It's another packed episode of The Interviews, folks. First off, listener discretion is advised as Chris Hewitt talks to Brett Goldstein, star and co-writer of Office Romance, and his director, Ol Parker, about C-bombs, of which this interview contains plenty, and explicit childbirth scenes. Then, to our great delight, Actual Rock Star Ben Gibbard, frontman of Death Cab For Cutie, pops into the podbooth to have a chat with Beth Webb about his love of movies, working with the late, great Lynn She...
Jun 10, 2026•57 min•Season 1Ep. 1089
This week sees the release of Travis Knight's live-action adaptation of 80s cartoon (and toy line), Masters Of The Universe, so our very own He-Man, Chris Hewitt, sits down on Zoom for a fun chat about films and football with the actual He-Man, Nicholas Galitzine, and Teela, Camila Mendes. [46:56 — 59:46 approx] Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and He-Dan, Dan Jolin, for a fun episode in which they discuss their favourite movie swords, take a look at the week's ...
Jun 05, 2026•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 1088
The latest episode of The Interviews is all about extravagance, high fashion and big spending. But enough about Chris Hewitt. Instead, we're focused on Savage House and Madfabulous, two costume dramas about upper-class types whose lives spiral out of control. In the first, Richard E. Grant and Claire Foy play a married couple who attempt to mount a lavish dinner party, with disastrous consquences, and they tell Chris all about their approach to acting, their connection to the characters and, in ...
Jun 05, 2026•41 min•Season 1Ep. 1089
It's a packed line-up of directors this week on The Interviews, folks. Directorpalooza? First up, we bring you an extended excerpt from our spoiler special interview with The Mandalorian And Grogu, Jon Favreau, who tells Chris Hewitt about his intentions behind the first big-screen Star Wars film in seven years. Then Chris leaps onto Zoom to have a lovely natter with the great Joe Dante about his beloved (eventually) 1987 sci-fi comedy, InnerSpace, which is out now on 4K UHD, and English directo...
Jun 01, 2026•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 1087
Things get awkward on this week's Empire Podcast, folks. Not just because Chris Hewitt seems to be wearing a Skeletor mask for some of it, nor because he's so heat-addled that he forgets to introduce James Dyer properly. No, things get awkward because the team – Chris, James, Helen O'Hara, and Ben Travis – discuss whether it ever gets awkward for them when visiting film sets. Then, our intrepid quartet also discuss the week's movie news, including the shocking news of Paddington 4's potty-mouthe...
May 29, 2026•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 1086
All hail the Alien Queen! For the legendary Sigourney Weaver, star of some of the finest sci-fi films of all time, is our esteemed guest on this week's episode of the Empire Podcast, as she tells Chris Hewitt all about starring in her first Star War, The Mandalorian & Grogu. [44:47 - 58:17 approx] Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to discuss their predictions for the biggest movies of the year, cast their eye over the week's movie news, including a shocking...
May 22, 2026•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 1085
This time it's more. Yes, folks, The Shameless Plug — the show in which Chris Hewitt and Empire editor, Nick de Semlyen, chat about the stories behind the current issue of Empire — is usually a two-hander (well, four hands), but for reasons unknown this month we've also invited James Dyer into the podbooth to add a third pair of hands, and one more mouth. Well, not for reasons unknown, as Jimbo is here to talk about his favourite film, Aliens, which just happens to be the cover film of this mont...
May 20, 2026•46 min•Season 1Ep. 1084
Fly, you fools! Yes, that's right, Ian McKellen — the legendary English actor who is Gandalf and Magneto, get over it — is our guest on this week's Empire Podcast, as John Nugent pops over to McKellen's own pub, The Grapes in Limehouse, for a lovely chat about his new film, Steven Soderbergh's The Christophers. [46:32 - 1:00:02 approx] Speaking of Christophers, back in the podbooth Chris Hewitt is joined by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Harry Stainer for a fun episode in which they discuss the g...
May 15, 2026•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 1083
This week's episode of The Interviews sees Chris Hewitt sit down face-to-face with the legend that is Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill/Gene Takavic, the one and only Bob Odenkirk. The comedy great was in town to talk about his latest pivot into action movies, with Ben Wheatley's wild romp, Normal, and the two of them also talk about sketch comedy, Odenkirk's love of movies, his aversion to horror movies (in which he possibly spoils the end of Zach Cregger's Weapons, so be careful), and more. Then, Hele...
May 15, 2026•39 min•Season 1Ep. 1084
This week's Empire Podcast sees Alex Godfrey sit down for an audience with music superstar Billie Eilish and her co-director on her new concert movie, Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard And Soft: The Tour Live In 3D, one James Cameron. Blimey! Then Alex slides into the podbooth to join Helen O'Hara, James Dyer and host Chris Hewitt for a fun-filled episode in which they discuss Karl Urban's killiest characters, the best movie farmers, a whole bunch of trailers (including The Odyssey, Evil Dead Burn, and...
May 08, 2026•1 hr 36 min•Season 1Ep. 1082
It's a legend-laden episode of The Interviews this week, folks, as Chris Hewitt sits down in person with James Cameron to talk about his new, unexpected venture as co-director of eye popping 3D concert movie, Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard And Soft — The Tour Live In 3D, and then the great Guillermo del Toro, with the Mexican director coming to town to receive the BFI Fellowship and launch a season of his films at the BFI Southbank. That is an excerpt from a longer del Toro interview which will be u...
May 08, 2026•55 min•Season 1Ep. 1082
This week's Empire Podcast is the kind of episode that could leave other film podcasts in its wake. Mainly because there's a lot of discussion of ships, boats, the high seas and the like. First off, our guests this week are Callum Turner and George Mackay, the British actors who star in Mark Jenkin's latest movie, the fisherman-themed Rose Of Nevada, which is out now, and in a cracking chat with Alex Godfrey, they talk about how they first met, working with the unique Jenkin, and more. Either si...
May 01, 2026•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 1081
It's a director-led edition of The Interviews this week, folks, as Helen O'Hara sits down with David Frankel to discuss his returning (along with Meryl & Anne & Emily & The Tooch) for The Devil Wears Prada 2, some twenty years after the original movie. And if you liked BenDavid Grabinski's Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice as much as we did, you'll be delighted to hear an extended excerpt from Chris Hewitt's spoiler special interview with Grabinski, which can be found in full ov...
Apr 30, 2026•39 min•Season 1Ep. 1080
If we told you that this week's episode of the Empire Podcast featured not one but two people banging on about Taylor Swift, odds are you'd reckon one of them was James Dyer. And you'd be wrong. For those people are Ben Travis and David Lowery, director of the new poptastic psychodrama, Mother Mary. Lowery is this week's guest, and he popped into the podbooth to sit down with Ben to talk all about how Taylor Swift influenced part of his approach to the Anne Hathaway-Michael Coel flick, and much,...
Apr 24, 2026•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 1078
This month's episode of The Shameless Plug sees Chris Hewitt away and James Dyer stepping in to sit down once more with Empire editor/podcast hostage Nick De Semlyen for a look at the new issue. In a complete upending of the entire format, Nick goes rogue and decides to inject a little drama into the mix by listing his ten favourite things from the new issue (without telling James what they are). Are all of them James' Dunesplaining breakdown of the new Dune: Part 3 trailer? No, no they're not. ...
Apr 24, 2026•34 min•Season 1Ep. 1079
With Chris Hewitt away on an actual holiday, this week's Empire Podcast sees Helen O'Hara slide into the host's chair as she, Ben Travis, and Amon Warmann tackle a hat-trick of listener questions, including musing on male damsels in distress, movies-turned-plays, and the ongoing role of Bluey in saving the world. Then the trio tackle movie news, most of which comes out of this week's CinemaCon, including the revelation that Jamie Dornan, and not Leo Woodall, will be filling Aragorn's boots in Th...
Apr 17, 2026•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 1077
It's another jam-packed edition of The Interviews this week, folks. First, Chris Hewitt talks fillums, scary and otherwise, with the wonderful Jack Reynor, star of Lee Cronin's The Mummy. [1:35 - 18:44 approx] Then he has a chaotic, recorded-on-iPhone-because-reasons, chat with Seamus McLean Ross and Samuel Bottomley, the stars of James McAvoy's California Schemin' [20:48 - 37:01 approx]; and finally there's a fun chat between Chris and Kat Coiro and Will Packer, director and producer respective...
Apr 17, 2026•54 min•Season 1Ep. 1078
Ok, first things first. Let's get it out of the way. Yes, the Empire Podcast team — Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and John Nugent — spend a great deal of this week's podcast answering a listener question about great movie quartets. They also spend a great deal of time, in the Movie News section, talking about The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum. And yes, despite all that, they spectacularly fail to mention Bilbo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin in the former category. So, just letting...
Apr 10, 2026•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 1076
This week's episode of The Interviews is a one of a kind, as the legendary Richard Kind pops in to the podbooth to tell Chris Hewitt all about his role as Max Bialystock in the West End production of Mel Brooks' The Producers. Also popping into the podbooth this week are Regé-Jean Page and Halle Bailey, the ridiculously charming pair who headline new rom-com You, Me & Tuscany. They tell Chris about shooting that film in Tuscany, meeting at the Met Gala, getting splashed by sprinklers, and mo...
Apr 09, 2026•59 min•Season 1Ep. 1075
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is an Easter bonanza, folks, that sees Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer (with new honorific firmly in place, at least for now) discuss the best resurrections in movies, wax lyrical about Richard Kind in The Producers, and cast their learned eyes over a glut of movie trailers, including the new one for Supergirl, and review Fuze, The Drama, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice. Speaking of Fuze, Chris has a lo...
Apr 03, 2026•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 1074
This week's episode of The Interviews, the spin-off show that rounds up our chats with film folk, is a belter. First, Chris Hewitt chats accents and auditions and more with Theo James, star of The Fuze [1:36 - 17:51 approx], and then Jamie Graham is joined for some trash talk by The Pope Of Trash himself, John Waters, just in time for the launch of a new season at the BFI Southbank called Trash! The Wildest Films You've Ever Seen. [19:02 - 32:45] Finally, we have an extended excerpt from our Rea...
Apr 02, 2026•54 min•Season 1Ep. 1073
This week's Empire Podcast sees us clamber into the Magic Faraway Tree to talk with the writer and director, respectively, of the brand new Enid Blyton adaptation, Simon Farnaby and Ben Gregor, who tell Alex Godfrey all about how they branched out. Ahem. Either side of that, Chris Hewitt hosts Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Kobi Omenaka to discuss their favourite movie trees and competence porn; run their eye over the week's movie news, including the revelation that Stephen Colbert is co-writing ...
Mar 27, 2026•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 1072
This month's episode of The Shameless Plug sees Chris Hewitt sit down once again with Empire editor Nick de Semlyen for a deep dive into the latest issue of Empire magazine. Our dynamic duo talk about the origins of the first ever cover shoot with Star Wars characters, as we celebrate The Mandalorian & Grogu, plus many more stories about the brand new issue, which is on sale right now in all good, evil and virtual newsagents. But as if that weren't enough, at long last Chris and Nick answer ...
Mar 25, 2026•54 min•Season 1Ep. 1071
Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes? Because St. Patrick's Day was earlier this week, and to celebrate the man who drove all the snakes out of Ireland ("you alright in the back there, lads?") this week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Beth Webb discuss some of their favourite snake moments in films. Or fillums. Then, our intrepid quartet get their parseltongues into the week's deluge of movie news, including the Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Dune Part 3 trailers...
Mar 20, 2026•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 1070
The Interviews is back, folks, with a cracking hat-trick of cinematic conversations, as Chris Hewitt talks to Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come director duo, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and their star, Samara Weaving, about coming back with a sequel after six years away; Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, directors of Marianne Faithfull docu-drama Broken English, about shining a spotlight on one of the most fascinating figures to emerge from the 1960s music scene; and there's an excerpt from ...
Mar 18, 2026•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 1069
This week's Empire Podcast is the second of the year to fall on a Friday the 13th (November will complete the hat-trick), and so the podteam — Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Ben Travis — discuss the life and work of one Jason Voorhees, and head off in a rather unexpected direction. Speaking of unexpected directions, they also pop off to space to discuss their favourite movie astronauts (SPOILERS for some space films, including Gravity), run their collective eye over the week's movie...
Mar 13, 2026•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 1068
This week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down with The Bride! herself, Jessie Buckley, and her writer/director, Maggie Gyllenhaal, for a lovely chat about their wildly ambitious new movie, The Bride!, which daringly reframes the story of the Bride Of Frankenstein. [22:21 - 40:21 approx] Either side of that, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Alex Godfrey to cast their eye over the week's movie news, including the latest developments in the Warner Bros takeov...
Mar 06, 2026•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 1067
This week's episode of The Interviews brings you another sensational hat-trick of goodies, as Chris Hewitt gets frank, and Frank, with The Bride! star, the wonderful Christian Bale; has an absolute hoot and a holler with Hoppers lead voices, Piper Curda and Bobby Moynihan; and celebrates the shiny disc release of Edgar Wright's The Running Man by bringing you an excerpt from our spoiler special interview with the great man. Enjoy!
Mar 06, 2026•55 min•Season 1Ep. 1068
This week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down in a London hotel room with Amanda Seyfried and Mona Fastvold, star and director respectively of the audacious new musical biopic, The Testament Of Ann Lee. It's a conversation that takes in everything from wearing T-shirts with your face on it to the trick of choreographing incredibly complex dance numbers, and is a ton of fun. That starts around 42:18 and finishes around 1:02:50. Elsewhere, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, J...
Feb 27, 2026•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 1066
The latest episode of The Shameless Plug — the show in which Chris Hewitt and Empire editor Nick de Semlyen dig into the latest issue of Empire magazine — is here, folks, and it's a cracker. Join Chris and Nick as they talk about the Masters Of The Universe cover story, Chris' encounter with Renny Harlin, and the long pursuit to nab Jon Hamm for Pint Of Milk. We should have just scooped him up in a Hamm-net. Elsewhere in the episode, the two talk Threads, magic trees, and Chris does a First Line...
Feb 26, 2026•37 min•Season 1Ep. 1065
