MUSIC

Hi Odyssey fans, I'm Jesse, editor of Focus on the Family Club House Magazine.

And I'm Bob, producer of the Adventures in Odyssey Club. Welcome to the official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast.

Today on the podcast, we're talking to a member of a very elite group. He's one of three people to play our main character, John Avery Whitaker.

Andre Stoicer recorded his first lines as Whit in February 2009. And he's still going strong in the role today.

In fact, at the time of recording this podcast, Jesse, he scheduled to record four more episodes next week.

Well, let's hear from Andre about his time on Odyssey, past, present, and future.

MUSIC

Well, congratulations, Andre. We're not sure if you knew this, but you recently set a record 13 years in the role of John Avery Whitaker.

Now, that's longer than either of your predecessors, House Smith or Paul Herlinger.

Wow. Wow. It seems like just yesterday.

Right? What a great role.

Plenty of time to get to know somebody and for an actor to get comfortable with a character.

How do you see Whit differently now than when you started playing him?

Well, you know, 13 years is a long period of time.

And so during the 13 years, I've changed. The world has changed.

Acting styles have changed. And so if I were looking for a word to describe him right now, I think I would be a little bit more compassionate now than I was at the very beginning.

A little more compassionate, a little softer, a little listening a little bit more, feeling a little bit more than I did before.

And I think that we all do that now. I think it's something that just happens with time and age and all of that.

So yeah, and I think that parallels me. I'm more compassionate and I'm certainly more...

I listen more and realize that I don't have all the answers to everything.

You know, Whit has so much wisdom and is really such a multifaceted character.

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