Silent Friend
The Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai has worked with some of cinema’s most accomplished directors. Known for his collaborations with Wong Kar-wai and John Woo, Leung has also appeared in films by Johnnie To, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Ang Lee, and… Read more
Meiko Kaji. Photo by Daniel Eagan
Starting in the 1970s, Meiko Kaji tore through the Japanese film industry, delivering iconic performances that resonate to this day. Few performers commanded the screen with her authority. Kaji played delinquents, gang bosses, daughters sold into slavery, unrepentant killers—characters far… Read more
Kirill Sokolov and Zazie Beetz behind the scenes of They Will Kill You
It’s the closing night of the 2026 SXSW Film Festival and They Will Kill You director Kirill Sokolov is taking to the stage of the Paramount Theatre in Austin. He has multiple pages in hand listing out all of his… Read more
Anima
A lo-fi sci-fi road trip film that reaffirms the magic of discordant personalities finding harmony, director Brian Tetsuro Ivie’s Anima is at once earthy and spiritual. It focuses on Beck (Sydney Chandler), who, on the first day of a new… Read more
Stellan Skarsgård is a celebrated Swedish actor whose career spans more than five decades across European and Hollywood cinema. He first gained attention in Scandinavia before becoming an international screen presence in films such as Breaking the Waves and Good Will Hunting. He went on to deliver acclaimed performances in movies like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Dune, Dune Part 2, and television series like Andor and Chernobyl. In his latest, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Skarsgård gifts us with perhaps his most robust and richest work in the form of Gustav, a once-prominent filmmaker struggling to mend fractured ties with his daughters. On this episode, he details the environment […]
Samantha Smart is the lead actress, writer and producer of Charliebird, the feature debut of director Libby Ewing, which won the top prize at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, calling it “a deeply affecting portrait featuring grounded and complex performances.” On this episode, Smart describes the process of writing it, getting to a crisis point of wondering if she could still play the character she was creating for herself, and miraculously finding young Gabriela Ochoa Perez who skillfully plays Charlie. She details the fine-tuning that needed to happen with the central scene, how the camera operator’s energy affects actors, talks about her […]
Sarah Coffey starred as Eva Shapiro in the feature film 31 Candles, and instantly made her an iconic romanic comedy character. She can also be seen in Queens Of The Dead, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year. And her viral success as a comedian led to a role in Stapleview, the first-ever fully produced live sketch show on TikTok. On this episode, she talks about the blessings and drawbacks of finding a spotlight through her own online content. She takes us back to her early days, discovering an early love of singing, and talks about how that […]
Ben Mehl is most recognized for his role as Dante on the hit Netflix show You. Other TV credits include The Good Wife, Supernatural Investigator and films like My Christmas Guide and Viral Beauty. On stage he has performed with The Public Theater and Williamstown Theatre Festival. He’s also a passionate acting teacher and volunteer at the 52nd Street Project. On this episode he tells us the story of finding out he had Stargardt disease, coming to the decision to go ahead with his dream of being an actor despite being legally blind, and the piece of advice a teacher gave him that miraculously made this mountain much […]
Astrid Rotenberry has had roles on Law & Order SVU, The Four Seasons, and American Sports Story. Now she plays Catherine Kelly in the Netflix limited series His and Hers, and her performance is so authentic and affecting it runs the risk of being taken for granted. On this episode, she details what excited her about the role, and why trust is so important to her. She takes us back to her childhood and how parental encouragement impacted her, talks about some of the valuable nuggets she learned as an intern in a casting office, expounds on ways she combats self-doubt, and much more. Back […]
Diane Kruger is a German actress known for her verticality in roles and languages, from Hollywood blockbusters like Troy and National Treasure, to Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and international gems like In the Fade, for which she won Best Actress at Cannes. Currently she stars in two television series, The Seduction, a French-language period drama for HBO MAX, in which she plays Madame de Rosemonde, and Little Disasters, a psychological thriller for Paramount+ where she plays a complex, fiercely devoted new mother whose world collapses around her. On this episode, she gives us a peek inside her acting process and the ingredients in the “sauce” that help her do her work, […]