Michael Mando is best known for his captivating portrayal of Nacho Varga on the hit AMC series “Better Call Saul.” You might also know him from “Orphan Black,” “Spider-man: Homecoming,” or “Far Cry 3.” In his latest film, “The Hummingbird Project,” he plays the chief engineer of a massive high frequency trading operation opposite Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgård. In this half hour he talks about his interest in the metaphysical aspects of the craft, his beginnings as a hungry but happy ac...
Mar 19, 2019•24 min•Ep. 50
I've wanted to sit down with Thomas Sadoski since the inception of Back To One. I had a "who is that guy?" experience while seeing him in Neil Labute's play "Reasons to Be Pretty" and was positively delighted by his portrayal of the quick-witted Don Keefer in "The Newsroom." He's now part of an incredible ensemble of actors in "Life In Pieces," one of the few network comedies worthy of your time. He talks about where he's at one day before the first official performance of Suzan-Lori Park's new ...
Mar 12, 2019•46 min•Ep. 49
His portrayal of Lola, the drag queen in “Kinky Boots,” put Chiwetel Ejiofor on the map, then his astonishing performance in “12 Years A Slave" made him a household name. Roles in “The Martian,” “Doctor Strange,” and the under-appreciated “Z for Zachariah” followed. Now he has written, directed and stars in “The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind,” which is in select theaters and on Netflix. He talks about the art of wearing many hats, directing the extremely gifted young Maxwell Simba in his first film...
Mar 05, 2019•23 min•Ep. 48
Shea Whigham could easily be in the running for the hardest working actor in show business. In just this past year, he was in “First Man,” “Beirut,” “Vice,” and brilliantly played Thomas Carrasco, the Department of Defense bureaucrat tasked to investigate Julia Roberts’ character, in the series “Homecoming.” He’s worked with Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, David O. Russell, Terrence Malick, and is probably best known for playing corrupt mob brother Eli Thompson in “Boardwalk Empire.” In this hal...
Feb 26, 2019•30 min•Ep. 47
I first took note of Ariel Kavoussi’s singular comedic talent in Onur Tukel’s “Applesauce” and then “Catfight,” where she hilariously played Ann Heche’s assistant and stole every scene she was in. She performed a similar theft this past year on the Netflix series “Maniac,” opposite Emma Stone. She also writes and directs her own work. Her new short film “The Poet and The Professor” was called a "truly absurdist, provocative, and contemporary feminist film” by Indiewire. We talk about the origins...
Feb 19, 2019•42 min•Ep. 46
If I ever need to cry on cue, I can just picture the expression on Josh Hamilton's face, in “Eighth Grade,” when Elsie Fisher hugs him. It's a beautiful, wordless culmination of his incredible performance, which landed him a Spirit Award nomination this year. We discuss that scene, and he shares some of what he’s learned from jumping from the New York stage to the big & small screens and back again over the past 25 years. He talks about the importance of syncing with the director’s vision, b...
Feb 12, 2019•42 min•Ep. 45
Mads Mikkelsen is perhaps best known for playing villains in "Casino Royale," "Doctor Strange," and the television series "Hannibal," but he’s also been called the "face of the resurgent Danish cinema,” culminating with his Best Actor win at Cannes for his work in Thomas Vinterberg's "The Hunt." In this half hour, he talks about performing some physically and emotionally wrenching scenes in two new movies he currently stars in, the pure survival film "Arctic," and the live action adaptation of t...
Feb 05, 2019•24 min•Ep. 44
Noomi Rapace became an international sensation playing Lisbeth Salander in the original, Swedish version of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” and its sequels. Hollywood beckoned and leading roles in such films as Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” and Brian DePalma’s “Passion” followed. Now she stars in Vicky Jewson’s Netflix nail-biter “Close,” in a role based on real-life female bodyguard Jacquie Davis. In this half hour, Rapace talks about the intense training she went through to prepare for the par...
Jan 29, 2019•27 min•Ep. 43
If you didn't know Imogen Poots was British, it is understandable. Few young actors transform so chameleon-like, role-to-role, applying accents so skillfully. I was first wowed by her in Peter Bogdanovich's "She's Funny That Way" and then I actually didn't even know it was her in "Green Room" until I saw the credits. She floored me again in "Frank and Lola" opposite Michael Shannon, in an entirely different kind of role. Now she plays a drifter with questionable parenting skills, who steers into...
Jan 22, 2019•30 min•Ep. 42
Ethan Hawke's "staying power" is grounded in hard work. He survived being the poster child of Generation X (" Reality Bites" ), and thrived as Richard Linklater's go-to actor (" The Before Trilogy," "Boyhood" ) and always returns to the true home of the actor--the theater (he's currently starring in " True West" on Broadway). Now he has delivered one of the most critically acclaimed performances of the year in Paul Schrader's " First Reformed ." He generously shares the wisdom and knowledge he's...
Jan 15, 2019•36 min•Ep. 41
He’s perhaps best known for his portrayal of Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish on “Game of Thrones” but I first took note of the uniquely talented Aidan Gillen as Mayor Carcetti on “The Wire.” The Dublin native’s most recent role was the manager of Queen in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Now he stars in the period UFO drama “Project Blue Book,” which premieres January 8th on History . In this half hour he talks about his intuition-based approach to preparation, how Jez Butterworth introduced him to the work of...
Jan 08, 2019•30 min•Ep. 40
Joanna Kulig’s performance in “Cold War” is so astonishingly captivating and commanding and downright brilliant, that it feels like a classic performance delivered by an immortal screen goddess from the golden age of film. Pawel Pawlikowski’s penetrating black and white and impeccable direction helps, but this Polish masterpiece, short-listed for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, is impossible to imagine without Kulig. In this half hour she talks about how her music training came in handy wh...
Dec 25, 2018•26 min•Ep. 39
Starting with her big break on “Dr. Who,” and continuing with the “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Avengers” films, Karen Gillan has grown accustomed to fervent fandom surrounding her acting work. With "The Party's Just Beginning,” (which she wrote, directed, and stars in) she stepped away from that hubbub to make a small, dark, intricately structured film in her hometown in Scotland. The movie folds out from her character through hallucinations, flashbacks and alcoholic hazes to tell the tale of ...
Dec 18, 2018•25 min•Ep. 38
We're catching Alessandro Nivola at a very interesting moment in his career. A day before our talk, he was awarded Best Supporting Actor at the British Independent Film Awards for his incredible performance in “Disobedience,” and a few days before that it was announced that he will star in David Chase's “Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints of Newark.” He talks about the benefits of having time to prepare for the role of Rabbi Dovid Kuperman and facing the challenge of delivering that important cl...
Dec 11, 2018•46 min•Ep. 37
Jason Manzoukos has made a living "bringing the funny" in tv shows like “The League,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “The Good Place,” and movies such as “The House,” and “The Dictator.” Now he stars in Hannah Fidell's “The Long Dumb Road” with Tony Revolori (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”). In this half hour, I send him down a rabbit hole on the evolution of comedy, he tells a great story about getting the hard truth from a casting director early in his career, and talks about when t...
Dec 06, 2018•33 min•Ep. 36
James Ransone doesn’t like to talk about himself. He also doesn’t like to talk about acting. This might have been a disastrous interview except that his expressed frustration at having to speak about these things actually spawned an interesting and raw conversation about acting. I first noticed Ransone in the role of Ziggy in Season 2 of “The Wire.” He went on to star in the HBO miniseries “Generation Kill,” and in movies like “Sinister,” “Tangerine” and Spike Lee's “Oldboy” remake. This year he...
Dec 04, 2018•40 min•Ep. 35
You recognize Eric Lange. He’s been a working actor for 20+ years, with extensive theater work and a long list of television and film credits ("Narcos," "Lost," "Weeds," "The Bridge," to name a few recent ones). For "Escape at Dannemora" (directed by Ben Stiller), he gained 40 pounds to play Lyle, husband of Patricia Arquette's character, in the Showtime limited series based on the real-life prison break. He tells a wonderful, "outside-in" tale of finding a way into Lyle through some magic teeth...
Nov 29, 2018•38 min•Ep. 34
Simone Missick is best known for playing Misty Knight in the Netflix/Marvel series "Luke Cage" (as well in "The Defenders" and "Iron Fist"). She tells a great story of getting that part, and her game plan for auditioning in general, and also talks about knowing when to offer script changes, even for Marvel material! Then we talk about her important new film "JINN", about a teenager torn between her burgeoning sexuality and her mother's newfound Muslim faith. "JINN" is now available on VOD and Di...
Nov 27, 2018•37 min•Ep. 33
Melissa Leo has acquired a lot of acting wisdom. On this episode, she graciously shares some. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her incredible performance in "Frozen River," and won one for playing Alice Ward in "The Fighter." Recent notable performances can be found in “Francine," "The Most Hated Woman In America," and her latest, "Unlovable," where she plays opposite Charlene deGuzman, who co-wrote the script based on her real-life experiences in a program for sex and love addiction. ...
Nov 22, 2018•28 min•Ep. 32
With over one hundred films in his legendary career filled with versatile, bold, and iconic performances, Willem Dafoe is one of the most respected actors of our time. His artistic curiosity in exploring the human condition leads him to projects all over the world, giant Hollywood movies as well as small Independent films. In this episode he talks about inhabiting Vincent van Gogh through the act of painting for his latest film, "At Eternity's Gate," and how being part of a strong director's vis...
Nov 20, 2018•25 min•Ep. 31
From her breakthrough in “Kick-Ass” through great roles in “Let Me In,” “Hugo,” and “Carrie,” Chloë Grace Moretz has become one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood. In this half hour, she talks about her recent decision to take time to “reassess who I am and find myself within my roles again,” which led to her brilliant performance in “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” this year’s winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance (now streaming on demand). She also talks about avoiding what she c...
Nov 13, 2018•25 min•Ep. 30
With riveting performances in films such as "Hell or High Water," "The Messenger" and "3:10 to Yuma," Ben Foster established himself as an intensely serious actor who goes all-in for a role. With this year's “Leave No Trace,” Foster takes that same intensity and brilliantly turns it inward, portraying a laconic veteran who suffers from PTSD and survives in the woods of Oregon with his teenage daughter, played by Thomasin McKenzie. Foster talks about working with McKensie to establish the connect...
Nov 06, 2018•40 min•Ep. 29
Elsie Fisher was not just some 13-year-old Bo Burnham plucked from Middle America to star in his debut feature “Eighth Grade.” She has been a working child actor in Hollywood since infancy. She did, however, just finish eighth grade in public school when filming began, and she managed to create a performance so vulnerable and true that the seams of the acting craft are invisible. In this half-hour, I attempt to get Fisher and Burnham to open up about the origins of this movie and how this young ...
Oct 30, 2018•30 min•Ep. 28
Jim Cummings' performance in the Sundance winning, one-shot short film "Thunder Road" was the talk of the indie film world in 2016. And then he turned it into a feature, and it won the Grand Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival. Now Cummings has decided to turn down the less than thrilling distribution offers and make the risky decision to distribute "Thunder Road" himself. It was the right move. The film has not even hit American screens yet and it has already made its money back and more. He t...
Oct 23, 2018•36 min•Ep. 27
It’s difficult, right now, to find the words “Kayli Carter” without the word “breakthrough” nearby. The adjective refers to her brilliant performance in Tamara Jenkins’ PRIVATE LIFE, in which Carter unflappably shines next to her more seasoned co-stars Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti. She talks about the chemistry she had with those three, and about her formative experience with Mark Rylance in the play “Nice Fish” (including a 60 minute audition!), plus how she’s perfectly fine with passing on p...
Oct 16, 2018•33 min•Ep. 26
Kathryn Hahn has joked about her plethora of “best friend or randy crazy lady” roles in comedies like “How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days,” “Anchorman” and “Step Brothers.” But recent projects by Jill Soloway (“Afternoon Delight” and “I Love Dick”) and Tamara Jenkins (the new Netflix film “Private Life”) have cast Hahn in the lead role, and suddenly we have an exciting leading lady who’s much more than a scene-stealer-extraordinaire. She lets us in on a fascinating process she has for getting into th...
Oct 09, 2018•24 min•Ep. 25
When Nicolette Robinson made her Broadway debut in September, taking over the lead role of Jenna in “Waitress,” she was not just fond of Sara Bareilles’ hit musical, she had been listening to the cast album cathartically as she went through emotional ups and downs in her own life. This might be part of why I found her “Jenna” so connected to the material, so alive. We talk about what led up to that Broadway debut night, stepping through the complex engulfing that is “Hamilton” (her husband Lesli...
Oct 02, 2018•37 min•Ep. 24
The hilarious Taran Killam lets us peek under the hood of his comedic craft in this half hour. He stars in the new ABC series “Single Parents” (premiering September 26th) and the comedy “Night School” (opening September 28th) opposite Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish. He’s probably best known for his 6 years on Saturday Night Live. We talk about how that “bootcamp” prepared him for almost anything. But his talent goes beyond comedy. He writes, directs (check out his film “Killing Gunther” on deman...
Sep 25, 2018•29 min•Ep. 23
Linus Roache has played upstanding characters on “Law and Order” and “Homeland” but he had to plumb the depths and reach the epicenter of narcissism to play Jeremiah Sand in “Mandy,” and it’s a frightening joy to behold. He talks about the draining yet rewarding time bringing this character to life and the guidance and trust he had from director Panos Cosmatos. Plus he answers a listener question about the faith life of his character, King Ecbert, in the TV series “Vikings.”
Sep 18, 2018•37 min•Ep. 22
Ashlie Atkinson is getting kudos for playing Connie Kendrickson, the motherly yet evil KKK wife, in Spike Lee’s “Blackkklansman.” We talk about the unique prep work that went into inhabiting her and the tools she used to stay present inside such a sick character. We also chat about her approach to comedy, particularly in the Ingrid Jungermann web series “F to 7th,” and working with Craig Zobel in both “Compliance” (a favorite of mine, as may listeners know) and now the brand new CBS All Access s...
Sep 04, 2018•32 min•Ep. 21
