The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud

Joe Manganiello was 25, newly sober, broke, and showing up to AA meetings as they started so he could leave the second they ended. A 78-year-old man in a tweed coat took him by the arm one day and said he'd like to take him to lunch. They went to an English tea house in Santa Monica. John Edward Robinson III ordered everything — the full afternoon tea, every dessert on the menu — then explained he was diabetic and would be watching Joe eat them. He knew Tennessee Williams. He knew Elizabeth Taylor. Joe went back to the next meeting so he could take John to lunch. Months later Joe picked him up at his house and found a collection of mug shots on the wall. They were John's: a San Francisco shooting-gallery heroin addict, two DUIs in a single day. Joe says that without the hand on his arm he doesn't stay in the rooms, and without the rooms he has none of the life that followed. John lived long enough to watch him go from working off the back of a construction truck to True Blood, and had people bring him Joe's magazines when he was bedridden. In this conversation with David Begnaud, Joe talks about the seven years his body tried to kill him — the rashes, the bleeding, the misdiagnosis, the month on his side, and the night Sofia Vergara had to authorize surgeons to remove his entire large intestine while he was unconscious. He talks about the avatar he built and then resented people for believing. About giving away his gun. About Finding Your Roots discovering that his father's father wasn't his father, and that he descends from a man named Plato Turner who fought in the American Revolution. About a Santeria ceremony in Ecuador and a week-long ritual in Cuba, and realizing only later whose gods those were. And about a sick chihuahua nobody would keep, who made him a caretaker again at the exact moment he'd stopped being one. Joe Manganiello's memoir Bloodlines is available now wherever books are sold. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com Chapters ☀️ Chapters 00:00:00 Intro: The Sweet Little Old Man Who Grabbed His Arm 00:02:40 The Mug Shots and the Power of Change 00:04:15 Twenty-Five and Angry: Early Sobriety Struggles 00:10:07 Mount Lebanon and the FBI Dream 00:11:53 Misunderstood: The Avatar He Built 00:20:28 Upstream Swimming: Lessons From Dad 00:23:46 Finding Your Roots: The DNA Revelation 00:30:33 Thirteen Years of Silence 00:40:17 The Wedding and the Bleeding 00:44:15 Shutting Down Production: The Ambulance Call 00:46:09 The Night He Thought He'd Die 00:57:11 Deathstroke and the Will to Fight 00:59:09 Ecuador and the Cuban Shaman 01:09:20 Baited and Switched: The Marriage Unravels 01:11:25 The Gun and the Dog Who Saved Him 01:15:18 Big Man, Little Dog: Defending Bubbles 01:17:18 Meeting Caitlin: The Pittsburgh Connection 01:19:46 The Storm Is Over ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Joe Manganiello Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Supervising Editor: Joey Izzo Live Production Technician: Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social: Allison Childers Theme Music: Slipstream YouTube Strategy & Packaging: David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast

James Brown was in fourth grade when a teacher saw him reading a book called So You Want to Be a Doctor and told him he should consider another career. “Kids like you, she said, do not do well in math and science.” He never told his mother. He carried it alone, and it held him back for years. Then two middle school teachers in Washington, D.C., pulled him aside with a different message: honey, you can do this. Simple as that. Deep Southern care wrapped in belief he hadn't heard before. He started to think maybe he could. At 14 he was cut from one basketball team and kept by another coach who saw him miss an undefended layup in front of the whole school. The students laughed. The coach, Don Fugle, kept him anyway because he paid attention. A year later Morgan Wooten recruited him to DeMatha, handed him three sheets of fundamentals, and told him to pick one: all county, all state, or all America. James took the third sheet and worked it religiously. He became one of the best high school players in the country. He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 1973 and cut at the end of training camp. He went home and didn't leave his bedroom for two weeks. In this conversation with David Begnaud, he talks about the lie he told Morgan Wooten at basketball camp that spiraled into a Friday afternoon confrontation about integrity. About his mother calling the gym to say practice ran too late and if it happened again, JB couldn't play. About Senator Ted Kennedy flying him to Capitol Hill to pitch Harvard. And about leaving Fox for CBS on a handshake, turning down a counter offer because his mother taught him your word is your bond. James Brown is a three time Emmy Award winner, Pro Football Hall of Famer, and host of CBS's The NFL Today. He has hosted more Super Bowls than anyone in television history. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com Chapters ☀️ Chapters 00:00:00 Intro: The Coach Who Called Out the Lies 00:05:04 The Ray Rice Commentary and Speaking Truth 00:08:43 The Fourth Grade Teacher Who Said Kids Like You Don't Succeed 00:14:37 The Two Teachers Who Said You Can Do This 00:15:55 The White Shadow: The Coach Who Kept the Kid Who Couldn't Play 00:20:49 Morgan Wooten and the Three Sheets: The Roadmap to Excellence 00:37:40 Cut Twice: The NBA Dreams That Didn't Come True 00:47:49 The Lime Green Suit and the IBM Interview 00:52:10 The Answer Can Be Found in Love 00:53:49 Katrina, Alfreda, and Unconditional Love 01:00:22 The Bank Is Closed: Leaving Fox for CBS 01:17:52 We Got Them Right Where We Want Them: Down Six with 30 Seconds Left 01:20:53 Come Back in 10 Years: How Morgan Wooten Measured Success ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: James Brown Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Live Production Technician: Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social: Allison Childers, Gracie Pekrul Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast

Marlee Matlin was twelve, performing at a children's theater for the deaf in Chicago, when Henry Winkler accepted an invitation to stop by on his day off. She performed the whole show at him. Afterward she walked up and asked whether she could be an actor in Hollywood, like he was. Before he could answer, her mother pulled him aside and asked him to dampen his enthusiasm — tell her to go to college, get an education, dream other dreams, because Hollywood was not going to be kind to a deaf girl. Winkler looked at her and said she was talking to the wrong man. Marlee didn't learn about that exchange for years. When she did, she says it broke her heart for her mother, who wanted what most mothers want. She also says Winkler rescued her from not believing in herself. They became pen pals, and every letter she sent, he answered — which is how she knew the friendship was real, and, she says, how she came to know she was worthy. A few years after that first meeting she won the Academy Award for Children of a Lesser God, at 21, the youngest woman ever to win Best Actress and the first deaf performer to win at all. She had learned about the nomination from a phone at a rehab center, where her counselor congratulated her and then told her to go clean her room. When the relationship that followed the Oscar collapsed, she turned up at Winkler's door with the statuette in her hand and told him she had this, but no boyfriend and nowhere to live. He and his wife Stacey said stay the weekend. She stayed two years. In this conversation with David Begnaud, Marlee talks about the year she presented the next Best Actor award and chose to speak the nominees' names aloud — a decision she made alone, to show producers she could, and one the deaf community read as a betrayal. She shut them out for fifteen years and says she still carries something like PTSD from it. She talks about what her parents never knew, and what she never told them. And about the tough love from Winkler that she resented at the time and now says was right, including the morning he told her that no, she could not skip an hour of work for her son's first day of kindergarten. Marlee Matlin is executive producer of the feature documentary, Siren: The Voices of Shelley Beattie, available now on HBO. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com Chapters ☀️ ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Marlee Matlin Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Live Production Technician: Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social: Gracie Pekrul Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast

Thomasin McKenzie grew up in a house in Wellington where everyone acted — her parents coached it, and her grandmother is one of New Zealand's most beloved actors. She'd watched her parents leave for work overseas often enough to know what the job cost, and when she graduated high school her grandmother was relieved she hadn't gone to drama school. Then at 13 she overheard her mother coaching other girls through an audition for a film called Consent, about a New Zealand woman who was raped by police officers as a teenager and not believed in court. Thomasin asked if she could try out. She got the role, and it changed what she thought acting was for. She chose her father, Stuart, as the person who believed in her — not for a piece of advice but for showing up. He was on set with her from the time she was six. What he said before auditions and exams alike was the same thing: enjoy the process. No pressure to win. He was living with her in Prague during Jojo Rabbit when a role she'd already seen herself in went to someone else, and he was there through years of anxiety severe enough that at 21 she couldn't attend her own film's premiere. He never made her feel bad about it. In this conversation with David Begnaud, she talks about what a panic attack actually feels like from the inside, and why it's nearly impossible to describe once it passes — like trying to define a temperature. She' also talks about walking away from Top Gun: Maverick for a smaller film about an unsolved murder case that has since been solved… about being told by a director to stop finding the hardship in every character and find the joy instead… and about moving to London at 22 specifically to stop leaning on her father so hard — which is how she came to see him as a person rather than someone who's supposed to have the answers. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com Chapters ☀️ ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Thomasin McKenzie Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Live Production Technician: Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social: Kylee Anderson, Maxim Trofimenko, Gracie Pekrul Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast

Before Carly Pearce became a Grammy-winning country music superstar and a member of the Grand Ole Opry, she was a 24 year old singer who had spent eight years in Nashville being told she wasn't enough. She'd done countless showcases, recorded endless songs, and watched labels pass her by again and again. Then she met Daniel Lee, a music publisher who saw something the entire industry had missed. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the multi-platinum artist sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the man who believed in her when she was cleaning Airbnbs and ready to move home. Carly opens up about the moment Daniel sat her down at a coffee shop and said the words that changed everything: I know your story. I know how long you've been here. I know what the industry thinks. I believe otherwise. She talks about growing up in Taylor Mill, Kentucky, telling her parents at age five she was going to be on the Grand Ole Opry, dropping out of high school in ninth grade to work six shows a day at Dollywood, and spending years in Nashville chasing what everyone else wanted instead of trusting what made her different. She shares what it felt like to play five songs for a manager who told her to her face that they would never work, only to watch one of those exact songs, Every Little Thing, debut at number one on iTunes 12 hours after it hit Sirius XM's The Highway. If you've ever wondered whether one person's belief could actually change the trajectory of your entire life, this episode will remind you that sometimes the greatest gift someone can give you is faith when the world says no. And sometimes, that's all you need to become unstoppable. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter:https://www.thedogoodcrew.com Chapters ☀️ ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Carly Pearce Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse Associate Producer: Jonah Johnson Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Director of Social: Mariah Maull Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast