The Work of Warriors

Kim Rapach (00:00.0)
Welcome back. Today's guest is Vincent Ward, a creator, writer, producer, podcast host, spokesperson, actor, and more. He has over a hundred IMDB credits, including Ocean's Eleven, Devil Row, The Conners, Two Broke Girls, Hot in Cleveland, and best known as his role as Oscar on AMC's top running show, The Walking Dead. I'm so grateful to introduce to you Vincent Ward.

Kim Rapach (02:29.948)
Hey warriors, welcome back. Today's guest is Vincent Ward. He is.

Kim Rapach (02:39.964)
Hey, warriors, welcome back. Today's guest is, whoo, he's busy. That's what he is. He's a creator, writer, producer, podcast host, spokesperson, and actor. He has well over a hundred IMDB credits, including Ocean's Eleven, Devil Row, Two Broke Girls, The Conners, and probably best known for his role as Oscar on The Walking Dead.

I'm excited to have Vincent on today. We connected in 2020 on social media and we've kept in touch off and on. And like everyone that I have on this podcast, it's not about their IMDB credits. It's not only about what they've done or how successful they are. More importantly, it's how they're living out their personal life, how they're.

pouring into others, how they're taking care of their mindset and their mental health and how they have a story to share. And so I am excited to introduce to you Vincent Ward.

Kim Rapach (12:03.118)
Hello?

VINCENT M WARD (12:04.577)
Hey, how are you?

Kim Rapach (12:06.364)
Good, hi Vincent. There we go. You were just a little guy on my screen. And I know you're not a little guy. Fix my...

VINCENT M WARD (12:11.201)
okay.

Kim Rapach (12:15.996)
Hi, it's so nice to meet you officially.

VINCENT M WARD (12:18.753)
Likewise, thank you for having me.

Kim Rapach (12:21.338)
thanks for being here. I know that you're busy. You got a lot going on.

VINCENT M WARD (12:26.337)
Yeah.

That's a little just for you.

Kim Rapach (12:30.972)
Billing is back up, so yay for that. But you're also a podcast host on two podcasts, right? You have two podcasts?

VINCENT M WARD (12:40.065)
Yeah, I was doing that for a minute. I was doing one by myself and I was doing, I was actually doing three. Me and my wife was trying to do something together and me and Lou Temple was trying to do something, but you know.

Kim Rapach (12:47.612)
VINCENT M WARD (12:59.551)
What can I say? I can't be the only one wanting to do it.

Kim Rapach (13:00.764)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we don't want to be spread too thin. It's, it's, you know, there's so many things we can do. I feel like, wow, we have so many opportunities of things we can get involved in and just can't do them all. So you have to prioritize. Yeah. I actually put this podcast on hold for a few months, the beginning of the year, and it'll be coming back up next month. So yeah, gotta do what you gotta do, right?

VINCENT M WARD (13:16.541)
Indeed. Indeed.

VINCENT M WARD (13:28.609)
Gotta do it.

Kim Rapach (13:30.396)
So you're acting, I know you have a book, which I purchased for my niece because she loves horror and that kind of stuff. I don't know if you remember, but I messaged you and I'm like, I can't read this. I'll have nightmares, but I know people who love this stuff. So I'll pass it along.

VINCENT M WARD (13:41.089)
I remember you saying that. I remember. Thank you again.

VINCENT M WARD (13:49.793)
Yeah, the movie actually supposed to come out this year, finally. Yeah, we shot it like almost two years ago.

Kim Rapach (13:54.812)
Is it? Okay, the stepdaddy.

Kim Rapach (14:01.116)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (14:04.929)
So we'll see.

Kim Rapach (14:07.004)
Well, I only have a little tiny bit of experience with that whole process with my son and some commercials, but it's amazing how much time it takes to film something, you know, a 30 second commercial even, and then it's months later and then you see it and it's like, it's 30 seconds.

VINCENT M WARD (14:25.697)
Especially if you've been there all day and they cut your part out. Woo! That's one of the worst feelings ever. Besides them telling you you're on a veil, which means they check your availability. And then that means you're actually like top two or top three and you might be on hold for a veil and they take you off. That's, my God.

Kim Rapach (14:29.34)
Yeah, we've had that too.

Kim Rapach (14:36.764)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (14:55.553)
I'd rather for you not, I'd rather for you to tell me I'm not on the veil, than to get my hopes up high and it be snatched away. And I know like this podcast is like about mental, a lot of, you know, mental stuff, but for this industry, you have to be mentally strong because it can get to you. What, you know, I pray, I believe in God, you know, whoever believe in what then that's on them. But for me, I always pray about, about emotional.

Kim Rapach (14:55.588)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (15:02.716)
Yeah. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (15:25.313)
mental, psychological, and spiritual. You know, as far as for my life, we look at a lot of actors or people who commit suicide and you'd be like, wow, that person had everything going for them. But you never know what's going on in a person's, you know, secret life or life when they're not on film or.

when they're not on social media. I tell people all the time, people aren't gonna put the bad stuff on social media most of the time. They always gonna put, hey, I'm here, or I'm doing this, I'm doing that. But you never know what's going on with them outside of whatever career they're in.

Kim Rapach (16:08.378)
Yeah, absolutely. I just had a conversation with someone just a couple hours ago about, first of all, we don't know people.

Right? Like we don't know people who are on our screens, whether our phone or in the movie theaters, we don't know people. And we make a lot of assumptions that because you're on a screen or, you know, even if you are a high profile personality, that somehow you don't have any problems anymore. And that you don't have sick family members or you don't get sick or you, you know, I mean, we just forget. And I think we objectify a bit and we forget that people are human and.

VINCENT M WARD (16:22.689)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (16:41.951)
Yeah.

Yeah, you're judged. You're judged all the time. You can't even go get a regular job without somebody judging you about trying to survive in this world. You know, with this career, with this, you know, everything ain't peaches and cream. You know, you don't see the tears. You don't see the, you know, having to ask for a favor or, you know, going to get on this or, you know. Some of these people that you might see on TV, some of them might have, there's nothing against roommates.

Kim Rapach (16:51.866)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (17:13.313)
but they might have three or four roommates. Some of them might be sleeping in their car. You never know. You can never assume that somebody just got it going on. I'm from a little city called Dayton, Ohio, and I know I've been home a few times and people be eyeballing me like, hmm, I might have to get this guy. You get me or rob me? You just gonna be practicing. I might rob you. Just kidding.

Kim Rapach (17:42.182)
Be careful! Don't make assumptions!

VINCENT M WARD (17:43.681)
Yeah, yeah, but I have had that look. People don't realize just because you've been on a few things, that don't mean you rich. You know, don't mean you have a Will Smith contract or Leonardo DiCaprio contract. You still on the grind. And that's the one thing that, you know, you really truly have to love this industry for you to stick with it.

Kim Rapach (18:02.844)
Yeah, yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (18:11.809)
because you're gonna have more ups and downs. You're gonna have more nos than yeses, so.

Kim Rapach (18:17.404)
Yeah, and that's another thing I don't think people realize unless you're in the industry, you don't realize when someone does get a yes or even a lot of yeses, even if they have a lot of yeses and you see them in a ton of stuff, I mean, you've been in a ton of stuff. You can amplify that times what? 25 that you've probably been told no, right? If not more, maybe in the hundreds and it's...

VINCENT M WARD (18:26.537)
No?

VINCENT M WARD (18:35.521)
Yeah. Yeah. Or when people be like, yeah, I saw your little part. A little part? Do you know what I had to do to get that part? Or how many people I had to beat out around, not just in LA and New York and Atlanta, but around the world now. Because everybody think they can do this. You know, I get people inboxing me all the time. Connect me with your agent or your manager. Do you realize how long I've been doing this? And my agent and manager is not going to pick up somebody who

just started. You know, so it's like, come on, come on.

Kim Rapach (19:09.98)
Yeah. And I think part of that is, you know, social media, right? We've, we've kind of lost this ability to, to remember that everything takes time. You have to build your craft. You have to do the work and it doesn't matter what industry. And, but somehow we think that like, we just ask, or if we just know the right person that it's magically going to happen, you know, and it's like, even, you know, you see people like, they're an overnight success. And it's like, yeah, except they've been doing it for 35 years. It took 35 years to become an overnight success.

VINCENT M WARD (19:34.689)
Right, just like with me on the walkin' dead. With me on the walkin' dead. You know, now people hear me up be like, I didn't know you was in this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this. And they just like, well, I just know you from the walkin' dead. I said, well, my career didn't start with the walkin' dead. My career started way before then. And even with the walkin' dead, I didn't even know what the walkin' dead was. It was just another job to me. You just happy to be workin'. I never put one job up.

ahead of another one. Even if it's an independent film, I don't look down on it because you never know who that person is or who they might grow up to be or who they might know. That's why I just try to treat everybody the same with respect.

Kim Rapach (20:04.124)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (20:20.892)
Yeah, well, that's, I mean, that's why I reached out to you. You were doing a live, you were doing an Instagram live, and I don't remember the girl's name, maybe it was Christy, or I don't remember, it was probably during the pandemic.

VINCENT M WARD (20:36.361)
Mm -hmm.

Kim Rapach (20:36.636)
And you were talking about your mindset. You were talking about living within your values and you were talking about, you know, integrity. And I really, you know, those are all values that I have. And, you know, with this podcast, I think there's plenty of podcasts that have, you know, lots of people who've maybe been in a lot of things or they have a, you know, a great career. That's great. But I want people who.

are taking care of their mental health, who are taking care of their mindset in a toxic industry. Because there's this narrative that if you're successful, if you're on a big screen, that that's going to make you happy. And it's killing people, literally. And so I'm just, I'm grateful that you're here. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (21:08.801)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (21:15.999)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (21:19.809)
Look at Robin Williams. Look at Robin Williams. We would have never thought in a million years that Robin Williams would take his own life. Not in a million years, not Mr. Nanu Nanu and all those great movies and projects he's done. You, again, you just never know. You know, so.

Kim Rapach (21:42.044)
You never know. Yeah. Yeah. So what, so I reached out to you. What made you say yes to the work of warriors? Why is mental health important to you?

VINCENT M WARD (21:55.009)
Because we all go through it. We all go through it. Again, people don't see the tears and, you know, how am I going to go eat this or how am I going to pay for that? And I think, you know, first of all, I'm honored that you reached out to me because you could have, you know, you probably have and could have reached out to a lot of other people. And, you know, anytime somebody asks me to do something, if I had time to do it, I'd do it. You know, I want people to see.

somebody that's real, it's gonna tell you the truth. No Hollywood talk, no political talk. I'm gonna tell you how T .I. is without sugarcoating anything. And it's not me being arrogant, it's not me bragging or boasting, it's just me being a real person. I'm Vincent Enward before I'm Vincent M Ward the actor. I'm the husband, the father, the grandfather.

Kim Rapach (22:49.02)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (22:53.365)
the friend, the son. I put all of that ahead of everything else that's going on in this industry. You know, to this day, I still, you know, I'm blessed to have both of my parents, you know, so I don't, I never want to embarrass them, nor embarrass myself or my family or my wife. It's all about how can you help the next person? It's just like,

Yesterday, for example, I was at the park shooting around and playing basketball, shooting around. And instead of going home, instead of making a right, I made a left. And I saw one of my neighbors and he was on a walker at the bus stop. And I'm like, you know, I used to see him walking around the neighborhood, walking his dog or whatnot, but him being on a walker, I knew his health was bad.

I passed him, made a U -turn, went back. I'm like, man, what is going on? You know, what's happening with you? Long story short, I took him to the store, took him home, and it made me feel sad because it's like, where's his family? You know, he's in a walker going to get a big bag of dog food and food. I asked, where was you gonna put that? You know, where was you gonna put that? And it made me think about, again, my parents.

And it just, it's just like these kids out here from 35 years old down have to realize that your parents is those only parents you're going to have. You know, be respectful, check on them. And that's one thing I always do. I got to check on my parents all week. I got to go home, make sure things is okay with them. Cause I know I've been mad at my own.

sons because I feel like you can do more to help your grandparents out. My parents have a huge yard that my dad has to cut the grass. Why you ain't going over there to help? You know, when you needed something, they were there for you. And I'm like that, and I feel like that with anybody, you know, it's just like, get off your high horse. Stop doing stuff because, you know, your whatever reason or you want to get paid for.

VINCENT M WARD (25:21.249)
Where's the love? Where's the respect? Where's all this stuff at? And I just feel like people overlook older people these days. And that makes me mad. If I ever see anybody do something to somebody older when I'm around, I don't care if I don't know the person. I risk my life for that older woman, that older man, because they can't defend themselves. When I see these people on these videos,

video them hitting old people and all that. Woo wee! If I was around, it'd be on. So it's just, that's me. That's me before any of this. I don't care about any of this. I care about just being respectful to people.

Kim Rapach (26:13.82)
Yeah, I love that. And it makes me think of, you know, again, back to social media, but we're, we're taught that, you know, I think we're conditioned actually to, like, chase the quick high, chase the dopamine hit, whether it's a scroll, or I'm going to get the next job, I got the audition, like all these quick, like, and they don't sustain us. But what you're talking about is true happiness.

VINCENT M WARD (26:27.041)
yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (26:31.711)
Mm -hmm.

Kim Rapach (26:39.324)
where you are grounded, your most important values are your people, your community, your family, and that is what sustains us. You know, I talk to all of my clients, no matter where they're at in their career, tell me what you're gonna do and who's gonna be there if you lose it all, because that's what matters. Because you could lose everything, whether it be you get canceled, whether it be the housing market crashes, whether, whatever.

VINCENT M WARD (26:48.255)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (26:58.241)
Right. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (27:07.548)
It's, you know, money and the success and the status is not sustainable. You don't have guarantee of that. So what's going to happen if you lose it, I don't want you to lose it, but if you do, who's going to be there? Because if you're putting your mental health and your quality of life in anything outside of yourself, you are screwed. If it goes sideways.

VINCENT M WARD (27:29.761)
Yeah. And lately I've been doing a lot of, I mean, I've always prayed, but lately I've been really praying and manifesting stuff that not just what I want to do for myself, but for my family and for other people. And every day I'm looking at it. I'm smelling it. I'm living it. Yesterday I went past Warner Brothers and Universal and I just saw myself pulling in there every day, you know,

My favorite number is 44. So I saw stage 44 from the street. I saw gate seven for Warner Brothers. And for me, that's me opening up my door, opening up a door for my future. Because my future is about helping other people, going to talk to people.

Sean, you know, it takes time. It takes, it really and truly takes time for stuff to happen. Cause people look at you like, man, you're doing it, man. You successful. Well, my success might be different from what you think is success. Cause it's totally different. You know, I use the phrase all the time. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm not where I used to be. And I know my best is yet to come. Even, even.

Even though I'm 53, even though that I've accomplished some things, I still say my best is yet to come. Because my goal is to be able to show kids, to show them, you know, it's not about the glitz and glamour on social media. A lot of people lie on social media about their lives. And again, they're not going to show you the bad stuff, they're only going to show you the good. And what you cannot do is base your life.

or for somebody else's life on social media.

Kim Rapach (29:27.196)
Yeah. Yeah. Or what someone else might think of you. That's dangerous.

VINCENT M WARD (29:31.425)
Right.

like Macy, she had to come try to steal my shine. She jumped up on my lap.

Kim Rapach (29:36.508)
She's so cute. I was trying so hard not to interrupt you. She's so cute. For those who are listening and can't see, there's a adorable puppy. And you just got her like within the last six months, right? She's the older one?

VINCENT M WARD (29:49.345)
No, I've had it for like three years. Yeah, well, the older one, Frisbee, he passed away last year. And the way Macy came along is, you know, I looked at it, Frisbee was getting a little older. Frisbee actually came with the marriage. So he was getting a little older. So I'll let me go get him a friend. And I found old Macy here at Macy's. Yes.

Kim Rapach (30:02.364)
Okay.

Kim Rapach (30:06.396)
Catch.

Kim Rapach (30:15.452)
Did you really? She just looked at me like, can you believe it?

VINCENT M WARD (30:19.649)
Yeah, a young lady was walking around with these two cute little puppies in her purse and I asked her if she's selling one and she's like, I can't. And I just brought Macy home and my wife was like, whose dog is that? I was like, it's yours. So, yeah.

Kim Rapach (30:35.612)
Well, I knew you lost your dog last year, because I know we connected over that and I'm a huge dog lover. I have three. But then I think I got confused because I saw Macy and I thought, he got a new puppy. But Macy's been around. Okay. She just looked younger. Super cute. She looks like she's looking right at the camera. Like I'm in this conversation. Dogs are very good for your mental health for those who are not believers.

VINCENT M WARD (30:47.969)
Well, she got a haircut. She went to the salon.

Yes, yes!

VINCENT M WARD (31:04.289)
And you know what, in the past, I'm like, how do people, why do people feel this way over animals? You know what I mean? And then once Frisbee came along and then Macy, I'm like, I understand. This is your family. This is your furry child. Even when you're down, they're gonna show you love no matter what. So I definitely understand.

Kim Rapach (31:28.764)
Yeah. And they cause a literal shift in your nervous system. Like if, if I'm stressed, I will go hug my little one or one of the big ones and I can feel the calm come over me with no words. Nobody has to understand. They just do. And they just bring so much. And yeah, she's so cute. If a good groomer too.

VINCENT M WARD (31:34.111)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (31:41.185)
Mm -hmm.

VINCENT M WARD (31:45.793)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (31:51.963)
yeah, shout out to Vanessa. Vanessa's always there for us.

Kim Rapach (31:54.684)
Yeah. So I, confession, I was reading through your bio and, you know, preparing for today and I didn't say it in the introduction, but I was like, that can't be right. How many grandchildren do you have? No. Really? I was like, I'm not going to say that out loud because that does not seem possible. That's amazing. That is a big, big family.

VINCENT M WARD (32:12.001)
14.

Yeah, 14.

VINCENT M WARD (32:24.417)
Yeah, they all in Ohio, thank God.

Kim Rapach (32:29.486)
At you're not having to travel all around to see them, right? So...

VINCENT M WARD (32:29.697)
Yeah, they're all in Dayton and well five of them just moved to Cleveland so Yeah, it's it's it's it's a lot different. You know at first. I'm like wow What are they gonna call me? But they just call me paw paw paw paw Vincent Yeah, so the oldest is 14 the youngest is

Kim Rapach (32:38.428)
Okay.

Kim Rapach (32:50.012)
Nah, that's what I called my grandpa, Paw Paw.

VINCENT M WARD (33:00.065)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (33:01.084)
Okay, those are some fun ages. A lot of little cousins. How many kids do you have?

VINCENT M WARD (33:08.257)
I have four plus stepdaughter, which she, we're like this. She's, you know, I'm so proud of Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn, she goes to, she's away at school. Matter of fact, she'll be back here this weekend. She's getting ready for her second year. And you know, I never call her my stepdaughter. I call her my daughter, so five kids.

Kim Rapach (33:34.332)
I love that. My stepmom calls me her bonus daughter. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (33:37.889)
Yeah, you know, very, you know, when you get married or in a relationship and it's blended, you know, that's one thing you'd be like, ooh, ooh. But my wife, Takoya, she don't play. So I'm like, okay, I'm all right. Cause you know, you'll get a step kid to cut you out or try to fight you or something. But we've never had a problem. I've been in her life since she was nine, 10 years old. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (34:08.156)
Yeah, I was really close to my stepdad too. So good job. So I had posted something and I say this a lot, but I posted something I think yesterday that said, you know, we all have mental health and we all need to protect it because we've been given this narrative that there's those of us who have, you know, mental health issues. So then there's those of us who don't, and it's just not true. We all have physical health and we all have.

VINCENT M WARD (34:09.889)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (34:35.866)
mental health. And just like we take steps to protect our physical health, we take steps to protect our mental health. And so you said, you know, we all have it, you don't see, you know, the harder parts on social media and whatnot. Is there, you know, the whole purpose of this podcast is to share stories of hope where, you know, I have my stories, you know, where I've been in the dark and questioned my own existence.

and you touched on suicide, what has been your, like, do you have a journey where, you know, you've had struggles and now you have hope to share? Do you have anything that you want to share about your own journey?

VINCENT M WARD (35:19.783)
Anytime I get down, I call it, I gotta check myself. Checking myself comes with prayer. Checking myself comes with appreciation. My parents, my whole goal is to try to leave, put them in a position where they don't have to worry about anything. Leaving a legacy for those grandkids. So that's what checking myself.

means, you know, because a lot of times people look at me as being the strong one, you know, nothing's wrong with him. And so a lot of times I have to put on that cape, you know, as if things aren't bothering me. If something is bothering me, I usually talk to my wife or I talk to, you know, my mom or Macy and she just look at me. But,

Yeah, I definitely, I try to shake out of it. You know, as an actor, again, you're have more good days than bad days. There's gonna be some situations where you, if you ain't making millions and millions of dollars, you're gonna get depressed, not because of the money, but just because you feel like, when it's gonna be my turn. You know, what am I doing wrong?

But everybody has a timing. I can sit here and say that, but I know people are looking at me like, man, this dude, other actors is like, wow, this dude is always doing something. He's in this, this, this, this, this. But again, my goal is higher. My goal is to be able to touch people, be able to talk to people. I think sometimes I talk to more strangers than I talk to people that I know.

And I just try to influence them to not give up on themselves or their lives or on their career. And...

VINCENT M WARD (37:29.153)
I don't, again, I bring up God because that's what I believe in. And people can believe in whatever they want to believe in, but for me, that's what I believe in. And I tell them, that's what I do. I just pray. And everything ain't gonna be peaches and cream all the time. Sometimes you might be tested to see if you can handle the success or if you can handle that next level in your career. I think...

Maybe 15 years ago, if God would have blessed me to where I really truly want to be in my career, I might would have messed it up. You know, some people mess it up with, they can't control because of sex, because of alcohol, because of drugs. You know, they get to the point where I'm such and such and you can't tell me anything. I always say that, Lord, when you think I'm ready, even though I'm like, I am ready.

to go to that next level in my life and my career, then you bless me with that. Because you know that I can handle it, that I won't come off arrogant, I won't come off conceited or looked down or bougie. I won't do any of those things. So, shaking it off, that's what helps me, that it comes with a lot with shaking it off.

Kim Rapach (38:51.9)
Yeah, I love that. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. And I love that you talked about, you know, you think you're ready. I you know, there's been times where I'm like, I want this so bad, or I want to do this, or I want to make this change. And then I'm like, I really thought I was ready. And then I look back on I was not ready. I think I'm ready now. But now it's more like a faith and a trust of like, I just trust whatever is meant for me will reach me. And whatever's not will miss me. And I

VINCENT M WARD (39:07.433)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Kim Rapach (39:21.148)
It's my job to trust that process.

VINCENT M WARD (39:23.905)
I remember a few years ago, I had a friend and she used to do plays. And I had an opportunity to introduce her to somebody that could change her life. Because it was crazy because he was a doctor. He's like, Vince, I understand that you do all these plays and all this other stuff. He said, I don't know this Tyler Perry guy.

but I see everything he does. And he said, I see that you do plays and how can I be a part of that? So he said, who could I invest in? And I gave, I connected the two.

She never showed up for the meeting.

never showed up to the meeting.

I hit him up, the doctor up, I said, well, how did it go? He's like, she never showed up. First of all, I was so embarrassed. I was pissed, I was hurt, I was mad at her. I hit her up. She never answered my call again. She's never talked to me again. But she lied on me.

Kim Rapach (40:39.418)
Ever?

VINCENT M WARD (40:47.369)
lied on me, told somebody, well, Vincent was acting this, this, this, this, this. Vincent was trying to look out for you, trying to look out for you and flip the whole story around like I tried to do something to her. And that was, and she was like, at that time she was like, like a sister, you know? But you know, sometimes, again, it goes back to sometimes people ain't really ready.

And if I would have known that, I would have introduced him to somebody else. But, you know, it happens.

Kim Rapach (41:22.076)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and when you know, there's the not ready and also there's the times where we're not well, right? And when we're not well, we do whatever it takes to blame to shape shift to pit, you know, project.

It's like, we don't want to own our stuff. And so it's this person's fault. It's that's, you know, again, it's, it's like we talk about seeking out, you know, external validation from other people. Sometimes we project blame, because we don't want to own our stuff. And both directions are dangerous.

VINCENT M WARD (41:52.705)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (41:56.993)
Yeah.

And the thing about it too with her is like, you know, she was doing smaller plays at little theaters or whatnot. And I was quote unquote, her celebrity in the play to make people come see the play. But I never, of course, I never looked at myself like that. I just looked at it like I enjoyed her plays. I enjoy her and I, and I believe in her and she just, I don't know. I don't know.

I remember I saw her one time at a, like it was a fair slash concert. And it was so odd that I'm walking straight towards her and I see her and I see her see me and she went the other way. And right there I was like, forget about it. So.

Kim Rapach (42:50.812)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And some things and some people you definitely don't want to chase. So you know, sometimes we Yeah, we change things.

VINCENT M WARD (42:58.529)
Yeah, so you gotta let him go. You gotta let it go. Some of my friends back at home, you know, they hit me on social media, hey, can you talk to my son, my daughter? I'm like, sure, whatever, whatever, whatever. And this is like, if you have my phone number, or if you know where I live, I consider us friends, because everybody doesn't have that. But then, when it's time for me to go home, I'm like, hey man, I'm on my way home, let's link up, whatever, whatever.

Don't hear from them. And it mentally bothered me. I can't even lie. It mentally bothered me for a long time. It's because, and you know, I had to get to the point where people think you're a certain kind of way when it's really them that's going through whatever they're going through in their life. It was hurtful.

It's hurtful for people to know or you grew up with. You know, you ask them for support to get this, to get that, or to do this or do that, and they don't do it, but they go out and spend two, $300 on some people that they don't know. But you call me and ask me to do something for you. I don't do anything for anybody to get something in return, but if we're friends, what's the problem?

Kim Rapach (44:23.068)
Yeah. Well, and can you speak a little bit to that? Because I think, especially for newer artists, I won't say younger, but newer artists who, you know, with this mentality of like, I've just got to do whatever it takes to make it. But once you start, once you start being sick, you know, you have having some success, you get some momentum. Can you speak a bit to the parts about like, you start to lose your knowing of who you can trust, you do start to get objectified.

VINCENT M WARD (44:37.377)
I don't know.

VINCENT M WARD (44:50.625)
Yeah, everybody's not gonna be happy. Everybody's not gonna be happy for your success. They're not. Trust and believe. They might be your friends on social media, but they're not gonna delete you, because they wanna see everything that you're doing. So you have to, you just gotta, you'll learn sooner or later who you can trust, or who's really your friend or family. Family too. Family too.

Kim Rapach (44:55.086)
right.

VINCENT M WARD (45:19.969)
You really and truly learn and it's gonna be hurtful, but you know, you just gotta keep it moving.

Kim Rapach (45:26.94)
How do you judge or how do you know what is a mental process you go through to know who you can trust, who is your community and who's not? How do you know?

VINCENT M WARD (45:37.025)
when you keep reaching out to people checking on them and they never check on you. It's like, am I just your friend or are we friends? You know, it can't be one way, me just doing this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and you never show the love back. And when I say this, I'm talking about people that I grew up with.

you know, that I've gone home and seen or got ignored from. So you just gotta, it's hurtful, but you gotta just, you gotta cut them off.

But are you really cutting them off or did they cut you off?

Kim Rapach (46:25.852)
Yeah. Or are you protecting yourself?

VINCENT M WARD (46:30.367)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (46:32.38)
So I would imagine having that end of the pendulum in your personal life and then also within the industry itself of like who's trustworthy, who's not, who's just wants to make money off me or whatever it might be. Again, back to that mindset, how do you stay grounded in, like you seem pretty solid in your mindset, right? How do you practice that?

VINCENT M WARD (46:58.529)
The industry is something totally different. You can expect that. But you don't want to... Right, you just expect that. It depends on who you surround yourself around too. If you surround yourself around some snakes, eventually you'll get bit and then leave them alone. But it's totally different when it's somebody that you consider a friend.

Kim Rapach (47:07.292)
You're not gonna question it, you're just gonna expect it.

VINCENT M WARD (47:27.265)
Because everybody in the industry ain't your friend. It's just your coworker. You know, people think just because I work with some people on some shows that we're friends. I'm like, are you friends with everybody that you work with at work? No, you just work with them and you keep it moving. Yeah, it's just, hey, you ready? Yeah, okay. Especially with the fans of The Walking Dead. They think that I'm friends with Rick and Daryl and Shon. I'm like, no.

Kim Rapach (47:27.388)
Yeah.

Kim Rapach (47:38.556)
Right. Yeah. Yeah, I love the reality. It's such a reality check. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (47:56.993)
I did become friends with a couple people on there. You know, Lou and the guys who were the prisoners with me. But that was it.

Kim Rapach (48:13.852)
What do you wish people understood about the industry? Like the naive person who thinks, you know, my gosh, it's so amazing. I want to be famous. Like, what do you wish people understood that we could just call out right here, right now?

VINCENT M WARD (48:30.145)
think about it is what is what to me the word celebrity and the word famous has been tainted you know especially with these reality shows anybody get on reality show a reality show an act of food cuss and fuss and fight that's a celebrity now that's who y 'all say is famous what what exactly is what exactly do they do

They're not memorizing any lines. They just being themselves. You know, it's just, I blame us. I blame society because you put these people on these pedestal and I look at a lot of them, 80, 90 % of them, like they don't have a talent and you're embarrassing me. Yeah, you're embarrassing me. You know, I don't care what nationality you are.

Kim Rapach (49:17.82)
They're not making art.

VINCENT M WARD (49:26.997)
and culture and whatnot, I'm sure everybody, you know, you got the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or whatever. You got, you know, you got your black reality shows. You got your white, you got your Hispanic. And I'm sure we all have said, this is embarrassing. You making us look bad. And that's exactly how I feel, you know, or I lose out to a part. I lose out.

lose out to one of them because you think they have a huge following? Yeah, they may have two, three million people following them, but that doesn't mean that's gonna transfer over to them on whatever show. Are they gonna be able to memorize some lines? Are they gonna be able to act? We'll see. And I think that's the only time I really have a problem with it. And of course, it ain't me hating on them. If somebody wanna give you a job because of...

whatever then so be it but don't come to me later on be like hey man I'm gonna need you to come in because it didn't work out with such -and -such well you knew it wasn't gonna work out with such -and -such because he wasn't no actor he's just a reality show person or whatever so the whole celebrity and famous that word to me is out of the window just watered down because anybody you could be famous and celebrity for dancing

Kim Rapach (50:50.108)
Yeah. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (50:55.425)
you know, for twerking, for having a big butt. You know, these people are famous for that now.

Kim Rapach (51:03.1)
Yeah. Yeah. Watered down. That's a good word. That's a good way of looking at it. So I mean, you you have a lot of like you're willing to share a lot of the realities, right? Just the truth. And also, you seem like you have a positive mindset. Would you agree?

VINCENT M WARD (51:07.783)
Mm -hmm. It is.

VINCENT M WARD (51:26.465)
100%. 100%. I always keep in my mind, you never know who's watching you. And I now know, and you know, now, you know, like the grandkids are getting older, you know, they're getting on social media. They tell me, hey, you said this, this, this, this, this, or even like certain parts. It's a lot of things that I won't do. I wouldn't do it before the, I wouldn't do it before the grandkids, but I definitely won't do it now.

But whatever, you know, whatever floats your boat, just don't choke, you know. But for me, I'm not straddling the fence. I'm not doing anything strange, one little piece of change. You know, it's all about, it's all about those little eyes looking at me, or the little eyes that I don't even know that's looking at me. I don't want anybody to be confused about what I'm doing. It's enough of a...

Kim Rapach (51:55.482)
Hmm.

VINCENT M WARD (52:24.651)
that type of stuff on commercials now. Everywhere you turn around, it's just sex and this and that. And I see why these kids can be so confused about what they believe or how they feel nowadays because you see it so often. They don't need to see me do it.

Kim Rapach (52:45.436)
Yeah, they're getting so they're getting so many messages of this is how you should feel. This is how you should dress. This is how you should act. And you know,

VINCENT M WARD (52:55.457)
Yeah, I mean me growing up, you didn't see breasts or anything like that. It might be in the JCPenney catalog or Sears catalog in the underwear and bra section. Now they can just push a button or turn on their phone and they see everything.

Kim Rapach (53:15.1)
Yeah. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (53:18.561)
Mm -hmm.

Kim Rapach (53:18.62)
Well, you were talking about, you know, there's stuff I didn't do before the grandkids and, you know, to me that just says boundaries. And, you know, that's one thing that I try to help people establish is knowing themselves, establishing their boundaries. And I always say, if you do not know what you are willing to do, what you are not willing to do, if you don't know where your values lie, what your integrity looks like, someone else will decide that for you.

VINCENT M WARD (53:45.633)
I will say lately too, in the last maybe couple of years, as far as like casting, they will ask you, do you have a problem doing this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this. So they do ask you that if you say you're have a problem with it and you get there and then you have a problem with it, then they're gonna have a problem with you. So I think the industry is opening up more about situations like that. So.

Kim Rapach (54:05.564)
Yeah, for sure.

Kim Rapach (54:14.78)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's good. That's a that's a positive shift. Yeah. Have you had friends in the industry or not? But have you had friends who've struggled with their mental health? Have you you know, we talked about like Robin Williams, and you know, we we both know a lot of people who've struggled like that. Do you have personal experience with that?

VINCENT M WARD (54:15.489)
You know, they do acts.

VINCENT M WARD (54:20.673)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (54:31.829)
VINCENT M WARD (54:40.609)
I've had some friends that just was just trying to make it just take trying to make it through the day and it's always dealing with bills Always and to me, that's the the thing that mentally mess people up the most How am I gonna pay for this? This rent this mortgage is car. No And they can I think that I think that affects people more in this industry than not booking parts

It's the real part of the world, of life. It's life in me. How am I gonna survive? How am I gonna keep these lights on? So when people be like, man, you made it. Yeah, I made it. I'm not homeless. I'm not thinking about taking my life because I can't pay a bill.

Kim Rapach (55:22.266)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (55:38.145)
And it's people out there that's doing that. And I always try to encourage people. My thing is about encouraging, teaching, preaching, inspiring. You know, I'm no different from you. If I can do it, you can do it. You know, when we was having a strike or when we was going through the strike, I found out about the SAG Foundation that was helping people.

with their bills and you know this and that but if somebody doesn't tell you then you don't know so it was up to me I told as many people that I knew as possible hey they go they give you this this this this for this and people was like what

That's what the SAG Foundation is for. That's what the Motion Picture Foundation is for. It's like if you're going through some things or you need some help. That's why a lot of the big time celebrities donate, because they're like giving back to the people who aren't on the same level they're on. So, but again, if you don't know, somebody has to tell you. So at least that was something that I can do to help.

Kim Rapach (56:55.644)
Yeah. Have you ever done like coaching, like acting coaching or industry coaching or anything like you just, you seem like such a liaison, right? Like, like you've, you've,

VINCENT M WARD (57:01.729)
No, no, I try to do like guest speaking before, but you know, I don't stick to the script. I just speak from the heart.

Kim Rapach (57:16.668)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's that's what makes a great liaison and a great advocate, right is because you're not your number one concern is not that may be providing right for your family, but it's not the dollar. It's not the title. It's not the the award. But it's the people and that's that's what people need. That's what we all need. We all need an advocate.

VINCENT M WARD (57:38.593)
Yeah, I actually tried to find an agent, you know, or I forgot what, which, guess it was some guest speaking school or guest speaking, you know, pop up on online or whatnot. And I was like, you want me to pay what? I was like, no, I'm not doing that. I said, y 'all can, you, if y 'all really truly want people to sign me up.

You can use the walking dead or whatever else. And I'm sure people will come. And I do a lot of theater, the podcast, so I'm quick on my feet. I said, I don't need you guys to teach me anything. And they were trying to figure it out. They really and truly were. So I don't know. I mean, if I get help from somebody.

help me get out there and book and whatnot, I would definitely do it. Because I know I could do it and I know I'm gonna tell the truth.

Kim Rapach (58:42.556)
Yeah, yeah. Tell the truth in an industry that doesn't always want to hear it. But you have you have truth to tell. So who knows, maybe it's you start your own thing, right? Maybe you don't need somebody to book it for you. Maybe you just keep doing what you're doing and it

VINCENT M WARD (58:48.769)
You're right.

VINCENT M WARD (58:59.777)
I did something at a school one time. This young lady, she's a professional wrestler now. She was at high school and she actually come to her school to talk. I went and I remember as soon as I started, it was packed in there. These kids was in the front row talking. I'm up on the stage, they're in the front row talking. And I just stopped and I was just looking at them. I said, are you finished? I said, because I was asked to come here. I don't have to be here. I said, I'm here for you guys.

So if we gonna be respectful, let's be respectful, but you're not gonna sit there and have no conversation while I'm standing up here. And everybody's like, ooh. But it was real. It's all about, come on, respect the people that's coming to, hopefully you can learn something.

Kim Rapach (59:47.772)
Yeah, yeah, I think we're so inundated with input, right? Like there's so much coming at us through the scrolling and all the information and YouTube videos. And it's like, yeah, just stop and look at what's around you and listen. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So what?

VINCENT M WARD (01:00:00.609)
Yeah, you can't say nothing to anybody. Like what?

Kim Rapach (01:00:11.644)
is like, what are some things I know you talked about, like shake it off and check yourself. Are there other like specific actions that you do, whether you know, working out or drinking your water or meditating, anything like that. You mentioned prayer. Are there any other things that you do that help you maintain a positive mindset, help you maintain your mental health?

VINCENT M WARD (01:00:34.337)
I just try to keep my mind busy. You know, I don't care if it's out me cutting grass or, you know, I did something for the first time this year. I started a garden. You got to keep your mind busy because it's a saying that an idle mind is the devil's playground. So when you're sitting around, the way Satan could get to you is through your thoughts and through your mind.

So if you're sitting there and you're just doing the woe is me, or you're feeling real down, that that's when all the negative thoughts and stuff come into your mind. So definitely going to the gym, going for a walk. And I don't want to sound funny when I say this, but sometimes you got to see people in a worse situation than you were in.

Kim Rapach (01:01:03.516)
Hmm.

VINCENT M WARD (01:01:32.961)
You know, living in LA, it's a lot of homeless people. You drive past there and then you think about, my problems ain't that bad. When you can be sitting out in a tent or in an RV or laying on the ground, you know, that comes with part of shaking it off because it's like, man, thank God that's not me or one of my family members. So sometimes seeing somebody doing worse than you, even though...

You don't want to see them in that situation, but you don't want to see yourself in that situation, neither.

Kim Rapach (01:02:06.876)
Yeah. Well, and can we talk?

VINCENT M WARD (01:02:09.505)
Let me grab this ball from under here. She's over here whining. Out of the way. All right. It was underneath the table. She going crazy.

Kim Rapach (01:02:12.156)
gosh.

Kim Rapach (01:02:21.564)
Just crying. Well, and can we talk a little bit about, and I don't know if you've thought about this, but I would like to talk about it for a second. The difference between keeping your mind busy in healthy ways so that it's not idle and the negative, you know, inner critic doesn't get to show up. But also the difference between that and distraction, because I think sometimes people stay busy, but not in healthy ways.

Right. And so you're talking about gardening, you know, being out in nature, going for a walk, going to the gym. Sometimes we can stay distracted with pornography or shopping or, you know, comparison to someone else's seemingly amazing life. Like, I just want to note, like, there's a difference between.

VINCENT M WARD (01:02:51.519)
Mm.

Kim Rapach (01:03:13.113)
keeping your mind busy with the purpose of staying healthy as opposed to, I just got to stay busy so I don't have to feel this thing that I feel.

VINCENT M WARD (01:03:21.665)
You know, people have their own vices too, you know. I wouldn't suggest the pornography. But it's just like, this like my wife, right? She loves, she has a stressful job. She's a kindergarten teacher. She's an educator. And sometimes it's not the kids that gets on her nerves. It's the parents or the people that she worked with. But one thing she finds, sorry, it's me.

One thing that she finds relaxing is she loves scratch offs. She loves scratch offs. She has her own little area where she does the scratch offs and her box where she keeps them in. And she loves horror movies. That's kind of how we make, you know? So you just have to find.

You have to find something. There's...

not a distraction, I guess. You have to find something that you love or learn, want to learn something, you know? But if you sit there and you just soak all day, then you're going to be, it's going to be even worse. So, or maybe finding something is the distraction from whatever you're going through.

Kim Rapach (01:04:25.948)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Kim Rapach (01:04:46.298)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (01:04:53.569)
A lot of people use drugs and alcohols, alcohol to take away the pain or they know, or that's the distraction. But once, once you realize once the high or that drunkness is gone, that problem is still there. You know, once the, you know, watching porn, you finish doing whatever you're doing, that problem is still there. Sometimes you got to, you know,

hit that problem straight on and be like, I'm not going to allow you to beat me.

Kim Rapach (01:05:27.74)
Yeah, yeah. I work with people on like you can, when you think about the things that you do, you know, it's like, is it healthy? Is it not healthy? Make sure that you are moving towards something that will lead you toward your better self, right? And make sure that you're not running from things you need to be facing head on.

VINCENT M WARD (01:05:52.065)
Yeah, it's all about growth.

Kim Rapach (01:05:52.252)
Right. And you might, you might need to say like, you know what, I really need to just play this video game. I'm going to set a timer for 45 minutes. I just need to calm down and this will help reset my brain. There's not a problem with that. But when it's like you're catching playing five, eight hours at a time, because you don't want to deal with your life. That's a problem. And so knowing the difference.

VINCENT M WARD (01:06:04.191)
It's all about growth.

VINCENT M WARD (01:06:11.297)
Yeah, sometimes you gotta get tired of being tired. You be like, I'm tired of being tired. I have to figure this out. And you do. And it's, you know, sometimes it's supposed to be the older you get, the wiser you become. But sometimes it's not like that. I know it's like that. I know it's, yeah, yeah. I remember, I remember in my 20s and 30s, or even mid 30s.

Kim Rapach (01:06:27.184)
Sometimes you have a lot of lessons to get there. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (01:06:39.585)
I thought I was going to die because a woman was going to kill me. And it's because I was playing the field so much. You so it has, you know, you hear the saying, once a player, always a player. That's not true. You know, I'm very faithful to my wife, but it has to get to a point where you have to shake that type of stuff off. Because sometimes you, you know how people can think.

You know, you can see how your life, see what you want in your life or the positive stuff that you want in your life. You keep thinking about it and thinking about it. The negative stuff can happen too. Because you keep thinking about it and thinking, you can manifest negativity. You know, so I had to like really and truly stop that. I remember when I turned,

When I turned 30 years old, I remember I cried. I boo -hooed because I felt like I wasn't doing anything with my life. When I turned 40, I was happy. When I turned 50, I was happy. But it just goes to, you know, what are you doing to not go through that same stuff that you was going through before?

Kim Rapach (01:08:05.34)
Yeah, learn from the lessons. Yeah, you and I are the same age. I had the same experience. I was grieving 30 when I was 28. I was like, I'm almost 30. no. And now I'm like, my gosh, it's so much better. 53, almost 53. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (01:08:07.839)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (01:08:14.727)
Yeah. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (01:08:20.417)
-huh.

Kim Rapach (01:08:23.26)
just gets better if you fight for yourself. And that's, that's the whole point of, you know, the work of warriors in our definition. It's a warrior is someone who fights for themselves first so that they can take care of everybody else. Because the other downfall is you give too much to everybody else and then you lose yourself. And so whether it's your career, your family, and so, yeah, that's. Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (01:08:23.645)
Yep.

VINCENT M WARD (01:08:37.257)
Indeed.

VINCENT M WARD (01:08:47.841)
It's okay to be selfish sometimes. You don't have to be like, hey, I'm gonna do this. I'm just gonna jump and do this. No, no, it's about your peace. It's about you got to have peace in your life and with the people that surround you. You just can't go and save everybody every time.

Kim Rapach (01:09:09.308)
Yeah, and you can't give what you don't have. So if you're giving your...

VINCENT M WARD (01:09:11.713)
Yeah, especially you have you got people that won't even hit you up like, hey, man, you know, I saw you guys have a tornado, you know, or, you know, hurricane. I'm just checking to see if you're OK.

You know, sometimes you don't even, people won't even do that. They always want you to.

Kim Rapach (01:09:29.98)
I think that's how you and I connected. You and I connected during the pandemic. I think we were checking on each other and we each had friends that were struggling and we were like, Hey, how's your friend? How's your friend? How are you doing? And yeah, it's just not that hard, but you can't do that when you're not taking care of yourself. Right. So to our point, you know, when we're well, we can help other people be well, and we can't give from an empty, from an empty slate.

VINCENT M WARD (01:09:36.735)
Okay.

VINCENT M WARD (01:09:44.961)
No, it's not.

That's right.

VINCENT M WARD (01:10:00.233)
and Dave.

Kim Rapach (01:10:02.14)
So I have a question. If someone were listening to this and maybe they're struggling, you know, the whole point of this is to bring hope and to bring stories, you know, to share for people who maybe they're just in it, they're in the thick of it, they're in the dark. And while this isn't a replacement for, you know, therapy or mental health, but what would you say to somebody who maybe is listening and they're struggling?

VINCENT M WARD (01:10:32.223)
VINCENT M WARD (01:10:37.057)
You gotta love you. You have to think about, do you wanna disappoint your kids? Because they're gonna miss you. They're gonna miss you if you go to jail. They're gonna miss you. You have to go leave this earth. They're gonna miss you if you're locked up in somewhere.

Do you want to really and truly let them down? Do you want to have to write them or make those collect calls? No, you don't. So, you know, if you need to talk to somebody, you find somebody to talk to. You have to find somebody, you have to love yourself in order to love other people.

Kim Rapach (01:11:30.14)
I love that so much because that is a core value of mine. That's what saved my life. but also because you're so giving, you're just, you're a really good example of how everyone else is important to you and you want to give back and you want to help others. You want to take care of your family, but I'm just so glad that that is where you start. Like you have to love yourself first because that is.

The only way, and that's how we get to take care of our family and leave a legacy. So thank you. Yeah, thank you for being a warrior. Thank you for being here. I'm really grateful that you said yes. I knew you would. I knew you, I think I had to cancel on you.

VINCENT M WARD (01:11:59.969)
Indeed. Thank you.

VINCENT M WARD (01:12:06.817)
Thank you for having me. I stuck to my word.

VINCENT M WARD (01:12:17.385)
Yeah?

Kim Rapach (01:12:17.564)
We were scheduled and I don't remember why if I was sick or something with my personal life, but I had to reschedule. So thank you for being gracious and understanding and circling back and making this happen. And I look forward to keeping in touch and yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (01:12:21.513)
Yeah.

VINCENT M WARD (01:12:34.593)
Indeed. Thank you, Ken. I appreciate you. All right. Take care. Bye. You too.

Kim Rapach (01:12:36.634)
All right, thank you. We will. Okay, bye.