Episode 3: Charlie Clausen Behind the Scenes

WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:06.559
Voyage. All right, listeners high, It's Nat Mondell, the founder of

2
00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:13.599
Voyage. I'm super excited to introduce
our listeners today to Charlie Clawson. Charlie

3
00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:19.320
is playing Jeff in our upcoming episode
of our allegedly true crime series, in

4
00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:25.760
the episode called Love Gone Wrong in
the Philippines, very exciting episode. You

5
00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:31.199
probably know Charlie as the lead in
the long running Australian series Home Away,

6
00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:35.039
excuse me, Home and Away,
and for those of you that know the

7
00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:40.600
Australian film and television market, you
might also know him from the hit drama

8
00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:47.399
Blue Healers and also most recently,
the TV spinoff of the horror film Wolf

9
00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:52.719
Creek. So that's going to be
a very exciting project. So Charlie,

10
00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:56.200
thanks so much for joining us.
No, it's exciting to be part of

11
00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:59.159
this. I've never done a true
crime podcast. Some people would listen to

12
00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.840
my regular podcas Us and accused me
of committing a crime. But the first

13
00:01:03.879 --> 00:01:07.599
time I've been involved in the true
crime one. Right on. Well,

14
00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:11.879
we you know, we as we
were talking before we came on, you

15
00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.959
know, we discussed just how long
you've been involved in podcasting? How long

16
00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.480
have you been involved in podcasting,
How on earth did you get started so

17
00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.120
early? And what have you been
doing in this world? So yeah,

18
00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:27.560
I have a podcast network called too
Fop, which was a little play on

19
00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:34.120
Russell Crowe had a band in the
mid two thousands called thirty odd foot of

20
00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:38.200
God what thirty odd foot of Grunt, which we changed to a thirty odd

21
00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:41.280
foot of pods, So therefore it
turns into to Fop. And it was

22
00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:44.680
just a friend of mine, Will
Anderson's quite a well known comedian. Here

23
00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:48.040
we were listening to podcasts. We're
doing a road trip one day, and

24
00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:51.239
I think that was back when it
was just Ricky Gervais and Kevin Smith and

25
00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.359
I think even Joe Rogan had just
started out, and we were like,

26
00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.400
we can do this. It's just
two people in a room talking. You

27
00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.640
know. We've done set a radio
in the past and felt like it was

28
00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:05.120
very constrictive, just having short conversations
two minute, three minutes and the new

29
00:02:05.159 --> 00:02:07.280
threat to a song or an ad. And so when podcasting came along,

30
00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:10.159
we're like, well, here's a
medium design for us. We're two guys

31
00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:13.680
who like the sounds of our own
voice, and all you need is a

32
00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:16.639
microphone. Because about one hundred episodes
to work out how to use the microphone.

33
00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:21.520
But yeah, twelve years later here
we are, well, what were

34
00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.759
some of those early shows that you
did other than TOFAP? Like, you

35
00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:30.159
know you have a sports show too, right, Yeah, that's that's that

36
00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:34.280
we did. That's the AFL show, which is Assie Rules. We started

37
00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:38.439
that one seven years ago or six
years ago. We're going to us seventh

38
00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:43.199
year now. And that was a
spinoff from TOFA because the listeners of TOFAP

39
00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:46.120
were like, we hate how much
you guys talk about football. Can you

40
00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.319
please create a separate show so we
don't have to listen to that? And

41
00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:53.479
then we started Will has another one
called Whilosophy, which is more of a

42
00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:59.199
kind of highbrow interview show. We
has various celebrities and academics and intellectuals on

43
00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:02.719
this show, and and then we
started producing other people's shows. So m

44
00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:07.000
as you know, as a as
a founder yourself, like, there is

45
00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:13.639
a tremendous market for content, and
yeah, I think it's a it's exciting.

46
00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:15.639
We just love the idea that Will
used to describe it as like the

47
00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:20.199
punk rock era, that there were
no rules or no gatekeepers. All you

48
00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.479
needed is like a couple of friends
who have like an idea and the basics.

49
00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:27.840
With equipment, you can just get
started. Unfortunately, there's just two

50
00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:31.400
million sid viciouses, so we just
have to figure out how to get the

51
00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:38.479
right ones discovered, right, right? So this is your first true crime

52
00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:42.560
podcast? Is also is it also
your first podcast where you're actually acting and

53
00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:45.919
playing a role? Yeah? Yeah, it's funny. I've always been fascinated.

54
00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:49.280
There's quite a few that I've listened
to, and it seems like such

55
00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.599
a natural extension. You know,
it's almost in a weird way, we're

56
00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:54.960
sort of almost going back to old
media in the era of radio plays and

57
00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:01.280
stuff. But it makes sense that
true crime is such a popular format and

58
00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:08.000
genre in podcasting because there are so
many stories out there. And I until,

59
00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:10.560
you know, you guys got in
contact, but I hadn't really thought

60
00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.360
of the idea of dramatizing true crime. A lot of the podcasts that listened

61
00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.839
to a more documentary style, but
this makes a lot of sense. And

62
00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:18.680
you know, I was very excited
when I read this script, and I'm

63
00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:21.519
like, Od's you know, it's
really funny and it's really interesting, and

64
00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:26.040
I think the way that you know, the narration and the acting kind of

65
00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:29.399
go hand in hand. It's it's
it's I'm really hope this is enjoyed because

66
00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:32.519
I think it's a tremendous script.
Yeah, interesting, and yeah allegedly.

67
00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:38.879
The our true crime anthology is that
docu drama hybrid where we've got you know,

68
00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:44.000
the the real life people talking about
their actual experiences and then cut together

69
00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:48.439
with these scripted and narrated re enactment
sequences. We also have our first ever

70
00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:53.480
show was a true crime show,
but it was fully scripted called let Me

71
00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:56.839
tell You About My Murder, So
it's one hundred percent actor performed, but

72
00:04:56.920 --> 00:05:00.439
a real true crime story. I've
noticed you've used the word allegedly a few

73
00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:03.759
times in our conversation, and so
far, are you're just covering yourself legally?

74
00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:06.800
No? No, no, that's
the name of our show, okay,

75
00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:11.680
And and yes, part of that
strategy is to make sure we're we're

76
00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:15.279
not we're not saying that this is
one hundred percent true where happened? But

77
00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:18.519
it might have been right? So
um So on that note, you know,

78
00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:21.800
let's dig into your episode. Why
why choose this role? You know

79
00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:27.040
what? What what attracted to you
to this particular episode and show. I

80
00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:30.240
just think it's it's a it's it's
something, it's going down the rabbit hole,

81
00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.040
you know, like it starts off
as a failure innocuous story, and

82
00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:38.560
you know, Jeff is such a
likable character, and then as situation continues

83
00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:41.079
to spend more and more out of
control, you sort of just like,

84
00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:45.040
it can't get any worse, it
can't get any worse, and sure enough,

85
00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:47.120
it gets worse. But there's a
real sense of like humor to it,

86
00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:50.439
Like you get a sense of Jeff's
personality throughout the whole thing. Um,

87
00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:55.079
you know, he has that kind
of classic you know what people think

88
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.920
of it, like a classic Australian
laconic nature, Like even when you know

89
00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.000
he's sort of getting tossed and Gail
and people like that, there is a

90
00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.800
there is a kind of rye sort
of like sense of irony to the whole

91
00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:09.480
thing. And I just found it
really compelling and funny. And I think

92
00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:15.120
it's just the the shifts between the
kind of uh scripted bits and also you

93
00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:18.839
know, Jest narration I think just
complete the pitchure beautifully. Like it's like

94
00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:21.439
when you watch the rest of development, you know, Ron Howard's voice over,

95
00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:25.959
it just takes the drama and just
makes it that much funnier, right

96
00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:30.120
right, Yeah, And you know
the character so interesting and the real real

97
00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:33.759
life character so interesting in that you
know, I mean he gets really worked

98
00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:40.279
over by you know, this villainous
candy character. Um and and you know

99
00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:44.079
he's got some pretty clear red flags
along the way. So as an actor,

100
00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:46.920
you know, if you don't if
you dive into that role, like,

101
00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:50.600
what do you think was driving him
to keep investing in her given all

102
00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:56.079
those red flags? Well, initially
it sounds like she was very beautiful.

103
00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:00.279
That was That was like the clear
That's where it started. But I think

104
00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.560
there's also like an element you know
when you sort of read between the lines

105
00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:06.639
of what Jeff is saying is that
he's a romantic you know, I think

106
00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:11.000
he wanted this to work and you
know, it was a second chance at

107
00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:15.439
love and he I think he wanted
to believe her, you know, and

108
00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:18.439
he wanted this to work out,
and even you know without sort of you

109
00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:24.519
know, spoiling anything like becoming a
father and all that kind of stuff.

110
00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:27.519
Like I think there is a sense
of obligation, like he's a very honorable

111
00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.920
man, Jeff, you know,
even though he had everyone saying to him

112
00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.279
that your wife's a villain and you
know, she's cheating on you and all

113
00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:36.480
this kind of stuff, like he
continued to do the right thing and it

114
00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:41.560
almost to his own detriment in a
lot of ways. Yeah, you know,

115
00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:44.519
like he sort of keeps sort of
getting into trouble because he gives her

116
00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:47.079
the benefit of the doubt. And
I don't know. I mean I often

117
00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:51.399
look at friends of mine who seem
to ignore red flags, and I think

118
00:07:51.399 --> 00:07:55.600
there's some people, you know,
who who do it because maybe there's just

119
00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:58.560
like an element of they love the
danger, you know, And I think

120
00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.240
for Jeff that had to be part
of it. You know, like living

121
00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:05.879
in the philip Philippines is like a
pretty wild country to live in. You

122
00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:07.839
know, you are sort of going
somewhere where you know, there's a lot

123
00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:13.160
of police corruption and the rules don't
apply. And so I think to make

124
00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:16.079
your home there and start a family, you've got to have a little bit

125
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:18.199
of element of this is exciting and
this is great. There's something there.

126
00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:22.240
Just to even start with, have
you been to the Philippines? Uh?

127
00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:26.319
No, My parents is to travel
to the Philippines quite a bit, quite

128
00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:30.720
a few Filippino friends. Yeah.
Yeah, from everything I understand about it,

129
00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:33.000
it is you know, it is
a bit of the wild West.

130
00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:35.039
Yeah, there's an edge there,
right, there's a lot of edge and

131
00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:39.320
excitement and you know, the sort
of the two sides of the coin of

132
00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:43.759
opportunity and and uh and fraud,
right like, yeah, you know,

133
00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:48.159
it's a it's a it's an exciting
place. So you so, Jeff is

134
00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:50.399
a father, and I believe you're
a father, right Yeah. Yeah.

135
00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:54.159
If I sound a bit craky,
it's because my two year old was up

136
00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:58.279
most of last night. So does
that experience of fatherhood give you, you

137
00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:03.559
know, sort of an ability to
connect to you know, Jeff understand the

138
00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:05.440
bond that he has with the son, even though it might not even be

139
00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:09.000
his Absolutely, Yeah, no,
I think that's actually one of the bits.

140
00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:13.600
One of the parts of the story
that I really identify with is that

141
00:09:13.480 --> 00:09:18.480
it's a high wrenching when a child
is used as a pawn against you,

142
00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:20.759
you know, when it's manipulated to
lie to you, or you know,

143
00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:24.919
you know that the child has been
lied to you by the mother to turn

144
00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:28.279
against you. I think that's you
know, you're asking sort of what motivates

145
00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:30.799
Jeff. Well, if he's a
man of honor and a guy who does

146
00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.639
the right thing, then that's a
that's the sure way to hurt him or

147
00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:37.200
a sure way to get it in
his own molum a tool. Yeah,

148
00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:41.240
absolutely, absolutely, Well, so
Charlie, tell us what's next, man,

149
00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:43.399
Like, what are you working on? What do you want your fans

150
00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:48.919
to know? Well, to FOP
the network, we've had an extended break.

151
00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:50.879
We're sort of bit burnt out like
most people after twenty twenty one,

152
00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:56.080
but we are coming back. We're
slowly incrementally bringing the shows back. FOP

153
00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:58.279
is back this week, two Guys, One Cup is going and to FOP

154
00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.679
will be back at the end FIB
And then I'm working in a FACI film.

155
00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:05.480
Just I'm almost finished a script for
a facire film that we're hyping to

156
00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:09.399
put into production at the end of
the year. My wife jim Lay's directing

157
00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:13.919
it. So yeah, we've got
a lot of stuff on. I mean,

158
00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:16.759
that's it's been a nice break,
but then you know, straight back

159
00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:18.600
into work now. Yeah. Wow, well, good man, I'm glad

160
00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:22.559
you're busy and excited. Well,
thank you, um, you know so

161
00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:28.159
much for choosing to play the role
and playing with us in this podcast sandbox.

162
00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:31.840
It's a new space for Voyage.
It's an exciting space and we're having

163
00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:35.159
lots of fun doing it. And
so, you know, listeners, let's

164
00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:39.679
let's give a you know, a
nice welcome to Charlie is our one of

165
00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:45.919
our players. And also tune in
watch or excuse me, listen to Allegedly

166
00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:50.679
and Charlie's episode in our upcoming show. You can find it on Apple and

167
00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:54.240
Spotify and Google and anywhere you listen
to podcasts, so please do that,

168
00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:58.080
and also on Voyage Media dot fm
where all of our podcasts live. And

169
00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:03.279
that's me at Mondell's signing off,
and again thanks again Charlie. Cheers