In Conversation:

Ashley Madekwe and Christina Gualazzi

Ashley Madekwe and talent manager Christina Gualazzi became close friends and collaborators during a pivotal moment in their twenties.

“I didn’t know anybody,” Madekwe reflects while lounging in the lush backyard of Gualazzi’s Los Angeles home.

Madekwe had been living and working in England, where she’s from, but when the Brit booked “Revenge” in 2009, she and her then-boyfriend, now-husband, Iddo Goldberg, moved to Los Angeles.

“I was by myself because Iddo was away shooting,” Madekwe remembers, explaining that – at the time – Gualazzi was an assistant at a talent firm that represented her. “I was arriving with my cat. [Christina] said, ‘Meet me. Come out with me,’ and we went out to a bar. We became friends outside of work colleagues when I moved to the States.”

Their bond was undeniable and they quickly became champions for one another. Madekwe campaigned for Gualazzi to be promoted from assistant to talent manager. The women have conquered the highs and lows of Hollywood together ever since. Their tight-knit friendship is unique in a town where long-term relationships —personally and professionally — are few and far between.

“We’re both ambitious,” Gualazzi says. “We both have such an insane mutual respect for one another.”

Fifteen years later, that admiration has taken them to great heights — proving that when women stick together everything is possible.

In 2023, Gualazzi launched her own management firm, Ethos Entertainment, with her husband, Matt Goldman. The duo represents Madekwe, Goldberg, Cat Deeley, and Jesse Lee Soffer, among others.

With Gualazzi’s guidance, Madekwe has booked one film and television series after another. She currently stars on Peacock's “Dr. Death” alongside Mandy Moore and Edgar Ramirez. She also received a BAFTA Award nomination for the 2019 indie film “County Lines.”

On a more personal level, the besties have been there for one another through times of great change as well—from keeping each other company during the pandemic to the birth of Madekwe’s son in 2023.

Gualazzi has relished seeing Madekwe conquer it all.

“You were pregnant [while] shooting a TV show, flying to the U.K. to promote [your film] ‘The Strays,’ back to shooting the show,” a visibly awestruck Gualazzi says to Madekwe.

“Women should run the world,” Madekwe quips.

Whether it’s the roles that got away or the opportunities that are still to come, we’ll let Madekwe and Gualazzi take it from here as they reflect on their personal and professional journey together…

ASHLEY MADEKWE: It's coming together out here.

CHRISTINA GUALAZZI: You’ll have to peek around the corner because [Matt] redid his garden area.

AM: You’re supposed to lead, but I have a question. Do you remember the first time you met me? The first time we physically met?

CG: I was looking back on emails to figure out when we started working together. It was February of 2009. We're now fifteen years plus one month.

AM: It was my first pilot season.

CG: I should explain how we first got connected from my point of view. We talked about this recently, and you were like, 'Wait. I didn't know that story.' But to answer your question, no, I don't remember the exact moment we met. Back in 2009, I was working on a team [representing] Andrew Garfield. His U.K. agent – at the time and still to this day – is a mentor to me. There are so few women on my side of the business in the U.S., which I think is different in the U.K. There are so many women on the representation side [there].

AM: I didn’t know that. I just know that my English agency is an agency filled with women. That’s been my experience. I’ve been there forever.

CG: That's your experience, and you've been there for a long time. But yes, there are way more female representatives in the U.K. than here, I would say. …. I was in conversation with Kate Bryden, who is still my mentor and Ashley's agent. I hugely credit her for introducing us. Through working with Andrew [Garfield], she said, 'You're getting to a place where you're growing in your career. If there are ever any other clients you're interested in [let me know]. So, I went through her whole client list. The show, 'Secret Diary [of a Call Girl],' piqued my interest, so I started watching it. It wasn't airing here yet. I had DVDs of the first couple of seasons, and then I started watching it to educate myself on the actors in it. But also, then I got obsessed with it because it was so good. I got my sister [Annabel Gualazzi, who is a talent agent] to get access to links through WME so that we could watch the rest of it. Watching that show, [I was struck by] seeing two actors in it, yourself and an actor by the name of Iddo Goldberg, who is a big presence in our relationship…

They laugh.

CG: Ashley's husband, who I am also lucky enough to call a client and friend. So I emailed Kate and said, 'God, these two clients are incredible. I love them so much,' and planted that seed. Months later, she emailed [my boss] and me and said, 'Actually, I have these two clients who are coming over from the U.K. Do you want to meet with them?’

AM: We came out here because 'Secret Diary' was airing here, and that doesn't usually happen. It didn't used to happen. Usually, if a show was a hit in England, they would remake it with American actors, but this was a rare occasion back then. They were showing the show as it was. So we were like, ‘We’ll go and meet people and maybe do pilot season.’

CG: I was an assistant, so my boss was taking the meetings. We didn't know that you and Iddo were in a relationship.

AM: We were just boyfriend and girlfriend at the time. I remember it was [your boss] in the meeting and another manager, Todd Diener, who is still one of your closest friends and a friend of mine. Those two were officially on my team, and you were the assistant. But I invariably spoke to you, all the time, because you were doing all the work. I remember calling you when I was late for an audition because we had this stupid external GPS.

CG: In the rental car?

AM: In the rental car! I was late and didn’t know where I was going. I was always calling you with some sort of drama.

CG: So you came over [to our L.A. office], and then you and Iddo met with the company. I wasn't in either of those meetings.

AM: I think you said hi, but you weren’t inside the meeting.

CG: So I don’t remember that exact moment of you walking into the office because also I had been living with you from an actor perspective [as] a fan of your work.

MAKING MOVES IN LOS ANGELES

AM: I have a clear, early memory of you. It was when I’d officially moved [to Los Angeles]. I was moving to do 'Revenge.' You were still technically Jeff's assistant, and I was landing.

CG: You were coming over to the U.S. You had a long career prior to coming here. You weren't a brand new, out-of-drama school actor, but as far as breaking in the U.S., it was your first time [living here]. You were in your twenties. Yes, you had a boyfriend. But I was in my twenties and single.

AM: He wasn't here, so we got to go out all the time. We went out, like, every weekend.

CG: It was a unique situation in how our paths came together at that point in our lives and careers. [It] was because of a professional connection, but because of exactly where I stood in my career at the time—

AM: We were able to have a less-than-professional relationship.

CG: There was a slightly different barrier at that time because of where I was, and, again, we were similar ages and also—

AM: We’re very similar.

CG: We’re so similar. I say this all the time. People ask, 'You're so close with Ashley, and I get it. Fifteen-plus years. [But how does that work?]' But it's more [than that]. I think we're soul sisters. You have the same brain. I can read your mind. I know what you're going to say even in the craziest of moments. It was inevitable because of that and the points where we were at [personally and professionally].

AM: It happened at the same time.

CG: From there, here we are. It started almost simultaneously as a friendship and a professional relationship. I think that we're here to this day is a testament to both of us as professionals who continuously push each other to be better. .... This business is just dealing with humans; so relationships outside of the professional bloom, but I think sometimes it becomes more lopsided where they ease too much into a friendship and lose the professional and maybe things burn out [as a result]. That’s a sweeping generalization, [but I think we’re good together] because you and I are similar. .… I’ve heard you say, ‘I want this job’ or ‘I want to get this because I want it for you. For us.’ I deeply respect your talent and your artistry, and I have from day one. You have more talent in your little pinky finger than half of the people in this town. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to elevate your career. So we both keep doing that for each other, and that's why we're here sitting as friends [and] colleagues.

AM: I think the added cherry on the cake is our friendship. I feel a responsibility because the people on your team—they're out there every day—pitching you, hustling for you, but nobody makes any money until I book a job. But you have to work 365 days a year for me to get that job – and sometimes I don't work for a year. So it's gratifying when I book something, or get some sort of critical recognition. It's like people saying they see what you see. That moment with the BAFTA [Award nomination] for me, you, and Kate was great because we’ve been doing this together for a long time. It was gratifying to have that—the three of us. Like, 'Oh, other people see [what] we're talking about.'

CG: That we’ve known! Now they see it!

AM: We’re not crazy!

CG: We told you!

AM: [From my perspective,] even though you weren’t officially my manager, you felt like my day-to-day point person. That’s not to discredit [my previous managers] because they both work hard, but we connected on a personal level, so it felt comfortable and easy for me to call you. We’re two women of similar ages. Why wouldn't we enjoy each other's company? And then, when it came time – when it felt like you were doing everything – I remember campaigning alongside another client of yours, Cat Deeley, for you to be a manager in your own right because, for both of us, you were the person that we spoke to every day anyway. And Iddo, as well. Iddo felt the same. We were like, ‘Christina can do it.’ And [our previous manager] has more than enough clients to handle. It was important to us that you were a manager in your own right.

CG: I got my promotion thanks to you, Iddo, and Cat and working hard and all of that. Then, you got The Beautiful Life in [2009].

AM: It was the first pilot I ever booked. I did that, and then I did ‘The Pink House' [an NBC comedy with Katharine McPhee, but it wasn't picked up].

CG: I was counting how many series we've booked together. I think, on the last count, it was ten.

AM: Wow. I feel like I’m never working.

CG: Also, that’s the thing – with so much time that has gone by and so many successes and moments of highs and lows and losses and wins, it’s hard to keep the perspective of the growth and trajectory of your career and Iddo’s career.

COPING WITH REJECTION

AM: I have a question. People always ask me how I deal with rejection and how it is hearing no time after time. But I just realized that for every no I hear, you've probably heard it ten more times before I even got to the audition. Because people are telling you 'no; they don't want to see me.'

CG: Oh yeah. All day long.

AM: How do you cope with hearing no all the time for things you believe in?

CG: I don't take no for an answer if I believe in something.

AM: That’s true. You don’t.

CG: I have no problem with no if it’s a no because [of something concrete]. Or if it's a no after I've done everything possible to get the yes. At the end of the day, I can only do so much. As much as I wish I could force people to do what I say all the time. I'll be curious. To flip back to you, we're in an industry that is so cutthroat and difficult to get a yes. You have to hear a thousand no's to get one maybe. So if you don't have thick enough skin to handle the no's [it’s going to be tough]. And that's not to say you can't be emotional about it, but if you can't handle no or rejection, then this is probably the wrong business, right?

AM: Yeah. I don't know. Sometimes, I think I'm good at dealing with no. Sometimes I’m not. We did have an eighteen-month period where it wasn't just no; we'd get within spitting distance of life-changing roles. It would be me and somebody else, and then it was no. It was eighteen months of those. I found [that] particularly soul-destroying.

CG: What I've realized, and what I've watched in the last fifteen years, like anything in life, the more experience [you have, the easier it gets]. The way you handle no’s or rejection now is so different from [how] you did back in the day. And me, too. Because it was fresher and newer, we didn't have the perspective of how vast and competitive the industry was. Also, fifteen years ago, the politics, societal bullshit—

AM: It’s a different industry.

CG: It's different now. Now, you're like, 'I got a no. Fine. Whatever. I did my best. You did your best. Move on. What's next?' Watching you and seeing how you progressed in that is awesome. It's got to be the same for me, too.

AM: I think you’re right. If you’ve done everything you can on your side, [what can you do?] If I walk out of the room and I feel like I’ve done a bad job and it’s a no, then I feel down on myself. But if I feel like I did everything I can, then [I feel] less bad. And I will never send in [an audition] tape that I don't think is good. I'll still be taping four days later until I get the tape I think is good enough to send.

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF HOLLYWOOD

CG: What was the hardest [thing you've experienced]?

AM: The biggest disappointment?

CG: Yeah.

AM: My biggest disappointment was when I got the role in Tyler Perry’s film ‘For Colored Girls’ [in 2010]. I really wanted to be in this film. To this day [it haunts me]. I was a huge fan of the play, and I believed in it, and I got the role. I spent so long taping for it. …. I starved [my poor friend] to death because he didn't get lunch or dinner that day. I got the role, and then there was a visa issue, and I couldn't do it. That was really crushing.

CG: And then also [what was] the biggest yes?

AM: I think it’s my BAFTA nomination [for ‘County Lines’] because it felt so sweet for it to be for that film. It was truly the little film that could. It was a first-time director [Henry Blake] with a less than zero budget. Everyone was making the film because they believed in Henry’s vision and the subject matter, [which surrounded the use of children for drug trafficking across Britain]. Even to be submitted for the BAFTAs [was surprising]. I don't think I truly believed I was nominated. I didn't see my name [when it was announced]. We were watching the nominations, and Iddo saw my name and screamed and barreled me. I wasn't sure what he was celebrating. That felt special and sweet for it to be for that film. Especially because that film came after that eighteen months of [hearing] 'no, no, no, no.' That felt good.

CG: That would mirror what I would say if you asked me what I felt were the answers to your career. .… As you know, when we FaceTimed [after learning you were nominated], I sobbed with happiness and joy, but it was more so what that nomination represented and acknowledged. Because we – together – had, for years, fought against you being put in a box after four years on 'Revenge,' a shiny network commercial TV show. It was, 'Oh, Ashley. She's so posh. She's fancy. She's the pretty girl.' We fought so hard to break out of the box that Hollywood had put you in at that moment. [You wanted to] play gritty, heavy, emotional roles that we all knew you could do. So getting the BAFTA nomination for the role in ‘County Lines’ was more of a ‘told you all.’ We did it.

CHANGING PUBLIC PERCEPTION

AM: It felt full circle for me as well. I’m closer to the role of Toni [in ‘County Lines’] than I am to any of the other roles I’ve ever played. It’s gratifying that that’s the role I got recognition for. Although, it was a painful emotional journey to play her, it also was like putting on a coat. I was like, ‘I know this woman inside and out. I could play this woman in my sleep.’ So it’s funny that I had to [prove I could play a gritty part]. From where I started, coming to Hollywood [and] getting to be on a glamorous TV show, I had to get back to [my roots for that role].

CG: I know that. Toni is a very connected role, and you [could] do it with your eyes closed. But how hard I had to fight—

AM: For people to know that!

CG: In this town, it’s hard.

AM: It just goes to show that there's this perception… You can't control the perception that people have of you.

CG: Well, we did.

AM: You can try. You can educate. You can re-educate them. People think I'm glamorous, and I'm not.

Madekwe laughs.

CG: What I saw in your character, Bambi, in ‘Secret Diary,’ watching you play that part was like, 'This girl plays this [well].’ She's damaged, wounded, innocent, a little naïve, but at the same time, she flips a switch, and this insane strength [emerges, like], 'F--- you, world. You’re not telling me what to do.’

AM: That’s my mum.

CG: Don't I know it!

AM: I’m always like, ‘[Bambi’s] like my mum.’

CG: But to be able to play that dichotomy or that balance of innocence and softer meets the strength? I [thought], 'Man, this girl can do it all.' In that role. That show. We need to bring it back.

AM: Thanks. That was a fun show.

CG: What is the one piece of advice, or what's something that I say to you, that rings true? By the way, this isn't a test. I'm just curious if anything I say to you rings true.

AM: You're good at talking me off a ledge. We are similar, but you are very much a 'yes, and' person and I am a 'no, but' person. You're great for me because my instinct sometimes can be to say no. If for whatever reason [I'm intimidated]—maybe the role is too scary or I don't believe in myself or I think this person hates me, [so] I play casting director with myself [and try to talk myself out of it]—I often now hear you. I read the email, and I'm [think], 'Uh, I don't want to tape for this. I hate it.' Now I can talk myself off the ledge. And I can talk Iddo off the ledge – because I can hear you saying [the things I need to consider].

CG: Do you do that in my voice in your head?

AM: I do it in your voice.

They laugh.

WHY “WOMEN SHOULD RUN THE WORLD”

CG: [What have you recently learned about yourself?] This last year has been insane.

AM: I’ve learned that it’s true—that women can indeed do it all.

CG: I've learned it via watching you do it all. Becoming a mom while shooting a TV show, [Peacock's 'Dr. Death'].

AM: And being on strike.

CG: Then, promoting said show and flying back and forth. You were pregnant, shooting a TV show, flying to the U.K. to promote [your film] 'The Strays,' back to shooting the show—all while you were [pregnant].

AM: Listen, women are… I'll just say this. If men were responsible for carrying children, we would be a smaller human race. Or there would be no human race.

CG: Humanity would cease to exist. It would all be over.

AM: Women should run the world. You know what? What a joy and a privilege. There's nothing I wanted more than to be [able to do it all]. To not have to feel like because I was pregnant, I wasn't allowed to do anything else. I was so lucky to be pregnant on that set with those women at the helm of that TV show.

CG: That was a moment. There was a female showrunner [Ashley Michel Hoban], two female directors [Jennifer Morrison and Laura Belsey], and also your co-star [Mandy Moore] had just had a baby right before.

AM: Mandy had just had a baby.

CG: Women are doing it all. Look at us do it. Two and a half years ago, [I started] my own company. It's also what you said [earlier]—I'm less scared now.

AM: Yeah, I’m less scared.

CG: The fear that was debilitating fifteen years ago [is gone].

AM: I wish I knew. I had a lot of fear around everything.

CG: Making the wrong move or saying the wrong thing.

AM: There's nothing you can't bounce back from—or do—if you believe in yourself.

CG: And [if] you surround yourself with people you truly trust. That's one thing I also will say. In our relationship, from day one, [there's been] an intense level of trust. I don't think you can exist without it.

AM: Oh my goodness. I know not everybody has this relationship with their team. But I have a phenomenal relationship with you as my manager and an incredible relationship with Kate Bryden as my agent. That inspires fierce loyalty in me. I don't know how to do it any other way. I've been with Kate since I left drama school and with you not long after. I don't know another working method. I think it would be pretty boring not to be friends [with one another].

CG: It does make it so much more fun. But [like] you said, not everybody has that relationship that we have. It is unique. The trust thing, too, is so important because you're in a vacuum. You get material, and you do auditions. You meet people, and you put it out there. And you trust that your team is doing right by you. I can only imagine [how hard that is]. Well, I can't imagine.

AM: I see it with my actor friends who don't trust their team. Then you're always second guessing: 'Well, why haven't I gone out for this?' or 'Why didn't I get seen for this?' My response is, 'Listen, they obviously want you to work. There must be a reason behind it. Why don't you ask?' I can always ask: 'Hey, did you see this script? Why wasn't I [considered]?' And you'll tell me the real reason. 'They thought you were too old or too young.'

CG: It would make both sides difficult to do our jobs at the level we're doing them—

AM: If we didn’t trust each other.

GROWING UP

CG: I’m curious to hear this. Back in the day, what was your childhood [view of Hollywood]?

AM: My view of Hollywood? I pretty much always wanted to be a performer. I didn't know that it would be acting per se, but I was that annoying kid, like, ‘Everyone, listen to me.’ I was an only child until I was seven. I was also the only child in the family until I think I was five. I was like, 'Look at me. Listen to me.' I went to a performing arts school when I was fourteen, and I don't think it was about Hollywood for me at that stage. It was just about acting, performing and getting to do what I love. It didn't crystalize as acting until around the age [of] twelve-thirteen. By the time, I went to the BRIT School [in England, which has famous alum like Amy Winehouse and FKA Twigs], I knew it was acting or nothing.

CG: But at that point, at BRIT School—was Hollywood still not on your radar?

AM: It wasn’t that it wasn’t on my radar. It just felt bigger than what I was anticipating for myself. I did my first proper acting gig when I was sixteen. It was a film called 'Storm Damage.' It was about the area I grew up in. It was about South East London and kids in that neighborhood. It felt true to life. That felt great to me. I shot that film and went right back to working at McDonald's and going to performing arts school. It wasn’t, I don’t think, until later on in my teen years, on my way to drama school, that Hollywood became an idea. I’ll tell you what! ‘The Hills’ had a lot to do with shaping my perception of what Los Angeles was.

CG: Did it?

AM: I remember watching ‘The Hills.’

CG: Not even, like, ‘90210?’

AM: No. I didn't watch [it]. I wasn't a big fan of that [show]. But ‘The Hills?’ Yes.

CG: And you’re literally going from a kid to thirteen, fourteen towards art and performing. Most people take that first step with [Hollywood] in mind, like, 'I'm going to make it big in Hollywood.' 

AM: No, I wanted to be an actor. I loved theatre. That’s why I went to drama school. I wanted to do plays. I still want to do plays. They won’t hire me.

CG: That’s so you. You’re so authentically the girl from South London. Equally as authentically as you are the girl from Hollywood. That’s so wild.

AM: When we came here, we came with the view that it probably would be Iddo’s moment to book a pilot or something. I was almost just coming [along for the ride] because we were together. We both were on the show [‘Secret Diary’], but he had a much bigger part. This is no shade to him, but I ended up booking that pilot, ‘The Beautiful Life.’ After locking my keys in my car.

They exchange an all-knowing look.

CG: Then you were off to the races.

AM: It forced our hand. We had to move.

CG: And funny enough, on the flip side, he had to go back [to England] for another season of 'Secret Diary.' Then, shortly after, he booked ‘Peaky Blinders,’ which is the most respected, authentically British global sensation; so it was so different. You thought coming to L.A., it would be his moment, and it became at the time yours, and then he had this huge [moment] back in England.

AM: Also, the industry wasn't as global as it is now. It didn't feel like it was an either/or. The work I would do in England wouldn't mean anything in America. 'Secret Diary' was an anomaly in that respect.  

CG: You’re right. It was very separate.

AM: Then, I came here, and I did stuff, and it didn't mean anything in England. Even though 'Revenge' was shown worldwide, it didn't mean anything to the English industry. It didn't help my career in England. If anything, it might have hindered it.

CG: Although it was huge in Australia. Where else did they love you?

AM: Brazil.

CG: You were after the craft and the artistry – not Hollywood – and ‘The Hills’ shaped you. Do you want to know what shaped me?

AM: You must have watched 'The Hills.' Don't lie.

Madekwe laughs.

CG: Me, small town, middle of nowhere. Not dissimilar to [where you’re from]—it’s not south London, but it’s—

AM: It's a working-class environment.

CG: It’s as far away from Hollywood as South London in a sense. I didn’t even know what Hollywood meant—other than ‘Beverly Hills 90210.’ So [I saw] a little bit of that in terms of California and sunshine and celebrities. Then, I was fourteen, and I went on Thanksgiving to see the movie that was playing in the one theatre in my town with my whole family. It was 'Jurassic Park.'

AM: That’s a great film.

CG: It blew my mind. I sat in the theater. This completely changed the trajectory of my life [and] put me on a path. I sat in that theater. I was completely mesmerized by what I was watching. [I had] no interest in what I was watching visually, but I was like, 'How did people make this? I want to be a part of how they made this. This is a masterpiece in storytelling. I'm sitting in a theater seeing dinosaurs alive.'

AM: I have films that did that for me—that made me want to act, like, ‘Oh my goodness. How did they [do that]? This is amazing. Could I do that?’ Mine was ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.’ It’s a classic. And ‘Requiem for a Dream.’

CG: I got home, dialed up the internet and looked up: ‘How does one make a movie?’ And Jerry Bruckheimer [somehow came up].

AM: You must have been quite young though.

CG: I was fourteen. I was like, 'I'm going to be Jerry Bruckheimer. Whatever that means. Whatever that is. However, that's going to be.'

AM: You were going to make shit happen.

CG: ‘I want to be a part of the business of making stuff like that.’

AM: There is a magic involved. When I was a little, little girl, I would say 'Grease.' I had it on [a] video cassette.

CG: I have a controversial topic. ‘Grease 2’ is better than ‘Grease 1.’

AM: Not better than. But just as good as.

CG: Michelle Pfeiffer? ‘Cool Rider?’

They break out into song.

AM: Yeah, it’s a great film. ‘Grease 1’ and ‘Grease 2’ are perfect movies.

WHAT’S NEXT & MADEKWE’S “EMANCIPATION OF MIMI”

CG: I cannot wait to find you your musical. [You’re] a phenomenal singer. It’s unbelievable.

AM: I’m a decent singer. I’m not phenomenal.

Madekwe laughs.

AM: I’m good. There are better. I’m good.

CG: This is why I sell you. You don’t sell yourself. You’re so British.

AM: I would love to do a musical. I’m waiting for them to make—

CG: I know…

AM: ‘The Emancipation of Mimi: The Musical.’ So I can—

Gualazzi laughs.

AM: Don’t laugh. This is a very serious moment. ‘The Emancipation of Mimi: The Musical,’ the story of Mariah Carey’s life. If she calls me, I’m ready to answer the call. .… I have two specific things that I [also] want to do. I very, very much want to play Lady Macbeth. I would love [for] it to be on stage, but I'm not fancy about the medium; if it's television or film [that would be great, too]. Lady Macbeth is the character I used to get into drama school. She sits with me. I love her. I want to play Lady Macbeth. Secondly, I want to create something for ourselves. I want us to be Jerry Bruckheimer. I want to be in front of the camera, but I also want us to be behind the camera creating that thing. Whatever that is.

CG: You'll be the dinosaur, and I'll be Jerry Bruckheimer.

AM: Thank you. I’ll be the T-Rex.

CG: I want to just keep crushing. I want you to do four hundred more movies [and] TV shows [and to] play roles that constantly excite and inspire you. I want you to break barriers that prove—to all the people who said all the things they said to us—that there is no box you're in. There is no role that you can't play. I want to keep doing this for fifteen more years.

AM: Amen.