“The love story between Medora and the Marquis is complex and powerful.”
Ashton Solecki
Summary
I welcomed back Ashton Solecki to discusses her role as Medora in the TV show Elkhorn and the character’s complex motivations. She talks about the chemistry between the cast members and the strong bond they have. Ashton also shares her personal connection to the setting of the show, as she grew up near the real town of Medora. She highlights the importance of portraying historical characters with nuance and explores the love story between Medora and the Marquis. The conversation also touches on the power dynamics and tension between the characters in the show. In this part of the conversation, Ashton and Chris discuss the relationship between Medora and Rosie in the show Elkhorn. They speculate on why Medora takes an interest in Rosie and how their dynamic evolves throughout the season. They also talk about the challenges of filming in heavy costumes and the extreme weather conditions on set. Ashton shares her experience of understanding her character, Medora, and the growth she experienced as an actor during the filming process. In this final part of the conversation, Chris and Ashton discuss Chris’s experience filming a torture scene and the challenges of becoming an overnight success in the entertainment industry. They also talk about the importance of enjoying the journey and not just focusing on the end goal. The conversation then takes a lighthearted turn as they share their impressions of various characters and discuss Ashton’s upcoming projects. They end the conversation with a humorous discussion about Ashton’s recent encounter with mice in her house.
Takeaways
The cast of Elkhorn has a strong bond and great chemistry.
Portraying historical characters requires nuance and understanding.
Medora and the Marquis have a complex love story.
The show explores power dynamics and tension between characters. The relationship between Madora and Rosie in Elkhorn is a central theme in the show.
Madora takes an interest in Rosie because she sees herself in her and wants to mentor her.
Filming in heavy costumes and extreme weather conditions was challenging for the cast.
Ashton gained a deeper understanding of her character, Madora, as she worked with the other actors on set.
Acting is a challenging career that requires dedication and perseverance. The entertainment industry can involve challenging and uncomfortable experiences, such as filming intense scenes like torture.
Becoming an overnight success often requires years of hard work and perseverance.
It’s important to enjoy the journey and focus on doing good work, rather than solely chasing success.
Impressions can be a fun and impressive talent, but not everyone has the ability to do them.
Ashton has an upcoming project called ‘The Darkness Returns,’ which is a supernatural horror meets psychological thriller.
Ashton had a recent experience with mice in her house, which she handled with compassion and a catch-and-release approach.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Favorite Guest
01:30 Elkhorn and the Excitement of Release
05:00 Medora’s Character and Historical Context
06:33 Chemistry with Jeff Fahey and Playing Off Each Other
08:00 Medora’s Role as the Money and Love Story with the Marquis
09:39 Playing a Real Person and Finding Medora’s Character
11:11 The Dinner Scene and Strong Personalities
12:58 Medora’s Sweet Side and Love for Family
14:06 Balancing Social Acceptability and Inner Thoughts
15:29 Tension and Power Dynamics in the Show
21:29 Challenges of Filming in Heavy Costumes and Extreme Weather
25:19 Understanding and Developing the Character of Madora
29:06 The Rewards and Challenges of an Acting Career
36:51 Navigating Challenging Scenes and the Path to Success in the Entertainment Industry
38:57 Finding Joy in the Journey and Doing Good Work
41:01 Impressions and Upcoming Projects
48:38 Dealing with Mice in the House: A Humorous Encounter
Ashton Solecki (00:01.518)
It’s Ashton Silecki with Hellblazer Biz.
Chris (00:06.423)
Thank you. I’ve just pressed a button, I don’t know what it was, add marker, I was adding a marker. I know I’ve talked over that, that dancing would have been cool and I could have kept that in. Everyone I have the honor and the privilege and the company in the return of Ashton Solecki who’s one of my favorite guests recently. So much fun to talk to. So thanks for joining me Ashton, I appreciate you coming back.
Ashton Solecki (00:11.182)
What the?
Ashton Solecki (00:31.406)
Yeah, thanks for having me. Also, I will gladly wear the title of one of your favorite guests. That’s makeup of all time.
Chris (00:38.135)
It’s all I say it’s just yeah you are to be fair I did come off to be Rick and then between you and me I’ll say it quietly so the other half can’t hear it’s like you know I said I think I’ve got my new celebrity crush
Ashton Solecki (00:50.606)
What?
Ashton Solecki (00:55.502)
I need a pin or like a little crown. Take like an awkward school picture. You know those like school pictures when you were a kid where you’re just like awkwardly posing? We can do that with my ribbon.
Chris (01:00.439)
Yep.
Chris (01:07.383)
Yeah, yeah. Brilliant. It’s great to have you back. I say we’ve after obviously speaking about Roswell Delirium and we’ve kind of kept in touch since then and it’s been quite a scream as well like you say the messages now and it’s been quite funny some of the some of the stories and I’ll get into one of the others later on. But yeah it’s great to obviously see you in Elkhorn which we did talk about on our last interview briefly because it was just about to come out now it’s out.
Ashton Solecki (01:20.11)
Mm -hmm.
Thanks for watching!
Ashton Solecki (01:30.542)
Yeah, thank you.
Yes, exactly. Yes, it was just about to come out then. And I remember being like, I think I can say, I think I can tell everybody that this is happening now. It’s so hard to keep things under wraps. Especially like, it’s complicated because sometimes you’ll work on something and then you won’t see it for years. But in this case, when you know it’s coming and you’re like, okay, they’re gonna release it in April. I’m like, hi.
Chris (01:44.791)
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (02:01.838)
My hands are sweating. I need to tell everybody about this. I can’t. It’s like sitting on a big secret and I’m not good at secrets. Don’t tell me a secret. I’m not good at it. I have some secrets. Don’t tell me secrets.
Chris (02:03.735)
You
Chris (02:09.559)
Aha, I’ll remember that. Okay, I shall remember that. But yeah, it was cool. But yeah, as I say, Elkhorn has come out. I’ve only watched three episodes because I’m gutted because they stopped putting it on YouTube. And it’s like, and now I’ve got no way to watch it anymore because I tried to, I did try. I’m just saying obviously for INSP, for you to know when you are watching this and listening to this, I have done everything I can.
Ashton Solecki (02:16.462)
Yes!
Ashton Solecki (02:25.07)
They did, yes. They did.
Chris (02:38.007)
to try and sign up to all the streaming channels in the US where you worry it’s obviously going on and you know the pay -per -view or whatever and it won’t let me so I’m gutted so I’ll have to wait for it.
Ashton Solecki (02:42.894)
Yeah, yeah. Yes. that’s so sad. I hope it’s just a matter of time before, you know, it shifts and it’s a little different. But yeah, I was interested actually, because I didn’t know what the strategy was. Because so often as an actor, like when you’re just an actor and you’re not also a producer, you have no idea what the strategy is going to be. You’re just along for the ride. And it was so hard because people would be like, when is it coming out?
Chris (03:06.951)
I’m going to go ahead and close the video.
Ashton Solecki (03:11.374)
Where is it coming out? How will I be able to watch? And I’m like, I don’t know the answer to any of those questions whatsoever, but I will get back to you when I know.
Chris (03:16.331)
Laughter
Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, I must say, because they’re usually my questions as well and I think I stumped you on the last one too. Same thing. Anyway, yeah, so El Corny is out. I think it’s episode six are we on now anyway? Is it this week or is it seven?
Ashton Solecki (03:26.766)
You did, and I thought we just went, I don’t know.
Ashton Solecki (03:35.566)
Episode 6? I think episode 7 just played and then there’s three left. I think. I might be off.
Chris (03:45.015)
Yeah, there’ll be three, it’s ten episodes left, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s ten episodes in total, so yeah, I think there’ll be three.
Ashton Solecki (03:48.206)
Yes, yes, yes. And it’s exciting because it’s my perspective that the season…
starts slow and then builds, builds, builds, builds, builds, builds, builds. And I remember filming the last episode and it was the first time that I got to work with everyone else in the cast. Cause most of the time, Madora, who I play, she is in a scene with her husband or she’s in a scene with Rosie. And that’s pretty much it. Maybe sometimes Patek, but not, not really. And then the last, the last episodes, I’m like,
Chris (04:01.591)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (04:11.927)
Right.
Mm -hmm.
Chris (04:23.927)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (04:27.59)
my gosh, it’s so nice to meet you guys. It’s so nice to work with you guys. Hey, how’s it going?
Chris (04:29.911)
you
Excellent, excellent. Yeah, you just rub it in for me. That’s really better and I can’t watch it. It has been great to see obviously as coming on as Medora, who is the marquee’s wife and the namesake of the town where, but then it’s very, I mean from what I’ve seen so far of the two of you is you just as such a work together. You know, you and Jeff were brilliant together anyway. You would seem to play off each other so perfectly well.
Ashton Solecki (04:38.158)
Wow.
Ashton Solecki (04:46.702)
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Ashton Solecki (05:00.366)
Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Yes, yes indeed. It’s so fun to play. You know, actually what’s interesting is that the town that Madora, you know, the town named after Madora is a real place still. It’s very small. And I actually grew up fairly close to Madora up in Eastern Montana.
Chris (05:02.551)
The dastardly couple I think I called him, I thought he…
Chris (05:13.975)
Yeah.
Chris (05:20.695)
Mm -hmm.
really? Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (05:27.054)
like two hours from the Badlands and another hour from Madora. So I’ve been to Madora. I actually know the land that they’re talking about. I’ve hiked around in the Badlands. I’ve taken my doggo with me. So it’s cool because it’s like everything about this Western for me from like the subject to it and where it’s filmed and all this just feels like.
Chris (05:29.975)
Wow.
Chris (05:36.727)
You
Chris (05:45.399)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (05:50.158)
a bookend in a way, like coming full circle, because I grew up watching Westerns and all this other stuff. So it’s, it’s pretty cool. But you were talking about like the chemistry with Jeff. Something that I find incredible about Jeff is he
Chris (05:52.727)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.
Chris (06:01.431)
Mm.
Ashton Solecki (06:05.166)
A, do you see how piercing his eyes are? Like on screen, his eyes are piercing. Okay, let me tell you in person, they’re like daggers, okay? They’re just like full piercing little daggers. And he’s so easy to work with and he very professional and will like sort of talk about ideas here and there and not like playing it out, but planting seeds, seeds, seeds. And it just is great to ping pong off of him. It’s so great to be in front of.
Chris (06:08.119)
Yeah, yeah.
Chris (06:14.039)
Hahaha
Chris (06:19.991)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (06:33.614)
actors in general that you know that you can just play with and you don’t really even know like what’s going to fully happen in the scene because the person is giving you so much life and you’re responding to so much life and then they call cut and you’re like interesting that was interesting wasn’t it?
Chris (06:35.063)
Yeah.
Chris (06:43.031)
Yeah.
Chris (06:51.019)
Excellent, excellent. And I think I’ve spoken with everyone I’ve spoken to at the moment and said about the fact that you’re such a close -knit cast and you really do feed. You seem to have that shows on screen when that happens when you do feed off each other. Same with Roswell, you know, you had that amazing bond with everybody and it was just fantastic to see. And you’re right, Geoff was on there and you know, it was fascinating as well because he gave me a lot of information about Medora that I didn’t know in the fact that Medora is…
Ashton Solecki (07:08.27)
Yes.
Chris (07:18.071)
You know, you are the money. You know, you’re the money, out of the two of them, you know, the marquee, he’s got his title and he likes to pretend he’s like to be the aristocrat, but the money is Medora and the New York, you know.
Ashton Solecki (07:20.654)
Yes.
Ashton Solecki (07:27.886)
Yes.
Yeah, well, I mean, it’s interesting too, because like at that time, this takes place in the 1880s, right? And you think about that time in mostly the world and the power publicly that women were given is pretty non -existent. And so even when you’re like researching history, you usually read about men, men, this, this guy, this guy, this guy. But the women, as we know, are…
Chris (07:38.039)
Mm.
Chris (07:49.751)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (08:00.43)
equally important for crafting the future that we now live in and so Madora at the time she is The brains behind the operation. She is the money behind the operation She is well partnered with the marquise who is they actually had like an incredible love story like they were genuinely So in love, but you have to think about like Madora
Chris (08:02.839)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (08:20.695)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (08:23.182)
She has all these dreams to build the West into like the Paris of the West, you know what I’m saying? But she can’t be as demanding as she wants to be. She can’t be as, you know, as a man would act in the West. So she has to act through nuance and through all these other ways, but she’s pulling the strings behind the scenes there. But what’s really cool is that her husband, the Marquis,
Chris (08:27.831)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (08:48.366)
sees her as his equal and loves her so deeply that it’s like beyond their time, it seems. It’s actually really cool. I think it’s an incredible love story.
Chris (08:54.807)
Mm -hmm. It is. It is, because I do know, because I think it was after he was died as well, obviously well after Elcon. I think if I remember rightly from what Jeff says, Medora went on a huge campaign because she believed there was a conspiracy and that he was killed. I think the government were behind it and things, and she did not let it rest until she died. I think that she was fighting for it until the end of her days, which is really powerful.
Ashton Solecki (09:05.358)
Yes.
Ashton Solecki (09:12.782)
Yes, yep. that’s right. Yes, yes. And you know, one of the, it was interesting because like when I was preparing to play her, I’d never played a real person before. And there’s a lot of things, obviously you can find about Teddy Roosevelt, obviously. There’s a lot of things you can find about Marquise. There’s not a whole lot that you can find about the –
Chris (09:29.591)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (09:34.391)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (09:39.854)
personality and the inner thoughts about Madora or anything that would indicate as such. But one of the only things that I did find besides like what you’re talking about where she’s campaigning and writing these newspaper articles about her husband has probably been assassinated, dah, dah, dah, is years and years later after he’s passed away and she’s in her older years in life and they have children. I think they had three children.
Chris (09:44.343)
Right.
Mm -hmm.
Chris (09:53.239)
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Chris (10:07.735)
Right.
Ashton Solecki (10:08.558)
and I found a telegram that she wrote and that to me, that was like,
Chris (10:11.479)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (10:18.19)
I see who she is and in the telegram, she’s telling her children to always have a goal in life that they strive towards and to work really hard and to be kind to each other and to take care of each other and to always remember their father with love and remember how much we love you and da da da. And I thought, wow, you know, this couple may have been wicked, but there is truly a deeper reason for everything that.
Chris (10:38.839)
Yeah.
Chris (10:43.223)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (10:47.95)
they did and Madora was drawn to. And so, you know, it was fun to play with for it was like all of a sudden this villain that was wrote and you know, things are not exactly accurate. Obviously it’s Hollywood eyes, like a lot of liberties and stuff like this. But you know, I’m reading the scripts and I see this like very charactery villain. And at first I was like, man, how am I going to do this? Cause I’m more of like a very dramatic type.
Chris (10:58.583)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (11:11.758)
you know, and I wasn’t sure what to do. And then I found that telegram and I was like, wait, I know who this person is now. Now I can play. So it was cool.
Chris (11:18.423)
Yeah.
Chris (11:22.103)
really really interesting to hear Ash too as well because it’s like I was about to ask you how you got into it and stuff like that because I guess from records we all know records you know if that kind of era and before were all usually written by men so you know they would have kept stuff like that out the picture as much but we do all know I say Medora was such a fantastically strong character and they usually they’re all saying isn’t it behind every successful man there’s usually a woman a very intelligent woman sitting pulling the strings.
Ashton Solecki (11:43.022)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (11:47.31)
Yeah, that is, you know, it’s because, you know, it’s a partnership really that happens and this this yin and the yang and the balance and one person’s weaknesses or the other strengths and vice versa. And that’s that is a power couple. Yeah.
Chris (12:03.831)
Yeah, yeah. And it’s great to hear as well, like you say, you found that telegram to show because, you know, from what I’ve seen in Nelcorn so far, they are, they’re evil. They’re not evil, they just, they know what they want and they just want to, they want to own their likes and other people. They just like to control and they want everything to be theirs and they want, you know, they want their say on it. They want their money in basically. But to find out there’s actually, you know, I mean, you do see that in the, you know, it’s coming across the…
Ashton Solecki (12:27.582)
yeah.
Chris (12:32.663)
There’s the sweet side of Medora, which is probably sweet, but deadly. It’s the sweet smile with a dagger in the back as she comes in. But you’ve got the character underneath there where that love and the familial love comes through, where that’s what their aim is. That’s what their goal is in the long term. They look out for each other. They want their families to be brought up really well. And…
Ashton Solecki (12:41.166)
Yes, exactly.
Ashton Solecki (12:51.086)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (12:58.574)
Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I remember there was, I don’t know if I’ll ever do this again, but probably I probably will. But I read comments once on Instagram, on YouTube and da da da da. And most people were like, power couple da da da da da da da. And this one person was like, this is so sad. This is not what they were like at all.
Chris (12:59.255)
and respectful of others as well which is amazing considering what they’re like in the show.
Chris (13:11.223)
Thank you.
Hahaha.
Ashton Solecki (13:27.47)
which I’m like, I understand, you know, and it probably isn’t, we’ll never truly know because it’s not the 1800s and we don’t know, but something that like, I think is hard is when you take something historical that happened and then you…
Chris (13:27.511)
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (13:46.734)
turn it into like an entertainment series and it’s not a historical series. It’s not, you know what I’m saying? So it’s, it’s based off of truth, but it’s not a true story. You know what I’m saying? So, so there’s a lot of liberty liberties that are taken and it’s interesting to play and play with, but it doesn’t mean that it’s accurate per se, but I think exactly what you said.
Chris (13:51.703)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (14:06.99)
whether or not she was actually ill intended or actually had this wicked side to her, what did drive her was this immense love that she had for the Marquise and this vision for the future, for the world to be a certain way and for her to have children that are part of that and help build that. And that is true and that does shine through, thankfully.
Chris (14:10.711)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (14:20.855)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (14:31.511)
Definitely, definitely. It is great. And it’s just, I say there’s some fantastic interactions as well. And the way you have, I say I can only base it on what I’ve seen in that one episode where you’ve been, well you’ve been in a couple of them so far, but obviously that, I think the main one for me was episode two, isn’t it? Where you’re introduced to the Marquis and the dinner and everything like that. And you’ve got, you know, you’ve got Roosevelt. That was just hilarious. It was just such a power play between them because…
Ashton Solecki (14:52.186)
yes, yeah, yeah.
Chris (15:01.047)
That’s what I really enjoyed because the show and all of you guys acting in it have really managed to bring out, like you’ve just talked about, the characters that you’ve studied yourself. So you can really have that show in, let’s say in the dinner table, for example, you’ve got three hugely strong personalities. You’ve got Roosevelt, he’s a well -known guy, very artistic, he’s known from the East and New York and being this fine, dandy city slicker. I’ll put it down.
Ashton Solecki (15:20.398)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (15:29.422)
Politicians, city speakers, y ‘all.
Chris (15:29.975)
Billy Crystal, yeah. Yeah. Excuse me. And then you’ve obviously got the Marquis and Medora as well. And the looks, because I think there’s some times when… No. Yeah. Exactly. You know, you’ve got… I think Roosevelt said something and Marquis just… He’s sitting there contemplating and Medora’s just like a… And you can see in her head, like this ticking over. It’s like, no, that’s not going to happen.
Ashton Solecki (15:41.258)
Yeah, there’s no words even just looks
Ashton Solecki (15:53.006)
Exactly.
Ashton Solecki (15:59.214)
So, exactly.
Chris (15:59.255)
And she then she starts to slowly turn the conversations around and push him push them trying to be sweet trying to get him.
Ashton Solecki (16:07.598)
Yes, like this socially acceptable way, right? She’s very bold because like nowadays, me as Ashton, if I were in a situation, I’d just be, no, no, da, da, da, you know, but that’s not how things were then, you know, especially for women, they were expected to abide by these certain things, but Madora doesn’t abide by those things anyway, but she likes to maintain social,
Chris (16:12.919)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (16:25.559)
Mm.
Ashton Solecki (16:36.11)
Acceptability, you know what I’m saying and work within that and so it was interesting to Hold all those things in my mind knowing that I can’t do this and I must appear this way But this is what I’m actually thinking and feeling and so how can I? direct this conversation between these two stubborn men
Chris (16:49.079)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (16:55.086)
who are being really dumb to get, you know what I mean? To get each other to talk and not let my expression say too much, but inevitably when you’re thinking and feeling something, it shines through. I actually, I love that dinner scene. It’s still one of my favorite ones. I think it’s hilarious. Like you said, these strong personalities and the tension that you can just literally cut it with a knife. It’s just tense.
Chris (16:57.591)
Yeah.
Chris (17:05.911)
Yeah.
Chris (17:11.799)
man
Chris (17:16.983)
Yeah.
Chris (17:20.919)
It is, it is, and it was such a really good scene, it’s fantastic. And there’s another side of things as well, you see Medora in episode 3, and that’s again where it shows what kind of a character she is, because Rosie’s on her own in the room with her thief. First of all, Medora’s told her to just go up and raid the room, and poor little Rosie, when I spoke to Tori she was like, you know, she was sitting there thinking, this sweet amateurs, very very mild man and girl, and she doesn’t, you know, she’s…
Ashton Solecki (17:31.47)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (17:36.493)
there you go. Yes.
Chris (17:48.631)
conflicted about having to go and root in this room but she’s suddenly thrown in and says you’re the manager of the hotel and stuff but Medora does come into her rescue right at the right moment and just and again back in that day for a woman to be as assertive and as authoritative as what Medora did when she came into that thief when he was obviously you know he’s starting to be cocky he was starting to give it all back and Medora was pretty much like no.
Ashton Solecki (17:51.438)
Yes. Yes.
Ashton Solecki (17:55.854)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (18:12.782)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (18:17.646)
And she doesn’t know but in a with this it’s a smile but like daggers, you know No, that’s not gonna happen. yeah, but what’s also interesting is I love the one of the the
Chris (18:18.207)
Exactly.
Ashton Solecki (18:36.334)
out of it, like a theme, a subline of Madora’s existence in this season with Rosie is what I remember when I was reading through, I was like, this is interesting. Why has Madora taken such an interest in Rosie? Like, what is the reason? Tori and I have been joking all the time, like, I think Rosie and Madora just need a spinoff season of them going to the world, traveling the world, and da, da, da. Of course, that’s not what will happen, but.
Chris (18:41.591)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (18:53.879)
Yeah.
Chris (18:58.135)
Hehehehehe
Ashton Solecki (19:05.294)
And then these certain things are said that are like, you know, when you’re an enterprising businesswoman, you have to be wary of this, this and this. And I think really Madora, because of the status that she holds and people are fearful of her and she’s powerful with money and you know, they are not opposed to using violence. It is the West. And that’s how things worked at that time there for better or for worse. And.
Chris (19:12.023)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (19:20.663)
Yeah.
Chris (19:25.847)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (19:29.463)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (19:31.886)
I can imagine that Madora felt a bit lonely in that way. You know what I’m saying? I mean, sure, she’s got like maids and things like that, but you know, yeah, yeah, but like exactly, like no friends. And then all of a sudden she sees Rosie, who’s good at what she does, and she sees a fire in Rosie who’s fighting back against our hotel manager. And she’s like, wait a minute. I see, I think that Madora sees Rosie.
Chris (19:36.919)
Mm.
Chris (19:40.535)
Yeah, they’re not either peers or friends are they?
Ashton Solecki (19:58.958)
and her, you know what I’m saying? Like she sees herself in Rosie and she’s like, wait, I’m going to take you under my wing. And it goes places, especially the last couple episodes. Because, yeah, because Rosie starts to not really listen to Madora’s influence and that.
Chris (20:02.615)
Yeah.
Chris (20:10.263)
So I’ve heard.
Chris (20:17.111)
Right.
Ashton Solecki (20:18.158)
eats Madora up from the inside out and she becomes calculated because she’s hurt, you know what I’m saying? She’s very calculated but those last couple episodes are my favorite between Rosie and Madora in that way.
Chris (20:25.335)
Yeah.
Chris (20:32.407)
Let’s say that’s Medora and the Marquis with narcissism around them, haven’t they? Because you know, and anything against that so I can see where Medora… You can obviously, from what I’ve seen, Medora is obviously nurturing Rosie and you can see that coming up so I can imagine if she starts not listening to her then it’s like it’s an affront isn’t it? It’s like the parent or the older sister and it’s like hang on a minute you just want to slap them around.
Ashton Solecki (20:44.142)
Yeah. Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (20:48.27)
Yeah.
Exactly. It’s like, excuse me. Exactly. Excuse me. Who gave you absolutely everything? Just wait a minute here. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That’s sort of the vibe that it is on the surface. On the surface. Exactly. Wait a minute.
Chris (21:00.551)
Yeah, yeah, you entitled little brat is That’s really really cool so I mean what I’ve asked I think as well the costume as well I want to ask you this because when I spoke to Tori and she mentioned and she had all these like little dresses But she was like, you know poor Ashton had this like really heavy velvet and it was really hot. So how did you manage that?
Ashton Solecki (21:25.07)
this.
Ashton Solecki (21:29.294)
there were some days, you know, because we filmed up in the desert, they built this whole Western town. The art department is just just like seriously incredible. But being in the desert, you know, there’s extreme colds and there’s extreme hot. So on the cold days, it was great because I’d wear like my long johns underneath, you know, and I’m cozy. But on the hot days, like sitting in these heavy.
Chris (21:36.023)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (21:40.183)
Yeah.
Chris (21:46.743)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (21:52.206)
heavy thick dresses and obviously there’s no air conditioning. And I’m staying out of the sun because it’s baking but it’s still like over 100 degrees. And it was I learned that obviously a lot of hydration but to sit and not move until I am exactly needed and maintained to refrain from sweating too much from getting too hot and then action go go go hi and then sit in front of actually.
Chris (22:03.319)
Ugh.
Chris (22:09.591)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (22:16.983)
haha
Ashton Solecki (22:22.16)
there’s this picture, I should post this picture actually, where it was so hot and we were in between takes and I lifted the bottom of my heavy dress and held it in front of this massive fan and it’s just blowing up the dress. I’m like, ugh, it’s so hot. Like Marilyn Monroe style except Monroe style.
Chris (22:37.687)
God. Yeah.
Chris (22:44.631)
I know Tori said at one point she was like the producers had come to her and told her to stop because she said she’s got that fast, matte, hampersaw as a sweat in and then she told us she had to stay up there and they had to put fans under her and stuff to try and boil hairdryer to blow in.
Ashton Solecki (22:56.11)
yeah.
Yes exactly, she’d be standing like, exactly, I’m standing with, my dresses were so thick you couldn’t see sweat of any kind but my god. Every day I’d come home and my dog I’m sure was like, she’d be licking my skin extra probably because it was salty. You know what I’m saying? It tasted like a Ritz cracker.
Chris (23:05.879)
Yeah.
Chris (23:10.747)
Yeah.
Chris (23:15.191)
My dogs do that and it’s like I think they love me it’s like no it’s just because I’ve been out in the hot weather. Damn things would chew you to pieces if they could have.
Ashton Solecki (23:20.946)
Exactly, exactly.
Ashton Solecki (23:27.854)
Seriously, sometimes I wonder. Yeah, have you ever heard that thing where it’s like if a person, like a pet owner dies in their house, like the difference between a cat and a dog is like a cat would wait till you’ve just died and then start eating you and a dog. And there’s some people say a dog would never eat you. And sometimes I’m like, you know, I think my dog would eat me actually out of love, perhaps, but a little salty.
Chris (23:30.231)
Yeah.
Chris (23:36.951)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (23:42.679)
Yeah.
Chris (23:49.623)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, I think it’s more the salt. Yeah, I think that’s what mine would do. Especially one of them. Yeah, the cats would be the ones to finish me off in the first place. They’d be like…
Ashton Solecki (23:56.654)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (24:01.87)
Exactly. Exactly. They’re like, finally, our time has come.
Chris (24:05.527)
Exactly, those little buggers sit at the top of the stairs and just try and trip you up. So as you’re walking down the stairs and you run onto your feet and just, you know, there’s been several occasions where that’s nearly been quite disastrous. It is, yeah. I’ll send you the picture where everyone, the top of the bottom of the stairs, his little eyes are peeking out from the curtain. He’s under the curtain, you know, because you walk by and it will just like, you know, smack you and trip you up.
Ashton Solecki (24:12.174)
Yes! Sneaky! Sneaky!
Ashton Solecki (24:23.118)
that’s cute.
Ashton Solecki (24:29.71)
They’re so different cats and dogs are so different and I never fully did like why people would say that until I got my dog Sophie and the best thing that I heard that sums this up is The difference between a cat dog is with a cat the owner comes home from a long day at work You know feeds the cat and gives a cat fresh water and cleans the poop up and the cat goes Wow, you feed me you water me you clean up my poop I must be a god and the dog goes Wow, you feed me you clean me you pick up my poop
Chris (24:32.567)
yeah.
Ashton Solecki (24:58.83)
You must be a god. You know what I mean? It’s like this difference of idolization versus like, yes. Yup, that’s the one. That’s the one.
Chris (25:00.855)
Yeah, I’ve seen that meme it’s great It’s brilliant it’s brilliant and So back to Elkhorn now. It’s like I’m just I think so of my fault I carry you know this from the last time I change the thoughts of So with the actual Elkhorn itself we have the 10 episodes I’ve seen three we’re on episode six now How have you been able to have you found?
Ashton Solecki (25:19.374)
Me too, me too.
Chris (25:31.575)
As you progressed with the filming, how did you find yourself understanding Medora more, should I say? We’ve really kind of touched on it as you got into it and you’ve gone in, because obviously with the set and the costumes and everything else and the, you know, I’m sure you must have experienced more.
Ashton Solecki (25:39.79)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (25:44.142)
Right, yeah. Yeah. Well, it was amazing too, because like you do all your preparation and then when you go to start filming, when the wardrobe is put…
was put on my body, it elevated and made me understand, like, I don’t know, like you hold your body differently when the wardrobe’s on and you see yourself in the mirror. So that was definitely an impact. And then also, Megan, Rebecca was the hair and makeup artist, the way she would do my hair was like incredible, my makeup and all these things actually were very additive to me in a way I didn’t expect and has never really done to me before. But the biggest learning that I had was,
Chris (26:04.407)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (26:17.367)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (26:25.742)
You know, when we first started filming, I think, especially because this was a team between the cast and the crew that hadn’t worked together, obviously the crew had worked together before, but between the cast and the crew is a lot of newness happening. And so in the very beginning, there’s a lot of, in my perspective and in my experience, it felt unsettled for me because I was like, okay, what am I doing? How’s the flow of this going to work? And then I’m getting input from.
Chris (26:35.543)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (26:52.398)
all these different people, so which advice am I supposed to take, but that’s different than what I prepared, da da da da da. And then pretty shortly thereafter I learned, wait, actually I know what to do, I know how to do the work that I’m doing. And I grew in the confidence to be able to own the character and then take the, and then all of a sudden we became this well -oiled team pretty quickly thereafter, like after just a couple days of filming.
Chris (27:10.903)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (27:20.494)
And then it was like, okay, now we know how to work together. We understand the flow of things together. We’re becoming this well -oiled machine. And then to be able to work across the other actors who are then owning who they are and growing in that. And then…
Chris (27:28.791)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (27:37.838)
something about interacting together actually brings it up even more and especially between like Jeff who plays a Marquis and I being on set so much together and getting to know him even more and then act with him so much the husband wife dynamic suddenly I can okay I see interesting now I know this about you and now I know
Chris (27:41.175)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (28:00.334)
this about Marquise because I know this about you and it just elevates everything better and so it gets to this rhythm I think that is just like rocking and rolling but it’s interesting because the episodes were not
filmed exactly in order. And so there’s some things that like in episode six or four or something like that, I’d filmed very first. And I doubt that the viewer can see this. But when I watch it, I’m like, I’m very unsettled in that scene because I remember it. And I remember it was like the first one or two. And I remember feeling unsettled and feeling like I didn’t nail it. And I see it that way. And
Chris (28:18.583)
Yeah.
Chris (28:26.967)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (28:30.615)
Yeah.
Chris (28:35.223)
Bye.
Chris (28:40.151)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (28:44.526)
And I don’t think the viewer thinks that, but I recognize it. But I mean, the whole thing was, I’d never done TV before and it’s so much different than film. Like the pacing, all the different cooks in the kitchen at the same time, everything was different and it was such an incredible experience.
Chris (28:47.863)
You
Chris (28:59.607)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (29:06.51)
learning experience and I’m thankful for it and by the end of it I was like, dang, we’re a well -oiled machine and now we’re done. Hopefully we’ll get renewed for a season two.
Chris (29:20.311)
fingers crossed that’d be great and released in the UK I’ll just have that yeah that’s that’s really interesting to hear and I said I know from when we chatted about Roswell I was always I was really impressed with your dedication to how you go into that role and you look and you work with other people like you you know you said you go into the set with Kylie when you weren’t there but when she was there so you’d understand how the younger version so you could incorporate that into the older version that really impressed me it’s something cause like
Ashton Solecki (29:21.326)
Yes, sir.
Yes, world -wide!
Ashton Solecki (29:42.862)
Yes. Yep.
Ashton Solecki (29:47.694)
Yes.
Chris (29:49.367)
I’ve sung it to everyone else like that was amazing and that was a really dedication. And the fact that you know you’re meant to do that again with working around and understanding as you’ve gone on and it must be difficult like you say when you’ve got you’ve coming into this whole new series and then you film in the last episodes before the first so you you’ve not really been able to get into the character in that order to build up so I can see where you might feel uncomfortable I’m sure it doesn’t come across whatsoever but it’s a it’s you’re always critical with your own pieces of work aren’t you so you know.
Ashton Solecki (29:52.494)
See you.
Ashton Solecki (30:10.062)
Yes.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
of course. Well, it also is interesting because like the filming schedule would be like a couple weeks on a while off.
Chris (30:18.359)
When you… yeah.
Chris (30:28.119)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (30:28.174)
And because I’m not in every episode in a large extent, for me, sometimes the gaps between were quite large. And so it was a great thing for me to learn to, okay, you know, you build this world and preparing like, okay, this is, this is Madora, this is how I feel in it. And then when you put that aside for like a month or two months or something, all of a sudden to step back into it, you’re like, I have to get the dust off for a second, you know, and kind of restructure. And so I got very good at that, but I’d never had to do that before because,
Chris (30:52.343)
Thank you.
Chris (30:57.079)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (30:58.128)
because when you’re filming, you’re just heads down for weeks at a time where this was like, I don’t know, maybe like nine or 10 months of filming and learning how to get very good at putting the skin back on very quickly and confidently. Yeah, learned a lot. It was a mad respect for people to do that. Now I get it. Now I’m like, I see,
Chris (31:00.695)
Yeah, all the way through.
Chris (31:13.367)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (31:21.239)
Hahaha.
Well yeah that’s the thing, some people will think it’s an easy life and it’s not an easy life whatsoever. I mean you know, in an actor’s life because they’ll just see people on TV and because you do it so seamlessly they’ll think yeah it must be easy, it’s not. You know, it’s just as well every job is difficult in its own right but to be able to just switch off and then switch like you say a few weeks later just get the costume back on and you’ve got to be back where you were.
Ashton Solecki (31:32.846)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (31:43.15)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (31:51.15)
Right, yeah.
Chris (31:51.255)
That takes a lot to be able to do that, which is why you do what you do. It’s the art.
Ashton Solecki (31:54.558)
Yes, exactly. And if we had any sense about us, none of us would be doing it because it’s not an… But it’s the thing is I’ve heard this phrase where it’s like, if you want to make money, don’t be an actor. Do literally anything else. But if you cannot do anything else because you just can’t, you just can’t not, then you can be an actor. And because it’s, I mean, not just the art of it, but also like when…
Chris (32:01.207)
Hahaha.
Chris (32:19.351)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (32:24.11)
when you’re an actor and if you’re not like, you know, a nepotism baby or, you know, you’ve got like parents or siblings or some type of in, you start like at the…
Chris (32:28.439)
Mm.
Ashton Solecki (32:34.542)
Absolute bottom and you I mean you do hear occasionally like people get a shot and everything but typically it’s like years or a decade plus of Hard work where nobody sees anything that you do and then all of us like you’re doing all these things It’s like no, I’ve been working for a decade trying and not making any money at all and so it’s just it’s it’s Not a career for the faint of heart as so many careers are you know what I’m saying?
Chris (32:44.311)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (32:48.087)
Yeah.
Chris (33:02.231)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (33:03.63)
when you can’t not do anything else, because that’s all you think about. And every time you go to say, maybe I shouldn’t, and then you die on the inside, then you must, and you must carry on. And the best advice that I ever got was from somebody else’s acting coach, actually. And…
Chris (33:18.167)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (33:20.526)
Greg Marks was his name and he told me I had just graduated this was coming on like a year and a half ago now or two close to two years ago I had just graduated my acting program this Meisner program totally changed my life but
Chris (33:31.443)
Right.
Ashton Solecki (33:34.126)
And he was like, what’s next for you? And I was like, well, I booked this thing and blah, blah, blah. And he said, okay, that’s wonderful. That’s amazing. My one piece of advice is always have something that you’re working on because if you are waiting for an audition to book an audition, waiting for a project, you will burn out pretty fast. And I’ve definitely that’s resonated true because like, if you’re just an actor, that’s beautiful and amazing, but you are at the will.
Chris (33:53.527)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (34:04.08)
of like the world and as an artist it’s never great to be at the will of the world you know you have to so whether it’s writing or you’re working on a project or you’re doing a theater thing or whatever to always keep that creative muscle going as an actor because it’s it’s not for the faint of heart it’ll burn you out fast you gotta have some boundaries.
Chris (34:10.647)
Yeah.
Chris (34:18.391)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.
Chris (34:25.687)
You do, it’s very sensible advice as well. I remember when I was younger I was gonna go into acting. I loved it, I did it all in school and you know I did exams and qualifications in it. I was invited to take the exam for Lambda, you know, at one point through a drama teacher. I never took it because my parents steered me away. They just did me away from quite a few things actually. They steered me away from the acting because they said exactly what you’ve just said. They said there’s no money in it, you’ll be unemployed. I was like, yeah but do we do what I love?
Ashton Solecki (34:47.726)
Yeah.
Chris (34:53.687)
same with the armed forces, I was going to go in the armed forces and they steered me away from that. But the action side, I’ve always had that bug and I’ve always wanted to do it again, which is probably why I do this show now, because I enjoyed it.
Ashton Solecki (34:57.038)
I don’t have.
Ashton Solecki (35:01.422)
I really don’t think there’s any wrong time to start and I don’t think it’s too late at all for anyone ever because like for me acting was not possible to do in a realistic way. I grew up in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Montana.
Chris (35:20.311)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (35:22.99)
and to move to LA to start acting was like, I didn’t have the money to do that. I didn’t even know how to act. It was just a dream type of thing. So I lived this other life, all these other things, but that dream never died. You know what I’m saying? And like you’re saying, you’re like, I still have this bug. If it’s there, it’s there for a reason. You know what I’m saying? And if anything, like for me, I had built a life that enabled me to then go for it where,
Chris (35:32.791)
La La Land.
Chris (35:37.783)
Yeah.
Chris (35:42.231)
I’m going to go ahead and close the video.
Chris (35:50.743)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (35:51.95)
I’ll never be able to say what would or would have happened if I started earlier. But what I do know is that because I started later, AKA I wasn’t 17 years old or 12 or whatever, I could say no. I could protect myself, take care of myself, provide for myself. And I had all these other life experiences to use. And so it no longer is like totally exhausting or burning out or anything. So I think, I think you should go for it.
Chris (36:01.879)
Yeah.
Chris (36:23.959)
Thank you. I did do something about 10 years ago. A friend was a director and I went in and I’m not going to tell you what I went in and I had a speaking part. I was an office manager in this show. The character was the worst type of person you could ever be and I didn’t know because they gave me two pieces of script and the story which were my lines. They didn’t give me any details of what else happens in there and when I got there on the day I was there for 13 hours because long days filming aren’t they? And…
Ashton Solecki (36:35.022)
Yeah. Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (36:41.966)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ashton Solecki (36:51.566)
Yeah.
Chris (36:53.655)
for two hours I was lying on the floor with my hands behind my back simulating being tied up on a concrete cold concrete floor for two hours and yeah because I was being tortured and right no the reason there was a reason why I’m not gonna say it off air I’ll tell you why because the reason why I was being tortured and it was a damn good reason and I’ve got no qualms about that character whatsoever being tortured because of the person they were they were part of a ring should I say probably quite topical actually with Hollywood at the moment.
Ashton Solecki (37:04.846)
They didn’t even tell you you were being told to?
Ashton Solecki (37:16.238)
okay, okay, okay.
Okay.
Chris (37:23.543)
that kind of Epstein type ring. Yeah and now I know why when I got there I said now I know why you’ve not given me any of the extra to the story because when I got there they turned around and they did say because you do realize this is what you want what the character is on it I was like and it goes very brave of you to take this on I said what brave of me why why what’s wrong with it and I read it I was like my god I was like really?
Ashton Solecki (37:24.366)
Huh? I will… I will… I got it, okay, okay.
Ashton Solecki (37:45.454)
Did you turn to your director friend and were like, thank you so much.
Chris (37:48.759)
Yeah, I was just like, what have you done? I wasn’t very happy. But I did it and I bit. But it was alright, it worked out alright. But yeah, there’s that book you’ve got. I mean, like you say, with them taking so long to become successful, I think Samuel L Jackson, I think it was, said it successfully. He goes, it’s only taking him 20 years to become an overnight success. I think it was him.
Ashton Solecki (37:53.166)
It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real.
Ashton Solecki (38:09.646)
Yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Well, even like, I really admire Margot Robbie, her work and her professionalism and…
Chris (38:20.151)
Mmm.
Ashton Solecki (38:21.07)
just she’s great objectively she’s fantastic but she also in an interview I think this was for I can’t remember I think it’s for I Tanya the movie it’s just quite a while ago but someone was like you’re such an overnight success and she goes similar to what Samuel L. Jackson said she goes you know you work so hard like she started acting when she was like I mean young young young young yeah exactly yeah
Chris (38:24.727)
Thanks.
Chris (38:32.119)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (38:43.159)
Yeah, she really was. She was in all the soaps in Australia and everything, yeah.
Ashton Solecki (38:47.278)
And she goes, you work really hard, really hard, and then all of a sudden you’re in overnight. Exactly. And people don’t see the decades of work and all of that.
Chris (38:54.807)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (38:57.07)
And the other thing that I heard that I really love is it’s not a sprint. This is a marathon. And everybody defines success differently, but if you’re sprinting, that might be great and that might work for you, but statistically it probably doesn’t. So nourish yourself, live your life, focus on doing good work and just enjoy the process of living life and doing and doing. And what may happen may happen, what may not happen.
Chris (39:05.719)
Mm.
Chris (39:09.463)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (39:27.024)
not may not but at least you’re enjoying the journey which is very cheesy but you know that’s why it’s sad I guess.
Chris (39:31.187)
Yeah. Living the dream, living the dream. It’s true because otherwise you could get stuck in doing a job that you know where your passion is elsewhere. I do this show because I’ve got my normal day job doing 40 hours. It’s alright, pays the money. But I do this show because this is my passion side of things. This is where I bring out that side. And I did tell Tori, actually I did it off and I did my little…
Ashton Solecki (39:51.374)
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.
Chris (39:59.703)
impressions to a Tori as well. And she was like, so I can’t remember if I did them for you last time.
Ashton Solecki (40:04.942)
No, no!
Chris (40:08.727)
Alright this is my big INSP, if you’re watching this here you go. I started the podcast and I was just doing stupid stuff to try and cheer people up, that’s all it was. So it’s like impressions like Donald Duck And then he sneezes…
Ashton Solecki (40:12.718)
Okay.
Ashton Solecki (40:25.038)
What?
Chris (40:34.199)
That was my Donald thank you. That’s my goofy. No. He said squeaky isn’t he? He said I can’t do Mickey Mouse. He’s so squeaky. No I can’t do Mickey Mouse. Yoda. The only one I do is Yoda. It’s just like. When 900 years old you look as good. You will not.
Ashton Solecki (40:35.758)
Yes, yes.
Ashton Solecki (40:41.71)
Okay, can you do Mickey Mouse? Okay, do another one Okay, okay
Ashton Solecki (41:01.454)
Impressions like that are something that I always have tried to do and just I I don’t have that skill. Okay, I’ve tried I know I find this so impressive and mind -blowing
Chris (41:08.463)
if you can work this one. Ashton? Ashton? If I say it with Piggy? Piggy? You need an arm set Piggy? It’s meant to be Kermit to be honest but it doesn’t work very well. Yeah thanks for that.
Ashton Solecki (41:19.086)
Is this like R2D2?
Chris (41:27.447)
It’s not as good that one. I actually did that to Mike Quinn who was a puppeteer, muppeteer and he just went, and this is Yoda as well, he went, very good and carried on, I was like, thanks, you’ve just ruined my psyche. Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (41:33.006)
Yeah, yeah.
Ashton Solecki (41:38.762)
Thank you, I’m going to go cry now for a minute.
Chris (41:44.247)
There you go, there’s my impressions. I’ll leave the first half of those in. So if anyone’s listening out there, producer world, you know, I’m not my man. Yeah. So I’m looking at the time, I’m keeping you on as well. Three words, can you describe Medora in three words?
Ashton Solecki (43:37.102)
I like that a lot.
Ashton Solecki (43:41.678)
It’s over, do it!
Ashton Solecki (43:53.646)
Ooh,
Ashton Solecki (43:58.862)
She is intelligent. She is charming. And she is… Well, this is a this is a dashed word. Fiercely loyal.
Chris (44:15.383)
Yep, hyphened. Yeah, okay, I get those. I understand. Yeah, I get those points. Very good. Nice. Fantastic.
Ashton Solecki (44:22.062)
Yeah, yeah. And a whole host of other words I would use. Caniving, strong, powerful. Yes, you know. A dreamer, you know. But also, one fact actually about Madora.
Chris (44:25.287)
yeah, manipulative. Assertive. Yeah, carry on. That’s great. That is good. That’s…
Ashton Solecki (44:39.758)
that we didn’t play so much in the first season, and I would love if in future seasons, if this was hit on, is that, so it is said that the Marquise is an incredible shot, right? Like he, he.
Chris (44:45.239)
Mmm.
Chris (44:51.159)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (44:53.166)
historically and I think it is referenced at some point in the show but I would love if it were seen is that Madora actually is said to have been the sharpest shooter of all men and women period in the West during that time. I mean yeah yeah and I’m like we should have played with that. INSB are you listening? Hello? Let’s play. I would love to see Madora like you know shooting these targets and so you know charming and confidently about it it’s just you know beginner’s luck.
Chris (45:06.487)
I heard that.
Chris (45:12.311)
Yeah, exactly.
Ashton Solecki (45:22.51)
But ding, ding, ding, all of the target’s it.
Chris (45:22.999)
yeah, that would have been good, that would have been great to see. Maybe season 2, you know, watch out. Show more of that side of Medora. And for yourself Ashton, is there anything, I mean I believe I’ve seen something recently, is there anything that you’re coming out with now? I’ll see you in.
Ashton Solecki (45:40.558)
Yes, yes. I think it’s been announced it’s in post -production now and it’s called The Darkness Returns and it is a supernatural horror meets psychological thriller.
And in nutshell, it’s about, it’s several different timelines and a curse that ties these timelines and these repeated lives together. And there’s also a heart racing thriller, Bloody. And I play one of the lead roles where…
I go on a journey where at first when you’ll meet me in the film, I’m pretty ditzy and pretty simple. Which was really fun to play actually. I was nervous to play something like that because I’ve never played like ditzy before. I’ve always played very dramatic or serious or villainous or sad which I love. So this was a challenge because I was like, don’t judge the role. Don’t judge the character. She doesn’t know she’s that way. Anyway, but she goes through this arc where.
Chris (46:26.327)
I’m out.
Chris (46:34.583)
Yeah.
Chris (46:39.159)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (46:45.879)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (46:49.678)
she becomes very strong and I won’t give away but she’s become very strong she’s a face down this thing but what was really cool actually is a everybody working with everybody was fantastic another really lucky set where it’s just great.
Chris (47:05.911)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (47:10.094)
but I, it was the first time I got to do all my own stunts. and so I got to work with Dalton who, has done all the seasons of the walking dead, the stunt coordinating dad, and they’re just like legends. And when I’m telling, he taught me so much and he was so like focused on safety, but also building up my abilities and my confidence. And it looked so cool. I would, I would watch some playbacks and I’m like, what?
Chris (47:15.415)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (47:22.487)
Alright, yeah. Cool. Yeah.
Chris (47:34.999)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (47:39.726)
Dalton? What? they’re so good. And like, I’d have these like rigs on underneath my clothing and be pulled and fly in the air and the falling and all this stuff. And it was just like, it was really awesome. I’d always wanted to do my own stunts. And because of Dalton and how awesome he is, it was a reality. They offered a double and I was like, no, please, please, I really want to do it. And if it’s bad, you could have somebody else, but please let me try. And it was good. It was really cool.
Chris (48:02.167)
You
Chris (48:08.919)
Fantastic, excellent. And so I really want to see that because that’s up my street that kind of film. It’s my perfect. I love horror films. I love horror and suspense and supernatural. Yeah. Excellent. And yeah, you’re going to come back on obviously when that’s out. Yeah. yeah, you’re welcome back anytime. It’s always such a great laugh to talk to you. And obviously, I mean, before I finish, I can’t not bring this up. Mouse gate.
Ashton Solecki (48:13.006)
How neat! Okay, okay! We’ll like this, we’ll really enjoy this!
Ashton Solecki (48:22.766)
I know we’ll have to third time. There we go again and again.
Ashton Solecki (48:31.022)
Yes.
Chris (48:38.367)
You
Ashton Solecki (48:39.182)
my goodness. Yes. Where do you want to begin?
Chris (48:42.935)
I was going to say, anyone who follows you would know if they watch you, look at your stories and stuff. It broke my heart seeing that first one and it was awful. It’s your reactions to it and then the poor little Stephen, so he’s okay now.
Ashton Solecki (48:47.374)
Yes.
Ashton Solecki (48:56.686)
Okay, so I discovered that I had a mouse in my house. We’re just gonna give some context here. I just thought that I had a mouse in my house. As everybody knows, when there’s one mouse, there’s more. So I called, you know, landlord. Landlord, help, SOS. Exterminator came. He…
Chris (49:04.247)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (49:13.678)
He confirmed that there’s actually no holes or openings to the outside. And he said, but there were like, there was like garbage outside that isn’t typically there. And it’s been like attracting mice. And he’s like, and you probably let them in through like an open door and it only takes a split second. And I think, you know, I have a dog, you know, so I take her out in the backyard and sometimes I leave the door, you know, you don’t expect for creatures to come in. So he said, you let, you probably let this mouse in or these mice.
Chris (49:29.91)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.
Chris (49:38.103)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (49:43.214)
Great. So what did he do? He sent out all these traps everywhere. I didn’t really think anything of it. He put a couple of the snappy kind, you know, the jaws. And then he also put these like sticky pads out with food on it, like a gooey food. And I don’t know. I don’t know what I assumed. I just assumed it. I don’t know. I don’t know what I assumed. I thought it’d be fine. I don’t know. Anyway, and he said to me, he said, do you have a boyfriend or somebody who can pause?
Chris (49:49.335)
Mm -hmm. yeah.
Chris (49:55.063)
Hmm.
Chris (50:05.111)
You
Ashton Solecki (50:13.262)
dispose of them and I went yeah I do I mean but he’s got a surgery right now he’s on one leg so I can do it and he said I think it’s gonna bother you and I’m like I can do it it’s no worry but
this man was right, okay, because then I came home that night and I’m like tediously walking my house. I didn’t stay in my house when I’m ice rink. I was like, nope, my boyfriend actually lives like in the upstairs, one of the upstairs apartments. Like, okay, so I’m sneaking around. It’s like one o ‘clock in the morning. I’m tiptoeing around checking like the traps and I walk into the clot, like open the closet door and there on the, on the mouse trap, there was a mouse on the mouse trap and like,
Chris (50:37.623)
Hahahaha
Alright, okay.
Chris (50:47.255)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (51:00.174)
I was like, he’s not moving. No, you saw his little face. It was so horrible. And I instantly just started wailing.
Chris (51:02.551)
I saw, yeah, his face was stuck to the side, it was horrible.
Ashton Solecki (51:10.926)
because it’s obviously horrific and I know some people are like, it’s just a mouse. No, he’s perfect and he’s innocent and it’s not his fault and he’s just in the wrong place, wrong time and he’s suffering and he’s clearly awful. He’s absolutely horrid but it’s one o ‘clock in the morning. So I’m like, what do I do? Everybody’s asleep. So first I’m like, the internet will know. So I’m asking SOS, what do I do? And then I realize it’s one o ‘clock in the morning. Nobody’s gonna be on phone. I try to call one of my neighbors. She’s sleeping as expected. So I run upstairs.
Chris (51:18.903)
Thanks.
Chris (51:33.975)
Thank you.
Ashton Solecki (51:40.88)
I let myself into my boyfriend’s apartment. This man wakes up at five o ‘clock in the morning for work. Okay, so like this is like I’m like major brownie points this guy I burst in I say Help me free the mouse through the mouth. I’m so I’m wailing I haven’t cried this art in a long time and then he helps me Google it and it turns out that you can use vegetable oil gloves, you know vegetable oil or some type of oil and so we take him to the park.
Chris (51:45.751)
All right.
Chris (51:59.671)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (52:03.511)
All right. Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (52:08.622)
This man is hobbling on one peg leg. Like what a trooper, he’s gotta wake up in three and a half hours. Anyway, and it worked. The vegetable oil and the thing, and I use a Q -tip, and he runs away and he’s all great and amazing and everything. And his name is Steven, Nathan Steven. And then the last one was caught yesterday. And her name is Christina, and Christina was thick. She’s been eating good. She was eating my dog’s dog food. But I used the…
Chris (52:10.487)
So like…
Chris (52:35.575)
Yeah, she’s a bit of a tubby mouse.
Ashton Solecki (52:37.806)
I bought like a mouse hotel, I got rid of the other traps and I used it like a, I didn’t think it would work. They look like toys, they look fake, okay? And it’s like this little green tunnel thing and you put peanut butter, whatever, and I came in the next morning and there she was and I was like, I’ll be darned. And now, you know, it’s been like a day and a half and there’s all these little mouse hotels everywhere and they’re all empty and there’s no signs and house has been disinfected but.
Chris (52:44.599)
Yeah.
Ashton Solecki (53:03.022)
Ay, ay, ay. It was an emotional roller coaster. But Steven is free and now so is Christina. And so I let them out at the same place in the park because I have this vision that they’re a couple. And Christina was either chonky or she’s pregnant. And I’m glad that she didn’t have babies in my house. But I have this vision that they reunited in the park and they were scarred and they went through hell and back and now they’re going to have a family together. And that’s great.
Chris (53:15.671)
Yeah, they’ve met together again.
Ashton Solecki (53:33.006)
and they can be bird food or whatever else the cycle of life will have. They’re just not in my house. So, last words, make sure that there’s no garbage outside, you know, make sure, because they’re attracted to that and they come, they’re wicked fast also. When I first saw Steven, I was like, I think it’s a mouse and I was vacuuming everywhere and I’m seeing some signs, but obviously you don’t see them because they hide. Then I’d given my dog a bath and I was kneeling on the floor actually and I was like giving her love in the couch and I see something.
Chris (53:37.975)
Yep.
Ashton Solecki (54:03.118)
out of the corner of my eye. I look and there’s a mouse and he’s like got this wide stance, you know, and he’s frozen and he’s looking at me and I’m looking at him and I go, and then he just runs away. They’re so fast. They’re so, anyway, so Mousegate I’m hopeful is over. The house has been disinfecting and then I leave the mouse hotels up for a week to call it.
Chris (54:19.255)
they are. Yeah.
Chris (54:30.167)
Mm -hmm.
Ashton Solecki (54:31.374)
just in case, but I feel confident that Steven and Christina were the only ones.
Chris (54:36.855)
excellent and that is Mousegate That did keep me amused and worried obviously because I saw that with the little mouse it was quite horrible those traps are awful.
Ashton Solecki (54:40.718)
I don’t know what I was expecting. I really I clearly didn’t think it through. I knew I didn’t like the snappy ones obviously, but Yeah, no, don’t use the sticky traps. It’s really horrible. And also they you know, they’ll die a slow death of starvation Number one or here’s the other thing is so stressful for them that they don’t stress I’m sorry
Chris (54:51.703)
Yeah.
Chris (55:01.175)
Mmm.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s horrible
Ashton Solecki (55:08.078)
Absolutely horrible. Like I understand they’re a mouse and they carry disease and you don’t want them in their house, but like they’re creatures. You can’t do that. Especially when there’s options. You can just, you know, catch the guys and then just drive a mile away. Come back, release them. You know? Mouse gate was, I feel, you know, my humanity came to the forefront with mouse gate. I never knew I felt such a way about mice, but I do, they’re important.
Chris (55:13.815)
can’t pump through that.
Chris (55:21.399)
Yeah, catch and release. Exactly, exactly.
Chris (55:36.791)
no other creatures aren’t they? They are important creatures. Cool. And before I finish recording now, is there anything you’d like to say Ashton to people this time round? Because there will be another time.
Ashton Solecki (55:39.502)
we are.
Ashton Solecki (55:46.926)
Thank you, thank you. A, thanks for watching. B, if you haven’t, you should check out Elkhorn, and I’m so sorry to hear that if you’re in the UK, you can’t watch it. INSP is probably working on that, honestly. I’m sure they are. And Elkhorn is, I watch it on friendly TV, it’s also on Sling, it’s on all those cable things. I highly encourage you to watch for obvious reasons.
Chris (56:01.143)
They are, I’m sure they are.
Ashton Solecki (56:16.27)
And thank you for watching if you haven’t. Stay tuned for other things to come. Also keep your doors closed so mice don’t come in your house. And that’s all probably.
Chris (56:27.287)
Thank you very much.
I welcomed back Ashton Solecki to discusses her role as Medora in the TV show Elkhorn and the character’s complex motivations. She talks about the chemistry between the cast members […]
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