You may know Erich Bergen (@erichbergen) from Jersey Boys, Waitress, or playing the internet’s favorite political heartthrob on Madam Secretary (Melanie's words, not his)— but in this episode of Had to Ask, he opens up about some of the moments that really shaped him.

We talk about how he got his foot in the door selling merch at the Shubert Theatre, what it’s like playing a full-on villain for the first time as mayoral candidate Raymond Demarest in Boop!, and the many ways we try to cover up our insecurities. (Spoiler: even Erich’s gotten his a** handed to him a few times.)

He shares what it means to always want to make things better, what it’s really like meeting your heroes, executive-producing his first network television special (Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute on Peacock), why he’s not watching Love Island, and what this chapter of his life would be titled.

Chapters:

• 04:00 The Title of This Chapter of Erich’s Life
• 10:38 Wanting Things to Be Better
• 13:15 Figuring Out How to Begin
• 17:17 The Impact of Blake on Madam Secretary
• 21:08 Seeing Ourselves in Art
• 24:19 Playing the Villain in Boop!
• 37:45 The Kinds of Roles Erich Loves
• 41:28 What Erich Hopes His Legacy Will Be
• 49:00 What the Future Looks Like
• 54:04 Letting Go of Comparison

Follow Had to Ask ⁠⁠@hadtoaskpod⁠⁠ for more bold conversations and unfiltered stories — hosted by Melanie Sutrathada (⁠⁠@melaniesutra⁠⁠)

Co-produced and edited by Joseph Loper (⁠⁠@joehloper⁠⁠). Special thanks to The Chatwal in NYC for being the home of Had to Ask for season 1!

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