Ethan Cutkosky sat down with The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk in the latest episode of “At Home With The Creative Coalition,” a podcast featuring unplugged and uncensored conversations with today’s biggest stars. In the newest episode, Cutkosky talks about how he learned he landed his “Shameless” role from the show’s costume designer, why his mom didn’t agree with taking the job, bonding with a co-star over shouting the ‘f-word’ in an elevator, working with Gary Oldman on “The Unborn,” and more. Highlights below.
“At Home With The Creative Coalition” is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, and more.
Listen now at:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/keep-creating-with-guest-ethan-cutkosky/id1521900273?i=1000534550691
For planned coverage, please link to:
http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast
Highlights from “At Home With The Creative Coalition” featuring Ethan Cutkosky —
On finding out he landed the role of Carl in “Shameless” from the show’s costume designer and why his mom didn’t agree with taking the job:
“I remember my mom got the call from Lyn Paolo, the head of costumes there. And she was like, ‘Yeah, we need your son’s sizes.’ And my mom was like ‘For what?’ ‘Well, we’re filming the pilot, so obviously…’ And my mom goes, ‘Wait, wait, wait, hold your horses, you’re not filming a pilot. What do you mean?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, you didn’t get the call? This is kind of weird for me to say it, but you got it.’ And my mom’s like, ‘I need to call you back.’ She calls my dad and is like ‘What do we do? He wasn’t supposed to get this. This was not supposed to happen. I don’t agree with this.’ Not out of, like, the content of the script, but like, ‘What the hell did we just do?’ This is, like, L.A., this is everything we said we would not do. My dad’s like ‘It’s fine, it probably won’t go for more than two seasons, just let it be, we’ll figure it out.’ And then here we are.”
On auditioning for “Shameless” and bonding with co-star over shouting the ‘f-word’ in an elevator:
“I did an audition in Chicago, forgot about it for months. It was one of those auditions that you even just put away for months. So, yeah, it was from months before, and they’re like ‘Yeah, they want to fly you out to L.A. to do some other final auditions,’ and I’m like ‘well if they put us up, like, sure, nothing’s going to come of it.’ So, we go out there, I meet Emma Kenney for the first time. There’s just these pictures that we have of us and the memories that we have, oh my gosh it’s still clear as day. This is the funniest thing in the world, I remember, we’re running around the Sheraton Universal, and we’re both only children. And her parents kept a little more of a tighter knit on her. And my mom’s like ‘Let them run around and let them have their fun.’ And so we are, and we go into the elevator and she starts looking around and she goes, ‘I’m gonna say it,’ and starts screaming the ‘F-word’ as loud as she can, like just screaming it, because, you know, we’re fourth graders, and just letting it all out. That’s one of my first memories of her.”
On his favorite episode:
“I don’t know if I have a favorite. I have favorite memories and times. There’s so many. I pulled up this scene from the other day that made me really sad. Someone made an edit to it and the music. I was, like, ‘Damn.’ I was, like, 10 years old, and I remember it’s outside walking through Chicago, and I’m going to shave Bill’s head. I think he convinced Carl he had cancer, sent him to cancer camp, and then Carl goes to the hospital because Bill, I think, is having liver, kidney failure or something. And he shaves his head, too, while the sun rays come in. Remembering those scenes, remembering those days, the feeling of, like, this overwhelming emptiness that allowed into the scene and being aware of that at a young age was very interesting. Then there are scenes where you’re all in Chicago and this is when we first were on Netflix and we’re doing a scene and it sounds like there’s a baseball crowd outside of where we’re filming it’s just insane. So many new people. Then there’s a scene where Emma and I are crying together in the middle of Chicago and it’s, like, 3AM or we’re filming and it’s negative 30 [degrees]. So much layers and context that, like, one scene will jog back 10 memories.”
On interacting with Gary Oldman and other celebrities on the set of “The Unborn”:
“I remember them all being super nice. Like, I was just a little kid in my little realm. I remember, I think I asked Gary Oldman, like ‘So, how was Daniel Radcliffe?’ That’s like the only thing I ever said to him. I was just like ‘Prisoner of Azkaban!’ I remember Jane [Alexander] being, like, the kindest to me. She was so sweet.”
On starting to go on casting calls as a way to spend time with his mom:
“It was a way for my mom and I to spend time together. My parents weren’t in the industry, this wasn’t something my parents wanted to turn into anything. I was just a hyper little child, and I liked art and I liked doing stuff like that so someone just suggested to my mom that, like, you know, ‘Dad’s travelling a lot, why don’t you just get on a train with him, go to, like, an open casting call for photo ads?’ I would get pictures tagged on Instagram, like, kids find me in their Scholastic books, and I was like four years old. And so that was the first thing I started doing, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. I enjoyed being social, getting to meet new people. I’d get on the train, going down with my mom to get McDonald’s, it was like ‘Mommy and Son day.’”
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More about “At Home With The Creative Coalition”
Hosted by The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk, “At Home With The Creative Coalition” brings listeners intimate portraits, key moments of discovery, and “art and soul” conversations with iconic entertainment industry personalities from the big screen to the boardroom, from L.A. to D.C. Listen now at http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast.
Upcoming guests include Mädchen Amick (“Riverdale”), Shiri Appleby (“UnREAL”), David Arquette (“Scream”), Justin Bartha (“The Hangover,” “National Treasure”), Michael Fishman (“The Conners”), Willie Garson (“And Just Like That…”), Nicholas Gonzalez (“La Brea,” “The Good Doctor”), Tony Hale (“The Mysterious Benedict Society,” “Arrested Development”), Patricia Heaton (“Carol’s Second Act,” “The Middle”), New York Times Bestselling Author Susan Isaacs (“Compromising Positions”), Aasif Mandvi (“Evil”), Rachel Mason (“Circus of Books”), International Bestselling Author Patrick McGinnis (“The 10% Entrepreneur,” “Fear of Missing Out”), Yolonda Ross (“The Chi”), Reid Scott (“Echo”), Mona Scott-Young (“Love & Hip Hop,” “The Gossip Game”), Krista Vernoff (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Station 19”), and Matt Walsh (“Veep”).
Previous guests include Jason Alexander (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), David Alan Basche (“The Exes”), Asante Blackk (“This Is Us”), Carly Chaikin (“Mr. Robot”), Wilson Cruz (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Alan Cumming (“Briarpatch”), The Creative Coalition President and actor Tim Daly (“Madam Secretary”), Lea DeLaria (“Orange Is the New Black”), Jim Gaffigan (“The Jim Gaffigan Show”), Griffin Dunne (“This Is Us”), Judy Gold (“The Other F Word”), Clark Gregg (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Jon Huertas (“This Is Us,” “Castle”), Jason Isaacs (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Richard Kind (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Chad Lowe (“Supergirl”), Marlee Matlin (“CODA,” “The West Wing”), AnnaLynne McCord (“Let’s Get Physical”), Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”), Katherine McNamara (“Shadowhunters”), Marta Milans (“Shazam!”), Rob Morrow (“Billions”), Kathy Najimy (“Duncanville”), Haley Joel Osment (“Future Man,” “Entourage”), Bill Prady (“The Big Bang Theory”), Jessica Queller (“Supergirl”), Anthony Rapp (“Rent”), Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”), Alfre Woodard (“Clemency,” “Luke Cage”), Constance Zimmer (“Good Trouble”), and David Zucker (“Airplane!,” “Scary Movie”).
More about The Creative Coalition
The Creative Coalition is the premier nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating its members on issues of public importance. Actor Tim Daly serves as the organization’s President. The Creative Coalition also creates award-winning public service campaigns including #RightToBearArts to promote the efficacy of the arts. For more information, visit https://thecreativecoalition.org.
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