Mackenzie Lansing (The Hunger Games, The Mare of Easttown)

Mackenzie Lansing is a French-American TV and film actress. Her latest film “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” is currently the number one movie at the box office. In this episode we discuss her work on that film, working with Rachel Zegler, being mentored by Kate Winslet, future goals and more!

00:00 - Intro
00:13 - New Hunger Games Film
02:40 - Stunts, Fear & Harnessing Anxiety
06:20 - Locations, Sets & CGI with Hunger Games
09:15 - Working with Rachel Zegler
10:00 - Mackenzie's Last Line in Hunger Games
10:45 - Movie Business
11:20 - Reception of Movie for Mackenzie
14:05 - The Creator, Allswell in New York & TV Pilots
15:50 - Working with Kate Winslet & Acting Advice
18:09 - Charlie Kaufman & Creative Movies
19:14 - Frances McDormand
19:45 - Motivation, Habits, Self Talk & Podcasts
22:05 - Learning from Failure & Blues Clues
25:45 - Goals, Confidence, Bullying & Strength
27:45 - Hunger Games Fans
29:14 - Hunter Schafer
31:10 - Shows To Guest On & Promotions
33:30 - Outro

Mackenzie Lansing Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mackenzielansing/

Chuck Shute YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/c/chuckshute

Transcript

Chuck Shute: 0:13

Hi, I'm Mackenzie, how are you?

Mackenzie Lansing: 0:15

I'm good. How are you doing?

Chuck Shute: 0:17

Great, amazing. Saw your movie number one movie in America must feel pretty good to have that going for you.

Mackenzie Lansing: 0:22

Yeah, that was a I wasn't expecting that is a great surprise. Really?

Chuck Shute: 0:27

It's a Hunger Games and what do you think it was a bomb or something?

Mackenzie Lansing: 0:32

No, but I've never done a franchise movie. So I think I just didn't have a full grasp of like the scope. You know what I mean? Yeah,

Chuck Shute: 0:39

well, six months working on this thing. I mean, it's like all your hard work, you finally get to see the fruits of your labor. Yeah,

Mackenzie Lansing: 0:45

yeah. And I think it's just, you know, especially if you're an actor for long enough, you kind of, like train yourself to sort of Curb your expectations like, and that sort of thing. But it reached in like, exceeded every one of my expectations, which was a really nice surprise.

Chuck Shute: 1:00

Yeah, it was. So you were you were you kind of worried because it is a little bit of a gamble, because it's a prequel. So it's not the original stars, right? It's mostly a new cast, basically.

Mackenzie Lansing: 1:11

Yeah, it is. I think I knew it was going to be a movie that I loved. But I think I was, you know, hopeful that it would be well received by the fans. I knew that the people who are fans of the book, The Ballad of songbirds and snakes would love it. Because, you know, Suzanne Collins is very careful about making sure that it's pretty faithful to the book. But for people who are more fans of the movies and have expectations, this one is just so different, that I think I was not sure about how that would be received, but very well, it turns out, yeah,

Chuck Shute: 1:44

I saw this weekend, and I think I've seen the first one and the third one. The fifth movie, technically,

Mackenzie Lansing: 1:51

yeah, technically, because that one of them's a two parter. Right?

Chuck Shute: 1:54

Okay. So I feel like this could have been a two parter or two, I feel invaded it.

Mackenzie Lansing: 1:58

Yeah. Francis, like debated it. But I think he felt like the fans were a little bit disappointed by it being split into like that. So he decided he wasn't going to do that again.

Chuck Shute: 2:10

That's interesting. So I thought they would like that, because it's like, you get more of the of the stuff because they when they have to condense it down to, you know, two or three hour movie don't have to cut a lot of scenes out.

Mackenzie Lansing: 2:21

They do. I think it's one of those things where just like, depends who you talk to. But I think Francis really wanted to find a way to like, encompass the entirety of the book. And then, you know, obviously, if Suzanne ends up writing more than to be able to move on to that, if that happens. Yeah. So talk about

Chuck Shute: 2:39

working on this. You did the stunt training, the martial arts, but you're actually afraid of heights, up high in a scene. So how do you talk yourself through that, or you have somebody like kind of coaching you through

Mackenzie Lansing: 2:51

it? Well, our stunt coordinator and choreographers were incredible people that helped and they had a lot of faith in me that I didn't even have in myself to be completely honest. The first day, I scaled that the sort of mock you know, archway that I chased lamina up, in, you know, rehearsals, it was sort of, like a scaffolding situation. And I could barely get off the ground. I had a panic attack, like, clutching, like, this scaffolding. But I think that, like, it's easier when you're acting because like, you're like, Well, my character is not afraid of heights, you know. And you pick yourself into it that way.

Chuck Shute: 3:33

But still, it's kind of like a biological response, like, I'm going to die. And it's like, you can't it's hard to control that isn't it

Mackenzie Lansing: 3:40

really is but I think if you embrace the circumstance enough that you're like, either, like I have to kill her so I can live and like that in itself was life or death, then you can kind of overall I mean, I still like tried to never look down but you can kind of like, override that.

Chuck Shute: 3:57

Yeah, that's an interesting thing about acting and emotions and controlling it. I mean, you really do have to be able to control your emotions. Can you can you cry on cue as well? Yeah. Is that technique I saw this technique where you go like this or something and then you and that does that does that really work? There's

Mackenzie Lansing: 4:17

a lot of techniques I will say that I'm just one of the having anxiety disorder and I can just cry because I can cry. So like for me it's easy access but there are tricks like you stare into a light for too long and like you know the life that you have on set but usually I try not to use those you want it to come from an authentic place hopefully.

Chuck Shute: 4:37

Yeah, so do you use that your anxiety that kind of channels you as an actress? Yeah,

Mackenzie Lansing: 4:43

it does it you know, what's funny is it actually was like the the biggest like crippling thing in my career for a really long time. And now it's like my hidden like superpower that I can. My anxiety can make me embrace imaginary circumstances and also And to help me generate emotions quicker because on set you kind of, you know, sometimes it's like, okay, go cry, you know, and like, you have like five seconds to do that. So yeah, I've, I've now learned to harness it, so I can use it to my advantage. That's

Chuck Shute: 5:13

good. Yeah, cuz I had really bad anxiety in college. And I remember my dad was like, I'll try to explain to him and like, and then I talk to him, obviously, he had it too. I mean, I think every human has some level of anxiety. But his description of it was so great. He said, It was like anxiety. That's the idea. That stuff's like rocket fuel. It can take you to the moon or completely up to the launchpad. If you can, yeah, if you can harness it somehow. It's like, I feel like it's really powerful. Because if you ever met people, too, that I feel like they have such low levels of anxiety. It's almost like they're just apathetic. And then they just don't care at all.

Mackenzie Lansing: 5:45

Yeah, exactly. That's what I try to tell myself. I'm like, it's just that I care so much, you know, like to make myself feel better about it. But it's like, yeah, that's so true. You meet people who like don't have that thing. And it's, it's kind of URI almost, you know, when you meet someone like that, especially if you're someone who, that's so much a part of your life,

Chuck Shute: 6:02

right? Yeah, you're like, Oh, I wish I could just not care. That'd be amazing. What

Mackenzie Lansing: 6:06

is that? Like? What do you do all day? If you're not worrying about stuff? Like, let's get bored.

Unknown: 6:13

Let's just be happy. Like, what's

Mackenzie Lansing: 6:15

weird? I don't know if I like.

Chuck Shute: 6:18

But it's fun working on these movies, right? I mean, this big budget, like talk about the catering is the catering, like, amazing on this movie.

Mackenzie Lansing: 6:25

So it depended where we were. Because obviously, like, I'm not gonna say where but somewhere that we went, like, there was less availability for like catering, especially for the size of a film set. It wasn't the kind of thing they had done before. So on those ones, it wasn't great. But there were a lot of places where it was where it was awesome. Yeah.

Chuck Shute: 6:49

So yeah, how does that work with the sets? Because I mean, maybe there's a dumb question, but I couldn't tell like is that when you're in the stadium or whatever? Is that like a real stadium that they used? Or is that entirely a set that they made? Or is it CGI, I mean, it whatever it is, fooled me.

Mackenzie Lansing: 7:02

I mean, it's real, which I was excited about. Because you don't know sometimes they do CGI stuff. And there's a lot of stuff CGI in this movie. But I think that Francis Lawrence, and, you know, they really try as much as possible to use real sets and then like, kind of fill in the blanks with CGI, but that's yeah, that that are the arena. That's a real place in Poland. And the what they did CGI in is like, some of the Panem stuff that you see not the flags, those were there. But I think a few details on the chairs were CGI, and you know, because we need to age it properly and things like that. And then obviously when they blow up the roof,

Chuck Shute: 7:40

okay, yeah, cuz that's I was gonna say like, they didn't really blow up an entire stadium. No,

Mackenzie Lansing: 7:44

but what they did do that is wild is so not all of it. But part of the tunnel stuff. They did make a hole in the floor that we jumped through. I jumped through it to it didn't make it into the movie, but like, you know, when Lucy like, runs, and she jumps, and she got so they made a hole in the floor. And we were in the actual like, I don't know if you'd call it tunnels, but like, you know, the this, this area, this floor that was underneath the arena,

Chuck Shute: 8:11

and then do they fill it up when they leave? Or they left it like that? No,

Mackenzie Lansing: 8:14

they they fixed it. I think I'm okay. Yeah, I

Chuck Shute: 8:17

could go visit the stadium. If it's as you said, Poland. Yeah.

Mackenzie Lansing: 8:21

Yeah, you can go visit in Poland. They have a lot of events there. I'm not really sure. Exactly what but they have I think it's sporting events, all kinds of stuff. times. Yeah.

Chuck Shute: 8:30

That'd be cool. So you talked about the CGI, I found this interesting that you said the snakes obviously, some of the snake parts are CGI, but it wasn't like they told you what to do. You could do whatever you want with the performance, and then they would add the snake in later. So you could pretend the snake was here or there? And then they would add it later.

Mackenzie Lansing: 8:48

Yeah, exactly. They would add it later, which means that every single actor that you're looking at has made really specific choices about how they're reacting to the bites, whether it's the poison, that's like slowing them down first, or whether they're reacting to each individual bite, or like in Jimmy's case, who plays Reaper, whether you're just like standing there stills a rock and letting it overtake you, like all of those were choices that they made. And then you know, you fill in the blanks afterwards.

Chuck Shute: 9:12

Yeah, and then so talk about working with a star Rachel. Hey, Sarah was Ziggler Ziggler Ziggler Yeah, I mean, she's so amazing. Such a great actress. So talented singer and just so beautiful. Like you ever get distracted when you're like working whether you're supposed to like hater and you're just like, oh my god, I lost in your eyes.

Mackenzie Lansing: 9:31

So much. Girl talks about this all the time on set Kel Bouchard, who plays you know, one of the members of my pack, he and I like we're looking at her on set one day and we're like, it's like a real live Disney character. Just like walked out. Like Cal was like she's so beautiful. It looks unreal. But that like on top of that she's extremely intelligent and such a nice person.

Chuck Shute: 9:55

That's awesome. I love to hear that kind of stuff. I love I don't want to spoil The movie but you I think you have the best line in the whole movie. The the last line that you speak your character speaks is so powerful. It's like this meaning of life reflection philosophical thing. I was like, Oh, that is such a cool line and you got it.

Mackenzie Lansing: 10:15

I was really happy about that. Because in the the original script, even though I already loved Corel, that scene wasn't there. So it was added while I was on set. And I knew when they added that line that like, my character now had this like fully fleshed out arc that there was going to be this like mirror with Kaitos character. Yeah, I think it's a beautiful moment. That's so

Chuck Shute: 10:39

cool. And I mean, this movie is making it's already over 100 million. Do you? Did you get a flat rate? Or do you say like, give me like, I don't what do they call it a point or a half of a point or quarter point? Or how does that work?

Mackenzie Lansing: 10:50

I can't really talk about that, unfortunately. But really, yeah, NDAs and bas are really

Chuck Shute: 10:56

the key. Is that part of the strike thing to like they want they don't want people to know, the actresses to talk about that kind of stuff.

Mackenzie Lansing: 11:04

I can talk about it. I guess it's like, it's just I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.

Chuck Shute: 11:11

I don't want to get you in trouble now. Yeah, so tell me about or tell my audience about this. This is so cool. Because your your dad lives in France, so he doesn't get to see a lot of your work. But he got to see this movie. And he called you crying? That's so cool.

Mackenzie Lansing: 11:24

You really did your research. Wow. Yeah, he he did. My dad called me crying. My dad does not cry all the time. And it was pretty cool. Because it was his first time like, he lives in the, in the middle of nowhere, like my dad lives in a beat field, literally in France. And so he went all the way to the nearest like big town and with his partner, and she and him like went to go see this movie. And yeah, that was my first his first time like seeing me on a big screen. Yeah, and

Chuck Shute: 11:53

you have a big role. Because like, I know, when my friend said, Hey, do you want to have this actress on? I was like, she, you said that you were in The Hunger Games? And I was like, I don't know. Like, if she have like, two lines, or like, I mean, you're like a major character in this movie. So it's it's huge thing for your career. Right?

Mackenzie Lansing: 12:07

It is. Yeah, I didn't really tell anyone what my role size was. Because you kind of don't know till you see it right till it's edited. And you don't want to get your hopes up. But yeah, this is a big deal for me. NACA. Why does it do

Chuck Shute: 12:20

a lot of directors and producers start calling after they see this now, because of the exposure you're getting?

Mackenzie Lansing: 12:26

I mean, right now, we're still like post strike. So things are really slow. So I actually haven't really seen a huge change. And like, I don't know how much I'm getting called in or like things like that. I hope that happens. Um, you know, it just kind of depends, like, who goes to see this movie? I hope a lot of people do. I think it's, you know, even if you weren't like, a huge fan of Hunger Games beforehand. I really think there's something in this for everyone. And it's such like a beautiful character study.

Chuck Shute: 12:54

Yeah, I'm not. And I'm usually not a fan of like, the big blockbusters. I haven't, I don't watch them as much, because there's just so many, it's hard to keep up. But this is a good one. This is a good, it's a good story. It keeps you engaged. It's long, like I said, I feel like it could be two movies, but it keeps you going the whole it keeps you interested the entire time. Like what's going on, you don't really know what's going to happen next.

Mackenzie Lansing: 13:14

Yeah, it's you know, I think it's funny because like you get towards the end of the arena stuff. And I think people think maybe it's the end of the movie, but then you're like, but it hasn't been that long yet. So like what's going to happen now, it sort of keeps you on your toes the entire time, which is nice.

Chuck Shute: 13:28

And there, I'm assuming there's going to be a sequel to this. I

Mackenzie Lansing: 13:31

don't know. I think that they kind of purposely left it closed and open ended. So that if basically Lionsgate has said like they're not going to make Hunger Games, Movies, unless she writes books. They really like respect. You know, her and her work. And so unless she writes a book, they're not going to create just a sequel to create one. So and Suzanne has said that she's only going to write another book if she feels like she really has something to say. So it really just depends on whether she feels like there's there's more to develop there or not.

Chuck Shute: 14:00

Okay, so it's caught up with the books, the movies. Okay, gotcha. What about this other movie that you did? I haven't seen this one yet. Because it just looks so freaky. To me. The Creator is you have a pretty big role in that one.

Mackenzie Lansing: 14:13

No, it's a very small roll. I did like I had like four scenes, but I think like most of it got cut. So now it's like a pretty small part. But it was cool, because like all my stuff was with John David Washington, so I got to spend a lot of time with him. He's such a sweet guy.

Chuck Shute: 14:25

He's the star of that one, right? Yep. Yeah. That's really cool. And then and then tell me about this new one that I just saw. I've only seen the trailer it's called all's well in New York and you play like a pregnant woman.

Mackenzie Lansing: 14:37

Yeah. I not to give too much away. But I play a girl who's basically giving up her baby for adoption on Craigslist. I think it is. And it's a fun movie. It's like an independent film. It's got a lot of stars in it. You know, like Elizabeth Rodriguez from oranges, the New Black, you know, Bobby Cannavale and Michael Rispoli, Max Casella. And I think on and on, because all these guys are friends. So they got together to make this movie. And I have a pretty important role in that one. And I think the release is going to be around 2024. Yeah. Okay.

Chuck Shute: 15:10

And then you have other projects that are coming out that you've already completed.

Mackenzie Lansing: 15:14

No, that's it, the creator and then all's well in New York. And that's it for me for right now. The strike has really like, you know, I think forced a lot of people to take some time off work. So we'll be all caught up and I'm always welcomes out. Okay,

Chuck Shute: 15:29

what about the pilot that you wrote the third culture with your friends?

Mackenzie Lansing: 15:33

Oh, yeah, gosh, yeah, I'm still writing that we're still working on it. And I also wrote a pilot of my own, that I think my next big goal is to get one of these pilots, you know, produced and be able to act in it as

Chuck Shute: 15:49

well. That's cool. Okay. And then, like, what's other things that you've done? I mean, you've worked with Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Kate Winslet. Kate Winslet kind of mentored you a little bit? Like, what did you learn working with her?

Mackenzie Lansing: 16:01

She Yeah, she did. Um, she like one of the pieces of advice that she gave me on set. Well, our first day on set, we were at a rehearsal, and we pulled up and we both had like the exact same like binder, like full of like sticky notes and all this stuff. And one of the pieces of advice that she gave me was just never stopped doing the work. Like don't ever take it for granted. Don't ever cut corners, like keep doing the work, because the work is what it's all about. And I really, I take that with me every time I step onto a set, I think of her now,

Chuck Shute: 16:33

what's in those binders with this? Is this like the developing your character, like things that the character would do? And

Mackenzie Lansing: 16:39

yeah, like notes and backstory, and all these other things. She is, she's so talented, but she also works incredibly hard. And this was her first time producing and she really showed up as a leader on set. She was amazing at it.

Chuck Shute: 16:56

And you guys ad lib the scene you thought she might actually punch you during that scene.

Mackenzie Lansing: 17:01

When we were doing the scene at like the the police station, I think it is where like my character Briana sort of starts mouthing off about her son who passed away. The end of that scene is like pretty much improvised. Yeah,

Chuck Shute: 17:15

it must be different. It's like when you watch sports, and you watch football, it's different watching on TV and like playing or like even if your front row in a sporting event, you can hear the sounds and things must be different. Like Kate Winslet like yelling at you in your face than just watching on TV.

Mackenzie Lansing: 17:31

Yeah, it's weird. There's definitely a couple moments where you're like, you kind of accidentally step out of character because you're like, Kate Winslet is yelling at me right now. That's so cool. Yeah, yeah, it is. It's wild. And it's you know, it's strange is like when you feel like you've known somebody for a long time, because you've been following their work, but you have you don't know them. You know? And that's always like an interesting sort of dynamic to like, adjust to that, because I was a huge fan of hers. And luckily, I was able to tell her on the last day on set, that her movie Eternal Sunshine is what made me want to be an actor.

Chuck Shute: 18:08

Oh, that's the okay. I knew that you like I didn't know that was the one that made you want to be an actor. That's a that is a great movie. I love it.

Mackenzie Lansing: 18:14

Such a good movie.

Chuck Shute: 18:16

And is that the same director that does Being John Malkovich or the writer? Something like that? Right. Charlie

Mackenzie Lansing: 18:21

Kaufman. Yep. Yeah, yeah, that's one of my goals is to work with him. I love all his stuff. John Malkovich is Being John Malkovich. Sorry, is. That's one of my, like, top five favorite movies. Yeah, it's

Chuck Shute: 18:33

just it's so creative. You know, it's like you see a lot of movies that are very, that follow the similar formula and then you see a movie like Being John Malkovich, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. You're just like, huh, but it keeps you intrigued. You're not like it's not just weird to be weird. I feel like it really weaves the story into it. It's really interesting.

Mackenzie Lansing: 18:52

Yeah, I think that you know, it's so rare to see movies like that. I think think the, the, the next time that I remember seeing something was everything everywhere, all at once where I was like, this is kind of, you know, like, weird, but it all ties together and it all makes sense.

Chuck Shute: 19:10

Yeah, totally. And so I think you said another one of your goals to work with Francis mcdorman I love her. I mean, I've been a fan of her since Fargo I thought she was so good in that movie and then the three billboards that she's done so much stuff. I mean, how do you get to work with someone like that? Is it just you hope that an offer comes your way? Or can you Is there a way to reach out to try to get a project with her?

Mackenzie Lansing: 19:31

No, I usually just like hope and keep putting it out into the universe that's worked really well for me so far. So I've gotten to work with a lot of people who I admire and so I'm just going to trust that it's gonna happen one day yeah,

Chuck Shute: 19:45

you're into like you're in a lot of that kind of like motivation and habit habits and the what was the book that you read? i i Was it something habits was a call a slight edge book. It was about good habits. I love that kind of stuff. Yeah,

Mackenzie Lansing: 20:01

it's ironic because I think in my day to day life, I have like terrible habits like I'm not very, you know, like him. I am not very clean. Like I'm kind of a messy person, you know, I'm an artist. So it's a little bit, whatever. But I do think like, one of the most important things you can do is like how you talk to yourself in your own head. And I think that gets neglected a lot. Because I even though I'm not into like super spiritual stuff, I just think it's logical that you know, the way you talk to yourself and think about yourself is going to directly affect your actions and what you bring into your life.

Chuck Shute: 20:32

Yeah, no, that's so true. I don't know if you're a fan of David Goggins. But I just love that guy. I mean, I don't want to be him, because I think he's crazy. But I just think I need to be a little bit more David Goggins? Because he's just so motivating. And so I don't know if you're if you're familiar with him? No, I

Mackenzie Lansing: 20:48

don't know who that is. David Goggins? Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's

Chuck Shute: 20:50

just such a motivating guy. And there's, there's a podcast I fall to called the mindset mentor. And it's a lot of that kind of thinking, like questions like, Why do I feel this way? Why do I think this thing, and he kind of explains it and breaks it down, I've learned a lot just you read in those kinds of books, or podcasts and things you can really start to understand when you have anxiety, or depression or any sort of things like that, like, you know, obsessive thoughts and things like that, you could start to go down that rabbit hole, and then you start to kind of piece it together. It's kind of nice to have all those resources that time that we live in now with YouTube and all this. Yeah,

Mackenzie Lansing: 21:22

there's also an amazing podcast called, I don't know, if I can curse on here, it's called on grain unfuck your brain. I never read it. It's really good. She kind of has like a very, like, practical, pragmatic approach to like rewiring the way you think, and I respond well to that, because I'm not very hippie dippie. Like I you know, I'm not really into all the spiritual stuff, but she really breaks it down in a way that's like, based in science where you're like, alright, this makes sense. And, yeah,

Chuck Shute: 21:51

I agree. I'm the same. I'm not very I don't want to get the hippie dippie. Like the crystals and things. I just want to know, like, what scientific or just whatever works, you know? So, but usually, the science based stuff makes more sense to me. But do you think to i, there's a book called, oh, I forget what is called a hat around here somewhere. I forget the name of it. But it's all about, like how you learn from failure. Do you feel like that's a big part of your success, too? You know, obviously, you have a lot of success. But what about the failures? You know, one of the things is so interesting. You auditioned for Blue's Clues. You didn't get it?

Mackenzie Lansing: 22:26

I can't believe you know that. Yeah, I did. I got really close to being the Blue's Clues girl. And every time I walk onto a set, now I think about that, and I just think, wow, think. Yeah, I got really sidetracked in my career. So I teach and I always tell my students like, what qualifies me to teach you is not the movies I've been in. But it's how I have failed, like, so much over and over and over again. I've done some insane stuff and auditions, you know, it's like starting out, you can do weird stuff. You one time I exited my audition into a closet. And then I had to closet decide whether I should like come back out. It was so bad.

Chuck Shute: 23:09

Well, you didn't you thought that was the exit door. But it was

Mackenzie Lansing: 23:11

it was the exit I got like I did about I did about audition. And I was like in my head was the other thing that I didn't mention is okay, you have to like, I was very young. I was a very young actor, okay. And I decided that my character wears glasses, which is like a silly thing to choose. Especially because I don't wear glasses. So I wore glasses, and I couldn't see anything. And that's why I

Chuck Shute: 23:36

Oh, this is great. See you but this is the stuff this is how you learn and you grow is that you have to like, fail fail big. I mean, I think that's like whether the Denzel Washington speech or whatever, like,

Mackenzie Lansing: 23:48

yeah, I just now it's so funny. Because now when I fail, like even though it hurts, obviously, I just like view it as it means I'm getting closer. Like every time you fail, you're getting closer to getting it right. And I think that's not told to actors enough that they're supposed to mess up like you can go to acting school and do all the things and you're still going to have bad auditions. You're still going to say the wrong thing on set. And you just you just learn from it, you move on? Like

Chuck Shute: 24:13

what is the percentage of roles that you land versus how many you audition for

Mackenzie Lansing: 24:18

it like a very small, like very, very small. I mean, obviously the bigger resume you have like then it starts to get a little bit easier, just because people are familiar with your work. So they don't need to like review as many tapes. But yeah, it's a very small

Chuck Shute: 24:33

portion, like 1% or 5%. Or I say closer to

Mackenzie Lansing: 24:37

1%, maybe five, something like that.

Chuck Shute: 24:41

So hopefully this Hunger Games gets you a little bit over that hump then yeah,

Mackenzie Lansing: 24:45

every project it gets a little bit better. You know, every single project that I do it, it gets a little bit smoother, I would say yes,

Chuck Shute: 24:54

I remember, you know back to Francis McDormand in Fargo. I remember that movie came out and the other Star William H. Macy was saying that he auditioned for every role he ever got up until that movie, and then he's like, I don't have to audition anymore. People just come to me with offers. I'm like, oh, that must be so nice.

Mackenzie Lansing: 25:11

That I'm that's great. I don't know, I know from even like actors who might surprise you who still that's not the case. You think it might be but they still have to audition. Or at least, they might go to like the final round directly. Because people are like, Okay, we've seen your work, but they still have to screen test and chemistry read and all that stuff.

Chuck Shute: 25:30

Yeah, for especially for certain directors, I'm sure want to they don't just hand you stuff. There's probably certain people want to test you out. Yeah, that's, that's really Yeah. So I mean, you your goal is to try to you want to get a starring role on a TV show, right?

Mackenzie Lansing: 25:47

I don't know what my goal is anymore. It was for a long time. And then I did this. And I think that also for a long time, a starring role on a TV show was job stability. For me. I was like, if I have if I'm a series regular, but I think that was because I was so afraid that like, I couldn't book things. And I think I've grown to like, have a little bit more faith in myself, where now I'm like, I'm gonna book things. It's now it's just more creative. Like, what do I want to book like, what's the ideal outcome? Maybe I want to be part of like, lots of different types of movies. And maybe it depends on the role, obviously, I'm not saying no, but like, maybe I don't want to be locked down on a TV show for four years. You know? This movie has definitely, I think, partially the stunt training, like realize that I was physically capable of so much more than I thought I was like, like, worked on me the inside out. We're now I like, think of myself very differently. And I have a lot more. I don't know, I'm more playful with it, I guess. Interesting.

Chuck Shute: 26:40

That is really Yeah, I did definitely think back to the scientific stuff. I think there's a definitely mind body connection. And that can make it at least for me, I know, exercise makes a huge difference in my mindset.

Mackenzie Lansing: 26:51

Yeah, I was like a heavily bullied kid and you know, was really bad at sports. But I have like feet and knee problems that are pretty severe for like somebody for like a healthiest person, my age. And so like having to do like martial arts and run around and climb things. Like, I was really afraid I wasn't going to be able to do it. So that was kind of a turning point for me, honestly.

Chuck Shute: 27:14

So you were bullied for the physical issues, or no, no, that

Mackenzie Lansing: 27:17

came a little bit later. No, sorry. I just cannot be like, I was kind of a dork and not very athletic. And you know, like the weird queer kid like, so. I don't know, I didn't view myself as somebody who could be like in an action movie. And now that I've done this, I'm like, maybe I can do maybe there's a lot more I can do than I thought, you know.

Chuck Shute: 27:35

That's awesome. That's so inspiring. I love to hear that kind of stuff. That's great.

Mackenzie Lansing: 27:39

Yeah, it's been a journey. I have to say this movie has done like, wonders for the way I think of myself, just because the fans have been so lovely.

Chuck Shute: 27:51

Oh, yeah. Cuz it's worldwide. Right? So how do you do fans reach out to you? They get instagram messages? Or like, do you get physical mail or email? Or how do they I don't get physical

Mackenzie Lansing: 28:01

mail, which I you know, I like it that way. But I get a lot of DMS, no emails, so it's not my email address isn't really public, I get a lot of DMS, I try to respond to as many as I can. Because I feel like if people reach out saying nice things, I want them to know that like, I appreciate them, and that I've been in their shoes where like, I've watched someone and been like, oh, I want to do that one day, you know,

Chuck Shute: 28:25

so that a lot of girls that want to be actors themselves that are inspired by your performance.

Mackenzie Lansing: 28:30

Honestly, I'll say that the people who have reached out to me the most who have really touched me is like the queer community. I get like messages every single day from people saying that, like, being able to see themselves represented like means a lot to them. And I think it would have meant a lot to me growing up. So that's what I want to do. And if I'm doing that, even for like four people, it makes me really happy.

Chuck Shute: 28:51

Because you you knew from a young age that that's that you're that you were a lesbian? Yeah.

Mackenzie Lansing: 28:57

No, I like I grew up pretty religious. And it took me a really long time to like, come to terms with who I was. Yeah. And it's part of the reason I think I struggled as an actor for so long, because I wasn't being honest, you know, with myself.

Chuck Shute: 29:10

Oh, interesting. Well, what do you I was gonna ask you this, then what do you think? Because Hunter Schaefer is I said, what gets Correct? She, she was she's in this movie, too. And there's the the trans community is mad at Jimmy Fallon because she went on Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Fallon called her but I think at least once or twice, they were kind of joking around. And I don't think she got offended, but maybe she didn't notice but there's all this huge uproar like, well, what are your thoughts on that?

Mackenzie Lansing: 29:37

Um, my thoughts are you know, I don't really know I don't think I know enough about the situation to have like a fully formed opinion on that actually.

Chuck Shute: 29:50

Because it is kind of a tough the I don't think I mean, there's like the intent, right. I don't think he was. Jimmy Fallon was trying to be vicious or me mean are anything but it is like it's a mistake. So like, does he need to apologize? Like I don't know. It's interesting. Yeah. Violence so

Mackenzie Lansing: 30:06

far. Question for Hunter. I don't know if I can actually like respond in her place, especially since I actually haven't seen it. So I don't know.

Chuck Shute: 30:15

Have you seen her work on you for if you watch that show at all? No,

Mackenzie Lansing: 30:18

I have seen clips. So I know she's incredible for personal reasons, like involving sensitivity to certain subject matter. I can't watch you for you. But I know she's incredible in it because my sister is like a huge fan and tells me all about how amazing she is on that show. So yeah,

Chuck Shute: 30:34

it's yeah, I've seen every episode. It's an it's intense, the whole show. I mean, I would not let if I had kids, I wouldn't let my kids watch it till they're like 30 or something. It's like I mean, video because it's so the drugs and stuff. And then I think one of the actors who played kind of a drug, a drug deal, or maybe even in the show, I think he died recently. It's really sad. It's like, oh, man,

Mackenzie Lansing: 30:55

this Yeah, I heard about that. That's, that's so sad, man. Yeah, she's so talented. She's an incredible actress. And she's such a kind person, and she just has like, she has like an infectious personality. She's as amazing as you would like. Hope she is. Wow,

Chuck Shute: 31:11

is there any shows that that you would want to? If you've made either, if not a starring role? Maybe a guest starring roles or show that you'd want to jump on for a couple episodes? Oh,

Mackenzie Lansing: 31:21

that's a really good question. Oh, yeah. I already have an answer for this. Have you seen our flag means death? No, I haven't ever heard of it. Okay. Watch it. It's hilarious. It's, I think it's a British show. Like, I don't know if it's me. But But, but Tiger Woods TT, isn't it? And it's incredible. And yeah, I would kill to be on that show. Just for even like five seconds.

Chuck Shute: 31:44

Okay, I'll have to definitely check the I love the Brits come up with some of the best. Like, I don't know, what is different that like, it really is unexpected. That's the thing that the key to humor is like to have it be unexpected. What's the show? I'm trying to remember the name of it. It's a huge show in England, where the person like throws up, like multiple, there's multiple episodes where the person just projectile vomit. It's like so funny.

Mackenzie Lansing: 32:10

I don't know, is it I don't know what show is that I

Chuck Shute: 32:13

have to send it to you. And so I had one of the actresses from that was like in one episode when she was a little girl. And it's I watched this episode. I was like, this show is hilarious. And asked my buddy that lives over there. I was like, Have you heard of the show? He's like, Oh, this shows like the number one show. It's crazy. I forget the name of it. But so this was the one that you're talking about. It's called this flag means death.

Mackenzie Lansing: 32:33

It's called our flag means death.

Chuck Shute: 32:34

It's about performance. Okay, it sounds amazing. Yeah, great. It's no Hunger Games is out now. And all as well in New York is coming out in 2024. Anything else you want to promote?

Mackenzie Lansing: 32:46

Um, I don't think so right now go see all as well in New York when it comes out. And be on the lookout for my TV show. Hopefully, when it gets made.

Chuck Shute: 32:56

Yeah, that's different that you're saying you wrote your own. That's different than the Third Culture one.

Mackenzie Lansing: 33:01

Well, we're also working on that one. But yeah, I have my own pilot that I'm working on separately. But I also love third culture. And I think it's such a good project. I think it'll resonate with a lot of people who, anybody really who's grown up with different cultures in their household, which I think is most people at this point, have a little bit of like exposure to different things, you know, right.

Chuck Shute: 33:22

Absolutely. Cool. Well, you have to come back and promote that when you have to do it. Yeah. All right. Thank you so much, McKenzie,

Mackenzie Lansing: 33:28

thank you so much for having me. All right. Bye. Bye.

Chuck Shute: 33:31

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