Awards Chatter - podcast cover

Awards Chatter

The Hollywood Reporterwww.hollywoodreporter.com
'Awards Chatter' is a podcast that features in-depth interviews with the most interesting and accomplished people in show business. Created and hosted by: Scott Feinberg

Episodes

Bill Kramer - Film Academy CEO

The head of the 97-year-old organization behind the Academy Awards reflects on his path from Baltimore to Hollywood, teases details about Sunday's Oscars telecast and answers tough questions about the Academy's future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 27, 20251 hr 6 min

Mikey Madison - 'Anora' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at Chapman University, one of the most exciting young actresses in the business — a newly-minted best actress Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner — reflects on her decision to abandon competitive horseriding for acting, breakthrough roles on 'Better Things' and in 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' and bringing to life the character of a sex worker in Sean Baker's latest film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 18, 20251 hr 10 min

Guy Pearce - 'The Brutalist'

The veteran Aussie actor and first-time Oscar nominee reflects on how a childhood tragedy may have set him on the path to becoming an actor; how his experience with early TV stardom influenced the sorts of projects that he did and didn't pursue after he established himself internationally via 'L.A. Confidential' and 'Memento'; and why he’s as proud of his latest film as any he has been a part of. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 15, 20251 hr 2 min

James Mangold - 'A Complete Unknown'

One of Hollywood's most dependable filmmakers — always good for an entertaining and solid, if not showy, film, with great performances, regardless of genre — reflects on how, at 21, his career took off like a rocket, then crashed, and then was rebuilt; how he learned to work with actors, including the biggest names in the biz (among them Stallone, Cruise and Chalamet), and guided two (Jolie and Witherspoon) to performances for which they won Oscars; and what it meant to him to personally land th...

Feb 15, 20251 hr 5 min

Ralph Fiennes - 'Conclave' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the revered English stage and screen actor reflects on how Shakespeare led him to his path; what he learned from collaborators like Steven Spielberg ('Schindler's List'), Robert Redford ('Quiz Show'), Anthony Minghella ('The English Patient') and Kathryn Bigelow ('Strange Days' and 'The Hurt Locker'); and what went into his latest — and, some believe, greatest — perfromance, as the dean of the College of Cardinals overseei...

Feb 12, 20251 hr 23 min

Ariana Grande - 'Wicked'

One of the biggest pop stars on the planet, who is now an Oscar-nominated actress, reflects on how she broke into showbiz as a kid, each of her studio albums, how music has helped her through tough times, why she yearned for years to play Glinda, how her fame helped her to understand the pros and cons of being "Popular," plus much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 03, 20251 hr 16 min

Jesse Eisenberg - 'A Real Pain'

The actor/writer/director reflects on why he, a socially-awkward kid, became a child actor, how the explosion of his acting profile (he was Oscar-nominated for 'The Social Network') coincided with his increased interest in writing and why, for his second outing as a director, he cast Kieran Culkin in the role that he originally intended to play himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 28, 20251 hr 22 min

Edward Norton - 'A Complete Unknown'

The thrice Oscar-nominated actor, who is widely regarded as among the best of his generation, reflects on the explosive start to his screen career, collaborations with his era's greatest auteurs and why he was so impressed with his latest film's helmer, James Mangold, and star, Timothée Chalamet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 10, 20252 hr 30 min

Tilda Swinton - 'The Room Next Door'

The enigmatic Scottish Oscar winner, who doesn't consider herself an actress, reflects on her formative collaborations with Derek Jarman, how she wound up juggling the artiest of art house films with the biggest of big studio films and why she was so drawn to working with Pedro Almodóvar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 09, 20251 hr 19 min

Mike Leigh - 'Hard Truths'

The legendary English filmmaker reflects on the origins and specifics of his mysterious method of writing and directing; why he was forced to spend 17 years between his first and second theatrical features working in television, and the pros and cons of that; and how it feels to see his latest film, which was rejected by the Cannes, Venice and Telluride film fests, being so well received. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 08, 20251 hr 18 min

Adrien Brody - 'The Brutalist'

In a conversation that was both epic and emotional, like his best films, the 51-year-old American actor — who at 29 became, and remains to this day, the youngest-ever best actor Oscar winner, for 'The Pianist,' and who on Sunday won a best drama actor Golden Globe for his latest film — looks back on an odds-defying, rollercoaster of a life and career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 07, 20251 hr 19 min

Chris Columbus - 'Nosferatu'

The master of family-friendly fare — he wrote 'Gremlins' and 'The Goonies' and directed two 'Home Alone' and two 'Harry Potter' films — reflects on working with Steven Spielberg in his twenties, how Chevy Chase driving him to quit 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' proved to be one of the best things that ever happened to him and why, in recent years, he and his daughter, Eleanor, began producing films by rising directors including Robert Eggers, whose latest opens on Christmas Day. Learn m...

Dec 25, 20241 hr 21 min

Jennifer Grey - 'A Real Pain'

The iconic actress reflects on growing up the daughter of Oscar-winning actor Joel Grey, the making of 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' and 'Dirty Dancing,' challenges that followed, and now, at 64, getting to be a part of a third instant-classic, Jesse Eisenberg's new dramedy about a group touring Holocaust sites in Poland. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 20, 20241 hr 19 min

Jude Law - 'The Order'

The Englishman, who has been one of our finest screen actors for some 30 years — he was twice Oscar-nominated before he was even 30 — reflects on his special relationship with director Anthony Minghella, the sorts of roles that he deliberately avoided and why he has done some of his best work in recent years, including as an FBI agent pursuing white nationalists in Justin Kurzel's new film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 16, 20241 hr 13 min

Lionel Richie - 'The Greatest Night in Pop'

The legendary singer/songwriter reflects on his path from small-town Alabama to the biggest stages in the world, first with the Commodores and then as a solo artist; the hits on which he worked along the way, and why so many of them center on love; and why “We are the World,” in particular — the subject of an Emmy- and Grammy-nominated and Oscar-eligible Netflix documentary — means so much to him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 13, 20241 hr 11 min

Richard Gere - 'Oh, Canada' & 'The Agency'

One of the great leading men of the last 50 years — think about his work in 'Days of Heaven,' 'American Gigolo,' 'An Officer and a Gentleman,' 'Pretty Woman' and 'Chicago' — reflects on how gymnastics and music helped to make him a better actor; how, over the decades, the sort of projects to which he's been drawn hasn't changed, but the industry's desire for them has; and what it was like reuniting with Paul Schrader, 44 years after their first collaboration, on his latest film. Learn more about...

Dec 12, 20241 hr 6 min

Pamela Anderson - 'The Last Showgirl'

The iconic Playboy model and 'Baywatch' babe, who is now a Golden Globe-nominated actress thanks to her performance in Gia Coppola's new film, reflects on the odds-defying way in which she was discovered, how the infamous sex tape derailed her career for decades and what sparked the 'Pamaissance' of the last two years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 09, 202455 min

Demi Moore - 'The Substance' & 'Landman'

The 40-year veteran of movie stardom reflects on her difficult childhood and path to acting, the backlashes that she faced after her pregnant Vanity Fair cover and becoming the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, and what it's like aging in Hollywood, both in her hit new film and in real life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 08, 20241 hr 15 min

Daniel Craig - 'Queer' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at Chapman University, the British A-lister reflects on how his background in theater has helped him in film, his 15-year run as James Bond and playing, in Luca Guadagnino's new adaptation of William S. Burroughs' semi-autobiographical novella, a gay American living in 1950s Mexico City who is addicted to booze, drugs and sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 30, 20241 hr 4 min

Selena Gomez - 'Emilia Pérez,' 'Only Murders in the Building' & 'Wizards Beyond Waverly Place' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at Chapman University, the actress, singer, songwriter, businesswoman and philanthropist reflects on child stardom, the hurdles of transitioning to an adult career and her 2024 acting gigs, which have brought her, respectively, a piece of the Cannes Film Festival's best actress prize, the first acting Emmy nom of her career and the opportunity to return to the world of the show that put her on the map in the first place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Nov 25, 20241 hr 4 min

Ewan McGregor - 'A Gentleman in Moscow' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Scotsman, who burst on to the scene in 1995's 'Trainspotting,' reflects on his early collaborations with Danny Boyle, his uncertainty about committing to do George Lucas' second 'Star Wars' trilogy and why, in recent years, he has increasingly gravitated toward TV limited series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 18, 20241 hr 20 min

Nick Park - 'Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl'

The legendary Aardman animator and filmmaker best known for creating Wallace and Gromit reflects on his path to animation, what inspired his most famous plasticine characters and why — in his latest project, for Netflix, and for only the second time ever — he decided to feature them in a feature-length film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 16, 20241 hr 3 min

Sebastian Stan - 'The Apprentice' & 'A Different Man' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at the Miami Film Festival's GEMS event, the star of two of 2024's most widely discussed and debated films reflects on his journey from Romania to America, how he landed the part of Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and what it was like to play — and what he really thinks about — Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 11, 20241 hr 19 min

Zoe Saldaña - 'Emilia Pérez' & 'Special Ops: Lioness' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, the actress, now marking 25 years in the business, reflects on escaping from a painful childhood through acting, how she wound up the queen of the sci-fi blockbuster and why it meant so much to her to be given the chance to show that she could do other things in Jacques Audiard's highly-unconventional musical for which she and three costars shared the 2024 Cannes Film Festival's best actress prize. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

Nov 04, 20241 hr 10 min

Peter Sarsgaard - 'September 5' & 'Presumed Innocent' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the veteran character actor describes his accidental path to acting, working with brother-in-law Jake Gyllenhaal and his pair of films about journalistic ethics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 28, 20241 hr 21 min

Colman Domingo - 'Sing Sing' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at Chapman University, the 'Rustin' Oscar nominee and 'Euphoria' Emmy winner reflects on his decades of work before anyone was paying attention, how close he came to walking away from the profession in 2014 and the career renaissance that he was enjoyed over the past decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 20, 20242 hr 35 min

Joan Chen - 'Dìdi'

The trailblazing Chinese actress reflects on childhood stardom in China, coming to America and starting from scratch, building a career in films like 'The Last Emperor' and 'Heaven & Earth' and, decades later, garnering some of the best reviews of her career — and Oscar buzz — for her portrayal of an immigrant mother in Sean Wang's feature directorial debut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 15, 20241 hr 6 min

Paul Feig - 'Jackpot!' [LIVE]

In front of an audience at the Burbank International Film Festival, the creator of the influential TV series 'Freaks and Geeks' and director of the landmark film 'Bridesmaids' reflects on his path from geekhood to standup to acting to writing/directing, what it was like working on TV shows like 'Arrested Development' and 'The Office' while he was in "directors' jail" and why he is so committed to centering funny women in his work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 04, 20241 hr

Robert Downey Jr. - 'The Sympathizer'

The Oscar-winning fan favorite reflects on his rollercoaster life and career; his experiences with Marvel during the Iron Man era, and his plans to return to its cinematic universe as Dr. Doom; and what it was like juggling five different characters in Park Chan-wook's HBO limited series about Vietnam, for which he is now Emmy-nominated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 20, 20241 hr 26 min

Maya Rudolph - 'Saturday Night Live,' 'Loot' & 'Big Mouth' [LIVE]

The beloved actress/comedienne, who is now nominated for four Emmys, reflects on her seven seasons at 'SNL,' playing an out-of-touch billionaire on an Apple TV+ comedy series and the past and future of her Kamala Harris impersonation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 19, 20241 hr 6 min