sci fi section of like, the love and respect we deserve for keeping people entertained, right? Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 33:03

no, I look I show like resident alien is, and as I was watching it, I was like, Wow, this show gets deeper and deeper the relationships. I start really caring more and more about these characters as it goes through. And there's one thing that was nice about it. There was there was like, what was it like? There's a lot of episodes. It wasn't like one of these short series. I mean, it was nice and so, like, that is one of the things I felt while I was watching it. It's just a dramedy. It happens to be about an alien,

Sara Tomko 33:32

right? That's right, that's it. Jeff, like, honestly, I think when we first started shooting season one, they didn't quite know how to advertise it, because they knew Alan was beloved, and they knew that it was a comedy, but there was so many dark moments in that first season that they just sort of used Alan and his comedy traps to kind of get people to come in. But so many people were surprised by how dramatic it was and how much of a dramedy it was that just Yeah, that's exactly a great way to put it like it's a great storyline that happens to have an alien at the at the helm, but, like, it's not of all the Sci Fi content I've ever seen. It's sort of like, least sci fi of the Sci Fi war. I mean, it's, it's getting more sci fi. I'm sure you saw in season three. We're kind of going back to the roots of sci fi, a little more alien II, a little more alien e in season three, and we have that in season four too. But I think, I think that's what is so appealing about it, is that people who don't normally watch sci fi can check it out and see that it's like, it's just a show with people that are endearing in a small little town, and there's murder and there's mystery and there's an alien, you know?

Jeff Dwoskin 34:38

Yeah, it was like, the second Chris Nolan Batman movie, it was like everyone with the people describe that as an amazing movie that happens to be a Batman movie. That's

Sara Tomko 34:49

right, yeah, it's true, and I'm honored to be even considered in the same category, because I love that film. Resident

Jeff Dwoskin 34:54

alien just is so good. Then the mythology gets deeper and deeper. Yes. We get into as you get into it, it gets it's funny, but it's also like, there's some like, you know, yeah, thank you. Heartfelt. Like,

Sara Tomko 35:08

yeah, I know what you mean. It's both. And it's that's a true testament to Chris and his writing and his team. He's both. He's truly, like, the guy who, one minute could make a dick and fart joke and the next minute could, like, break your heart with, like, the sweetest line from a beautiful romantic drama. You know, I mean, he's he's both. It's so great that we have someone who's a leader in that way for us that's constantly fighting for not the formulaic version of this show, but the like, truly meaningful one. We're lucky that way. One of my movies

Jeff Dwoskin 35:39

I love is Men in Black and Vincent. I don't know how to pronounce, thank you. His character. When he was like, he's, he was in an Edgar suit, right? And he's like, he's him, but it's, you know, he's an alien, too. And now Alan and he's sugar water, sugar water, right? Thank you. But Alan Tudyk is the same. Is doing the same? This is suddenly not okay. This is, we need one more, and then it's a thing, right? But Alan is Alan tudex face, but he's the alien underneath with his face as a mask. Yeah, 100% I've been watching that. When I watched the show, I would constantly think, how, how does Sarah, how does asta I got you awesome? But like, how do you get it through a scene when he's going because that's the other thing I've noticed. Like, he never, like, all of a sudden, like, phones it in a little bit less or more than in a season, right? He's always a hun Alan, 100% he's alien. And it's almost disappointing sometimes when like, Max shows up, the little boy who can see Him as He is, because, like, oh, that's I don't need to see him as an alien. It's more fun to see him.

Sara Tomko 36:49

I know that's a great question. He I think the reason, if you were to catch me on the pilot, when we are when he is pulling up intestines and, like doing funny things with them, I am amazed that I made it through that scene without busting and the only reason that I did was because I was a first time series regular. I had a lot to prove, and I just thought you have one job to do, and that is to be the straight man in this scene, and to keep it serious, like He's the funny one, you're the serious one. So I had to, I have two, I wouldn't say tricks, but two things that help. One, when I feel like he's going to make me bust, which is often I put my tongue at the roof of my mouth so tightly it like it just it kind of gets me centered and zoned and reminds myself, like, don't break. Don't break. Don't break. I can't say that. I've been successful every time, but those are the things you're not going to see, because they're not going to use those. But they do have bloopers of breaks that happen. One recently, in season four, he got so close to my face, and I he does something different every time, and he's really surprised me with something that he did. And I he was just right here doing it, and I just lost it. And we have a blooper of it somewhere, but it does happen that he breaks me, but I think when you get to the point that I have with him, where you see it all the time, you know not to be offensive to Alan, but it becomes a little bit like, I'm used to it. I'm used to it like it's your first time seeing it, but I've seen it over and over, take after take. I know exactly, for the most part, what he's gonna do. So some of the initial funny wears away for me, and I'm just in asta. Also, asta takes things so seriously, and she's so conservative, and she's so like, honestly, I think that in the first two seasons, she was so dark and brooding that, like, it was hard for her to laugh at a joke. Now in season three that things have lightened up for her. Season Four, she's starting to make her own jokes. She's a lot more playful, and it was a lot harder to like. But I think in the beginning, it wasn't hard for me at all, because I was very much in the zone as asta, like, gotta take this serious, but in general, I think it's just, I think it's just like exposure therapy. I'm constantly exposed to the Alan Tudyk of it all, and I am. I've got good practice at it. I'm an expert at Alan Tudyk. He asked me when he

Jeff Dwoskin 39:28

just will randomly go pi or so. You're good friends, actually, in real life, with Meredith Garretson.

Sara Tomko 39:34

As Meredith is my best friend. She is my sister. I've known her a long time. We are so lucky to be on a show together. I remember in undergrad, we would say when we when she knew she was going to New York and I knew I was going to LA, we would sort of just, we would scheme up like, well, one day you're going to take over New York and I'm going to take over LA. Oh, my God, she's she's literally texting me right now. Ah. It's

Jeff Dwoskin 40:00

so cute. Tell her she can be on my podcast if she wants. Yeah,

Sara Tomko 40:03

I'll be like, Are your ears ringing? So basically, we just said we're gonna, we're gonna conquer on the other, you know, opposite sides of the world, and then one day, we'll be in a show together, and like a portal will open up and and the galaxy and the stars will come out. And honestly, they did, and we were shocked, but we weren't surprised. We'd been manifesting it for years. And like, yeah, she's, she's my best friend. I love her so much.

Jeff Dwoskin 40:29

She's great in the show. And then your best friend on the show, Alice wetterland, Darcy, she's great too. I love, yeah, she's the best. I love all the characters. I mean the sheriff. I mean the dynamic changed, the sheriff and Elizabeth, the deputy, yeah. Deputy live, yes. Deputy live. He's hilarious, too. The sheriff, the things that I mean, whoever writes for sheriff Mike must at

Sara Tomko 40:54

this point, I think they just write for Corey, who is Sheriff Mike. I mean, in the beginning, they wrote things that he really took away. I mean, a lot of his lines end up being improved. He loves to have the last word he's got so he's so fresh on the spot, Corey Reynolds, and it got to the point where, when I started reading scripts later on in this series, I could tell that it was corey's voice. You know, like that happened for a lot of the characters, for Darcy, for Harry, you could just hear it. You could hear the actors, not necessarily the characters, because they were starting to really, we were starting to understand the rhythm of each other, and the writers understood that too, which is really what makes a great writer, is to like have your own spin, but also understand what strengths the character has. You know, the actor has, I love working with Alice. I love, working with Corey. I never get to be in scenes with Corey, but it's like, it's so fun when we get to see each other on set. We're We're like family. And Elizabeth Bowen, I've gotten to be in a few scenes with her, and it's always just such a pleasure to work with her, and she and I have such a good time giggling and dancing and making up songs. And like, honestly, I have a good relationship with everybody on the show. Like I said, we're really fortunate to have what feels like a deep, meaningful family connection. And it just, I think, because of what we've been through traumatically as a cast, it has bonded us. And I just don't think that that's true for all casts, not to say that you don't bond, but I just, I feel like we have a special scenario that, like is sort of unbeatable by other TV shows right now, because we have a long standing, long term relationship that's been through a lot.

Jeff Dwoskin 42:26

I'm trying to think, if you ever had a Linda Hamilton, did you have scenes with her? I'm trying to remember

Sara Tomko 42:31

so Linda, I call her Aunt Linda. She and I are very close. We were just texting the other day. She's a doll. I've been to her house in New Orleans. I love her so much. We had with one scene together. It was like brief, you know, it was like me leaving and her coming into the 59 but in season three, she didn't have as many scenes, but she had to be there for the full amount of time. So she would work two days and then have 10 days off. And she just reached out to a few of us and said, like, I'm sitting around. I'm lonely. I want to hang I don't want to just sit in my apartment all day. I don't know anybody in the city. And I was like, first on the list to come to her aid. I was like, Linda, I got you. And we would take our dogs on walks. We'd play rum cube. We would go do we'd have a date once a week. We'd go to Dairy Queen like that. Is just and she became my Aunt Linda, and She's family now, and I'm so glad that it worked out that we could spend that much time together, because we really didn't get to work together that much. But I cherish

Jeff Dwoskin 43:30

her. That's awesome. I didn't want to let the Ruby Rumi Q, Rumi Q, yeah. I didn't want the Rumi Q thing to go unnoticed. I We i grew up playing that game. I love

Sara Tomko 43:40

it. That is the game of games. And honestly, I don't know an older generation that doesn't know that game and love that game and have that game in their house. Sarah,

Jeff Dwoskin 43:49

I had the one that was like my grandma's, and I found it a couple years ago, and it's like the real wood, yeah, with holders and stuff like that. That

Sara Tomko 43:59

is a gem. That's vintage rummy cube. Boo. You gotta have that out like on display. That is beautiful.

Jeff Dwoskin 44:07

This does not have a happy ending. The oh no, oh no, I pull it out, and all the tiles the colors had fallen off the top.

Sara Tomko 44:15

Can you like, can you like, glue them back on or something? Or

Jeff Dwoskin 44:20

no. It's just like, Oh, I'm so sad. And they don't, they don't make them, they don't make them like that anymore. They just do not

Sara Tomko 44:25

that didn't, that didn't, technically stand the test of time, but the game itself, so it still does. I

Jeff Dwoskin 44:30

know resident alien is, how would you describe the show? For those listening that haven't discovered it yet, how would you describe it?

Sara Tomko 44:38

Resident alien is a, ooh, this is this. Is, this is a good challenge. Is a heartfelt comedy about the small town of patients, the people who connect in this town, and the things very magical that happen to this town. I'll leave it there. Yeah, I think if you like sci fi, you'll love it. If you don't like sci fi, you'll be surprised how much you love it. I think if you like comedy, you'll laugh. I think if you like drama, you'll cry. And it's something for everyone. It's a it's a show that families can watch together. There is, like, adult content in some regards, but so I wouldn't necessarily say, like, watch it with your six year old, but I'd say, I don't know, age 10 and up. Like, I think, I think it's something that causes family discussions and and also is just really fun, because everybody can relate to it, especially because we have young kids on the show, Judah and Gracie. They're age eight and nine when they first started. You know, now they're age 15 and 17, but like, it's like, it's relatable in that sense. So I just think it's for everybody. I think it's something for everyone. So it's worth a shot, especially this summer, when you're lounging around and you're all like, done with all of your big, popular show episodes, and you're looking for something fun and relatable and intriguing. Like, check us out.

Jeff Dwoskin 46:03

Yes, I and I will say that, like, great science fiction, like going back to, like the original Star Trek and stuff like that, great science fiction tells the best human stories. And so this is a modern, current example of one of those things, like, Don't get fooled by the fact that he's an alien and human like it is a great, great story, amazing character arcs. Yeah, everything. I think

Sara Tomko 46:28

it doesn't really matter the genre. If the story is good and the chemistry of the cast is there, it's like where it doesn't matter where the location is. It just so happens that we're in a small town in Colorado, but alien, fantastical things happen to us. And there's a relatable character in there for everybody. And I love that about it.

Jeff Dwoskin 46:47

I love it all right, so it's, uh, I think it was on USA Network.

Sara Tomko 46:51

USA Network. It's also going to be airing on Sci Fi as well, because we've always been a sci fi show. It's just that USA Network took us on their channel just because they're trying to divide up their content. So we're going to be airing on USA Network and sci fi on June 6. We'll be on Netflix right now. We have three seasons streaming, and by the fourth season will be on Netflix next year. Meanwhile, I think we'll go from June to mid August, and we'll have 10 episodes, and it's going to be glorious, and we'll see what happens. It's gonna be. It was such a fun season to shoot, and I'm really excited for you guys to see it. I'm excited

Jeff Dwoskin 47:25

to see it. I'm excited to see my first season in real time. Yeah, but everyone should go binge. You can binge it on, yeah, definitely. On Netflix,

Sara Tomko 47:34

peacock, Netflix, iTunes. You could buy it. I mean, I bought it on iTunes just so I didn't have to, like, worry about Wi Fi. I downloaded it for like 20 bucks, mostly streaming on peacock and and sci fi. Totally.

Jeff Dwoskin 47:46

Alright. So what else? What else you got in the pocket productions? It's your

Sara Tomko 47:51

yes, we talked about it a little bit, but my husband and I have a production company called in the pocket productions. This August, we're working on a short film called soup, which is going to be a bit of a whimsical love story. And we have a feature film called it came for Clara that we are in the middle of working on a pitch for. We have the pitch Jack script ready to go. We're just looking for funding, so we have a business producer involved, and we're going to start getting our our Stokes in the fire, if you will, of Clara, and hope to shoot it next year, and I will be the lead of that. Her name is Leona, and it is in art house folk horror about a woman who's not quite sure if she wants to have the baby that she just had. So dealing with some some demons, and maybe they're actual demons or not, we'll see it is an art house thriller. We also have a play that we've written that we're hoping maybe to put into Fringe Festival next year. We have a lot of things in the works. So you can find us at in the pocket films, you can check us out there. Well, in the pocket films, you can follow us on Instagram. In the pocket productions on Instagram, yes, because I think in the pocket productions was already taken by some other company. And we were like, What? What is this? But no, it's in the pocket films.com but it's in the pocket productions on Instagram. So follow like, keep you up to up to date, and if you want a Tarot session, I'll be on my Instagram talking about that, and then in the coming weeks, it's

Jeff Dwoskin 49:16

exciting. Well, I may, oh, this is not good news. You're not gonna make it to the end of season four. You're gonna never works

Sara Tomko 49:23

like that. Oh no. It's never about good versus bad. It's always something like food for thought. So give me some food for thought about season four, Jeff, I You can be a Tarot person real quick.

Jeff Dwoskin 49:33

I tell you, I feel like the end of season three, the last second of season three, where I won't, not gonna give it away, because when Max has the reveal, I feel like that whole shtick of him seeing what he could see was was led up just for that point. Like at the end, I was just like, damn, and I saw the preview, and I'm like, a long time, yeah, I'm like, like, damn. I'm like, Oh man, it was, I gotta tell you. Like. The end of season three was, in addition to there being the the cliffhangers, it was, it was a good switcheroo, like, all of a sudden, like, not just a cliffhanger, it was like, yeah, oh my god. I think

Sara Tomko 50:10

also Jeff, just as a recall to the beginning of this, I could not think of the word, and I think I called it the cliff hangover.

Jeff Dwoskin 50:18

I really hope you did

Sara Tomko 50:19

amazing cliffhanger. Thank you for finally saying the word. I kept the whole interview. I kept being like, I know that's not the word. What is the word? And now you've said it. Thank you. But I think maybe Cliff hangover is what season three gave us, frankly, because that's how many cliff hangers there are. It gave us a hangover season three. Honestly, I feel like season three, that finale, is worth watching the whole series four, frankly, because it's really good. It's really well done. And season four, I think you'll be floored

Jeff Dwoskin 50:45

by that's amazing. That's a good that's a testament of a good show. Is like, yeah, you could someone say it's worth it, you know, because a lot of times people are like, do I, should I put the time in? You know, is it

Sara Tomko 50:55

worth it? Yeah, no, I think it is. I think season four will be worth it too. For for our fans that have stuck with us this whole time, I think they're gonna like the story arc and where it heads.

Jeff Dwoskin 51:04

Awesome. Thank you so much. It was so

Sara Tomko 51:06

nice to talk with you. Hopefully we can talk again sometime. Maybe when season four is over, we can wrap it up, see how we feel about it. And maybe when we get picked up for season five, we can have another chat. It was so nice to meet you, though, and chat with you. It

Jeff Dwoskin 51:20

was so great to meet with you too. And yes, that would be amazing. And then we can pick a different grease two song for every episode that you can sing, yes, and

Sara Tomko 51:27

we'll leave you with this one. We're gonna score

Speaker 1 51:31

tonight. We're gonna rock,

Sara Tomko 51:35

we're gonna we're gonna bowl, we're gonna score, score, score, score, tonight. Then

Jeff Dwoskin 51:43

Fade to black. Boom,

Sara Tomko 51:46

season four, resident alien grease two combined. Thanks, Jeff, this is amazing.