John Smith

When I came into the West Wing, which was in the fourth season, they were looking for a lot of people who had real Washington experience. More than just Lawrence O'Donnell? Well, Lawrence was there at that time. He was also there a little bit earlier. But they were looking for – they hired like eight new people, most of whom had been –

consultants or worked on campaigns or, you know, worked on the Hill for X years. And I had kind of just enough Washington to get myself in the door. And when I saw everybody else who was there, I was like, oh, I'm going to be fired this afternoon.

consultants or worked on campaigns or, you know, worked on the Hill for X years. And I had kind of just enough Washington to get myself in the door. And when I saw everybody else who was there, I was like, oh, I'm going to be fired this afternoon.

consultants or worked on campaigns or, you know, worked on the Hill for X years. And I had kind of just enough Washington to get myself in the door. And when I saw everybody else who was there, I was like, oh, I'm going to be fired this afternoon.

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I was just flooded with nausea every day for the first few months.

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I was just flooded with nausea every day for the first few months.

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I was just flooded with nausea every day for the first few months.

It did make me work really fucking hard, man. But I also realized, and I think they realized at a certain point, that I didn't have the kind of background that everybody else in the room did, but everybody else in the room had that, and so I didn't need to. Whereas I was coming in, like Aaron, who I absolutely loved working for, and I have always been a huge, huge fan of his writing. I am too.

It did make me work really fucking hard, man. But I also realized, and I think they realized at a certain point, that I didn't have the kind of background that everybody else in the room did, but everybody else in the room had that, and so I didn't need to. Whereas I was coming in, like Aaron, who I absolutely loved working for, and I have always been a huge, huge fan of his writing. I am too.

It did make me work really fucking hard, man. But I also realized, and I think they realized at a certain point, that I didn't have the kind of background that everybody else in the room did, but everybody else in the room had that, and so I didn't need to. Whereas I was coming in, like Aaron, who I absolutely loved working for, and I have always been a huge, huge fan of his writing. I am too.

you know, dude's got a musical theater background. And I come from the theater like that, the rhythm and the musicality that I think was such a big part of what he was doing was that was something that I understood. And that was something that I kind of had a biorhythmic sense of. And so I brought that to the table, which was a different thing. And

you know, dude's got a musical theater background. And I come from the theater like that, the rhythm and the musicality that I think was such a big part of what he was doing was that was something that I understood. And that was something that I kind of had a biorhythmic sense of. And so I brought that to the table, which was a different thing. And

you know, dude's got a musical theater background. And I come from the theater like that, the rhythm and the musicality that I think was such a big part of what he was doing was that was something that I understood. And that was something that I kind of had a biorhythmic sense of. And so I brought that to the table, which was a different thing. And

Well, a lot of it is about rhythm. People talk about how fast people talked on the West Wing and the patter and the interplay of characters that very much comes from.

Well, a lot of it is about rhythm. People talk about how fast people talked on the West Wing and the patter and the interplay of characters that very much comes from.

Well, a lot of it is about rhythm. People talk about how fast people talked on the West Wing and the patter and the interplay of characters that very much comes from.

Yeah, and scenes were written musically. Interesting. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, and scenes were written musically. Interesting. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, and scenes were written musically. Interesting. Yeah, absolutely.

as a musical, it's something to look into. I'm not really sure I'm the person to make it happen, but.