Like Jean-Pierre Léaud before him, Schwartzman is seemingly now cast for the weight his name and visage can carry. (Look no further than the brilliant, self-lampooning episode of “Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories.”) This sequence continues with “Between the Temples,” which finds him playing Benjamin, a cantor whose mourning for his deceased wife finds focus in sessions with Carla (Carol Kane), a fellow widow who decides now’s high time to receive the Bat Mitzvah she missed 60-or-so years prior. A brilliantly shaped scriptment from Nathan Silver and C. Mason Wells makes ideal scene partners of the two — they form one of cinema’s snuggest odd couples.

Related Stories

IndieWire sat down with Schwartzman in New York, discussing “Between the Temples” amidst inquiries into and observations on his remarkable career, and began with a discussion of his uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s book “Live Cinema and Its Techniques.”

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

IndieWire: While prepping this interview I was reading this book. [Pulls out “Live Cinema and Its Techniques.”]

Jason Schwartzman: Oh, wow. Oh, wow. That’s so funny. This is a great book.

Oh, so you’ve read it.

No, I’ve read it. It’s fantastic.

I’m really enjoying it. Suitable “Megalopolis” prep.

Well, this is like… [taps book] Really it’s like theater, which he loves.

You come from maybe the great, preeminent artistic American family.

[Pause] Mmm…

Well, it’s pretty good.

Thank you.

And being in this big artists’ family, is there some expectation that everybody is watching, listening to, reading everybody else’s work?

Do you mean now, in the present tense, as I’ve gotten older, or do you mean as you’re younger?

Maybe both. Like if you, growing up, had nights where you watched “You’re a Big Boy Now” or discovered them in your own time.

[Points finger]

The latter.

That one. Yeah. [Laughs] If this means anything, I didn’t see “The Godfather” until I was 17. I don’t know why. But I guess I was into… I don’t know.

Spending 16 shooting “Rushmore” is a great excuse for not seeing “The Godfather” until you were 17.

No, no, I had seen it before I shot “Rushmore.” So I guess I saw it when I was 16 … Are you asking about sharing ideas and that type of thing? Because I like your question; I want to give you an interesting answer. That’s a good question.

It’s honestly less romantic than that. If, when “Priscilla” comes out, it’s expected you’ll go see that. There’s a burden of expectation on you.

I don’t feel a burden of expectation, but I feel that I want to see it. And I did. And I loved it… I mean, I went and saw “Longlegs” the day it came out because I’m a fan of my cousin Nicolas [Cage]’s work, and I love to see where he’s at. As I would be with any person I’m a fan of. To me — and maybe this is nuts — just in the way you can learn so much about someone from the book they have in their bag, seeing a movie of anybody, it’s kind of like that’s where they’re at.

I know it’s a collaborative process and not just the actor’s complete… you know, it’s edited, it’s worked on, it’s a collaborative thing. That’s what I love about a new album coming out and going to see a new movie by someone. Because I’m like, “What are they going to do next? Where are they at now?” Not that I don’t also speak to my family personally, but I think there’s something else that, if you’re a fan of someone, you can only really get from seeing their work. Especially something like “Priscilla”: [Sofia Coppola has] written and directed this thing. I want to know about where she’s at and what she’s thinking about. What she’s interested in. What she wants to film. Where the camera’s going.

It’s just that kind of thing. So there’s no expectation other than just the respect that I feel for her — specifically, in that example. And it’s hard to make a movie, and I want to know how it goes. It’s not like I’m getting updates. I know she’s making this movie. But I want to see what she’s been doing, but it’s not required. And my feelings certainly don’t get hurt if no one sees mine.

You weren’t calling them every week asking if they watched “Bored to Death.”

I could say almost the opposite. “Please, don’t watch anything.” I don’t like the imposition. There are so many things to see and do, and everyone’s so busy, I’m not telling people. If they find it, they find it. I’m not telling anyone about it. [Laughs]

My microscopic version is that, when I write something new, it’s just… please leave me alone.

That’s the thing: That’s just your family. It’s so embarrassing. [Laughs] But that said, I’m trying as hard as I can. Everyone’s busy. It sounds like you and I are a little similar; I have a thing where I don’t want to bug anyone. But that can, as time goes on, I realize be interpreted as “you don’t care.” The truth is: You really care. You just don’t want to also… not inconvenience…

To people my age, you’re a totemic figure. I watched “Rushmore” when I was 16 — great movie then, great movie now, but the perfect age to discover it. My friends and I saw ourselves in Max Fischer — for better and worse — while around that time “Bored to Death” premiered, and it was such a vision of what our lives as adults in Brooklyn could be.

Right. Right, right, right.

Then “Listen Up Philip” comes out when I’m a senior in college. Its irascible-intellectual character fascinates even as you try to heed the movie’s warnings. And in the last two years it’s been “Asteroid City” and “Between the Temples,” both of which I found very moving for underlining how long I’ve been watching you onscreen.

Mmm. Thank you — very much.

The comparison I make — which hopefully you don’t blanche at too much — is that you’re the American Jean-Pierre Léaud.

Oh, my. Don’t say that. But he’s my guy … Yesterday I did a thing for MUBI. I talked about “Stolen Kisses,” and I said he’s my favorite actor, and I actually have a signed poster, to me, from Jean-Pierre Léaud. It’s the greatest possession. It says, “To Jason — Jean-Pierre Léaud.” I didn’t get it; someone got it for me as a gift. It’s, like, the greatest thing. I can’t believe it. Part of me still believes they just got it signed for a generic “Jason” and they got it to me, but — nonetheless.

He’s also now cast for the living history that is. “Biography” is a big word to use, but in a quarter-century you’ve gone from precocious teen to, twice, a widower.

Nathan [Silver] was not happy about that, by the way. In the middle of while we were making [“Between the Temples”], he said, “What? You’re a widower in ‘Asteroid City.” “Yeah.” “But you’re a widower in this.” I started thinking, “Well, how many things can you… be?” If you’re gonna try to act in stuff, there’s only so many things that can happen to you.

In the span of your career, do you see yourself as having a kind of onscreen narrative?

Of my own life? Not really … Keep going with the question a little bit, because I want to get it right. I think there’s two versions of an answer. Like, am I aware of it?

If there’s a progression of a lifetime onscreen that you’ve lived, and if there’s interest in continuing to play roles that are not literally your own biography, but they comprise a certain span of human experience.

Is there something that connects them, in a way, to my human experience? Well, first of all: I don’t spend too much time thinking about [it]. I haven’t seen a lot of these movies in a long time. It’s funny, because I was talking to Carol [Kane] about this. I’ve never really been in a position where I know what I’m going to do next. It’s so hard [laughs] to get in a movie. And then for a movie to get made, as you know, so many little things have to go right. Like I say: I think, over the years, I’ve never been in a situation where I knew what I was going to do while I was doing another thing. In a way, each project has really been its own standalone experience, and I really have tried — when I work, on a technical level — to pretend this is the first movie I’ve done. I try to bring my experience, but I don’t try to get hung up on something being done differently.

I feel like a lot of people get upset on set. “Well, it wasn’t like this on my other thing.” And I just sort of think, “Right. Because this is how we do it — this one.” So I try not to hold onto any things like that, in terms of the way it’s done — the process. I just go, “This is how this one’s being done.” So: no. But I will say that I think when I look back — even just looking back on this movie — I see, to do this movie, Nathan and I have been talking about it for so long. He was like, “This character talks slowly. And he moves slowly. And he’s really inert. And he’s just moping.” I think that, looking back, I think that I stopped moving a lot before making this movie and going in the sun. Like, when I look at myself in the movie, I see an inert person. You know what I mean?

Absolutely.

And I see this lack of energy. It’s weird. Each thing is kind of like, it becomes like a biography. I can look at it and remember how I felt at the time, when I see a movie. I remember how I felt or what I was listening to.

They are interesting in that way, where they do chart my personal experience. Even if the movies aren’t biographical, they are personal in that they are who I was, in a way, behind them. So that’s been interesting to think about. Just in the way that you look back and you see a photo, and you see yourself in a t-shirt and go, “Oh, my God. I guess that guy wore that shirt.” You know what I mean?

I think, as you get older, you’re not even thinking about it, really — it just begins to happen. It’s just, like, there becomes a record of you, and that becomes your quote-unquote “life.”

I think that’s a much better way of framing my question.

But I will say one thing: This was the first movie I ever did where I knew I was going to do another movie right after. The Luca Guadagnino. And in [“Queer”], my character is very much the opposite — very, just, full of exuberance — and I think it was interesting. Because I think of them as being, even though they’re totally unrelated, as being related. Because I knew I was going to get to be so exuberant in that movie, I knew I was just going to commit to holding it back on this one. Because I’m just going to put all the eggs in the basket of this guy, here, and that was kind of cool. It was interesting. I’d never done that before.

I talked to [“Between the Temples” screenwriter] C. Mason Wells a couple weeks ago. He raved about you as a brilliant writer. But you, as a writer, tend to work collaboratively. And you only have one directing credit — an episode of “Mozart in the Jungle.” I wonder if there are ambitions to go more into either — solo as a writer, longer-length as a director.

You know, it’s funny. You’ll do something on your phone, and someone looks at it and goes, “You gotta be a director!” You’re like, “Why? Because I made this video on my phone? That’s not a movie.” I love to make things, and I love to film things and I love stories.

You’ve made a lot of music.

And I love music. If there was something that I could direct that I’m like, “I would love to do that.” But that hasn’t… I also feel like there’s a lot of people making movies, and there seems to be this thing of like, “Oh, you should make a movie.” No. You shouldn’t just “make a movie.” [Laughs] I don’t know. Why? Also, I don’t know if it comes from being, initially, a drummer, but I like being part of the… group. Like, I always played teen sports growing up. I never played tennis; I played baseball. I love the collaboration of sports. But writing, for sure. And for me, collaborating is more fun because I already know what I’m thinking. It’s so much more fun to hear what someone else is thinking based on… like, I always prefer conversations when they spin out of control, and it’s hard to spin out of control off yourself. Although, I’ve tried to do it. Actually, I had my radio show on Sirius XMU, and I used to do a lot of the episodes where I would record four of myself, and I would just talk to myself, and that was really fun, actually. Kind of cathartic.

But I would love to direct something. I have some ideas for things. But at the end of the day, it’s kind of weird. Because when I directed “Mozart in the Jungle,” I fucking loved it. But I will also say that it’s weird, as an actor, to give a note to Gael García Bernal. He would do a take, and I’m like, “…OK. So should we just go?” Who am I to be like, “Can you try…?” It’s weird because then I’m like, “That’s how I would think I would do it. I like how he would do it.” But I would love to direct something. I’d love to co-direct something! Even though you’re talking about solo, I think co-directing would be really fun to do. But what I’ve kind of learned, the more I’m watching someone: Most people are co-directing, anyway. Just the input from everybody is so essential. Everyone’s kind of co-directing — except some people.

In other words: It is such a collaborative thing, and I think as I’ve gotten older, maybe I was just held back; maybe there was a lot of fear. But I don’t know. I’d love to tell the story. But what’s the story? I don’t know. I’ve always been so envious of people that know the thing. Spoon put out its demos of the “They Want My Soul” album. I was just listening to the demos — Britt Daniel’s home demos — and I’m like, “How did he know that’s the…”

I understand this too well.

“How did he know that’s gonna be the one to work on that’s gonna become that?” It’s so hard. That’s what’s impressive about anyone who makes something: the decision to spend the time on it. That’s the baffling thing. And I’ve kind of gotten away with it, for better or for worse: kind of liking it when my decision gets made. I love when there’s a storm and you can’t leave your house. So if there could be a creative version of that [laughs], it would be nice.

“Between the Temples” opens in theaters from Sony Pictures Classics on Friday, August 23.

The post Jason Schwartzman Is the American Jean-Pierre Léaud: The Actor on ‘Between the Temples,’ ‘Queer,’ and the Coppola Dynasty appeared first on We Are Actors.

In the bustling world of acting and performance coaching, few names resonate as profoundly as Terry Knickerbocker. An interview with Knickerbocker on the “We Are Actors” podcast reveals not only the depth of his expertise but also his unique approach to teaching the craft. As the founder of the Terry Knickerbocker Studio (Brooklyn, New York) he has spent over three decades nurturing talent, including notable actors like Sam Rockwell. His holistic coaching style, grounded in the Meisner technique, focuses on authenticity and emotional truth, elements he believes are foundational to any successful acting career. We hope you enjoy this interview as he sits down with our Mershad Torabi for an incredibly insightful conversation.

More Information on the Terry Knickerbocker Studio below.

The post Terry Knickerbocker Interview appeared first on We Are Actors.

KRISTEN WIIG: What’s up, Hamm?

JON HAMM: I have not seen you in forever, even though we just did the show together.

WIIG: Before that, it was a long time. We did not see each other during COVID; we followed the rules. I still follow them.

HAMM: We’re six feet apart, and I’m wearing a mask right now. It’s just a mask that’s my face.

WIIG: Why didn’t anyone make those? “Just send in a photo of your face.”

HAMM: A KN95, but with something fun on it.

WIIG: Don’t air this, because someone’s going to steal it.

HAMM: We can retire on that one.

WIIG: Can I give you a compliment?

HAMM: Sure. It may be the first time in your life.

WIIG: You are amazing on “Fargo” and “The Morning Show” — two different characters.

HAMM: Very different. Shot at the same time.I was shooting on parallel tracks, flying back from Calgary to Los Angeles.

WIIG: Let’s talk about your character in “Fargo,” who I heard you said was visually based on the Marlboro Man.

HAMM: That was Noah’s hope. What he was trying to do was explode this idea of this rugged individualist that seems to be a very popular idea right now: a sovereign citizen, “No one can tell me what to do.” This onanistic, narcissistic idea about what being an individual has to be: You’re free from the constraints of government and society.

Well, of course, that’s impossible. But there are people who subscribe to that. And when they take it to the extreme, this is what you get: the guy where the rules don’t apply because he makes the rules. I think it’s a cautionary tale; we need to live in a society that has rules. And we can point to one obvious orange example of that right now, who’s kind of bumping up against the rules as well.

WIIG: Did you know how it would end?

HAMM: I didn’t think it was going to end great for my guy. You couldn’t have that guy get away scot-free.

WIIG: When we meet Roy — you have quite an entrance, or should I say a “rising up” out of the water. You are in full nipple piercings.

HAMM: Completely naked. I was wearing a little thing around my junk. A sock around my junk. A junk sock. There’s a process of making fake nipples that stick onto my real nipples that have little earrings in them.

WIIG: Was it like an adhesive? What are we talking here?

HAMM: It’s a little latex situation. There’s a picture of me with two little blue latex things on my nipples that I’ll send you. And then on the day, I’m going to sit in this hot tub with a weird beige bag around my junk.

WIIG: Was it cold?

HAMM: It was a hot tub. It was nice. But the backdrop of the mountains and what is meant to be the upper Midwest was actually filmed in Calgary in freezing cold — minus 20 degrees.

Speaking of cold, “Palm Royale.” It didn’t look cold. The opposite of cold. Warm? I’d like to go with warm.

WIIG: Great segue.

HAMM: Tell me about how it came about. I haven’t finished it.

WIIG: That’s OK — I haven’t finished yours either.

HAMM: But I am watching and loving it. This means we haven’t seen any of it.

WIIG: This means we watched the trailer. But you know what? Just watch how we fake it.

HAMM: Fake it till you make it. But how did it come about? You didn’t write it.

WIIG: It came to me through this actress. I don’t know if you’ve heard of her — her name is Laura Dern.

HAMM: Oh, Bruce Dern’s kid. It’s amazing because it’s so midcentury and feels of that time. It must have been a fun place to be.

WIIG: It was. And I obviously learned more about it after being part of the show. Slim Aarons photos and things like this. Nowhere else in the country were they dressed like that. It’s this weird vortex of pastels and day drinking.

HAMM: It’s such an amazing cast to be able to hang in that space with. Especially with Carol Burnett, who lived through it.

WIIG: I could talk about Carol Burnett for 20 minutes. She’s a fucking legend. I grew up watching her. She influenced so many people in sketch comedy. And being a woman at that time, with her own show. She shows up on set, she’s talking to everyone, she knows everyone’s name, she’s telling stories. She hangs out on set and just talks to people. And she’s such a light — people lit up around her.

HAMM: I like to hear that. Because all the things we’ve worked on together, part of it is to not get too jaded or too over it or feel like, “Ugh, I’ve got to be here.” We get to be here. It’s such a gift to be able to do what we do. I still love doing it.

WIIG: Me too.

HAMM: When they called and asked if I could do your “SNL” when you hosted for the fifth time — congratulations! — I was like, there’s never an answer that doesn’t rhyme with “Yeah.”

WIIG: You could have gone with “Nah.” That kind of rhymes.

HAMM: Any time you say, “Come do anything,” I’ll do it. When you said, “Please be in ‘Bridesmaids,’” I was like, “Sure.” And you were like, “We haven’t written a part yet.”

WIIG: And we had so much fun. It’s so funny because obviously you’re known for Don Draper at that point. People are known for that thing, and when there’s something else, people are so surprised.

HAMM: I think happily. It’s like a discovery.

WIIG: Because it’s like, “And he’s funny!” When you did “SNL”—

HAMM: Do you remember? On Monday, when you come in as the host, there was a big meeting in Lorne’s office. And all the writers are there, and the cast is there, and everybody jams into the small office, and everybody was in “Mad Men” drag. Which was very strange.

WIIG: We never do that. I don’t think we’ve ever done it since.

HAMM: Bill Hader was in drag. Paula Pell had a cigarette taped to her finger because she didn’t know how to smoke. Colin Jost is two years out of Harvard and looks like a total Staten Island dirtbag.

WIIG: Do you remember that group? “Mad Men,” “The Office,” “SNL” — we kind of all ran with each other.

HAMM: Everybody gelled at the same time. It was such a moment in time of distilled fun.

WIIG: You were always so game when you came to the show.

HAMM: I hosted three times in two years and then never again. The fun part of “SNL” — one time I was hosting, and we both had quick changes next to each other. And you’re like, “Get ready,” and then we’re both naked. They’re literally tearing clothes off of you. You just have to go with it.

WIIG: The last time I was back, I had a quick change. They were stripping me, and I looked over, and Kenan [Thompson] was doing the same thing. I was like, “Oh, we’ve seen each other.”

HAMM: All of the parts. It’s fine. It’s only awkward because you have to submit to it. You’re a total mannequin.

WIIG: The “in-between sketches” is the most interesting — it’s such a beautiful dance.

HAMM: And you never see the seams. My first time hosting was right in the middle of [your time]. And then I hosted three times, and we worked together so much. And then I was at your last show, which was so awesome and fun and, I’m sure, tremendously emotional for you.

WIIG: I was so emotional that week. I cried during read-through, I sobbed after readthrough, and I just didn’t want to cry on air. And I didn’t really, even though it was one of the most emotional nights of my life. And then with Five-Timers, I surprised myself that I got a little emotional at the end. I still can’t even explain why. The other times I’ve hosted, it’s weird to go back, seeing the other side of the curtain.

HAMM: Everybody that I know that’s gone back and hosted, from Tina [Fey] to Bill [Hader] to you, has said it’s a real mindfuck. It’s a weird gear shift.

WIIG: Do you find as you’ve gotten older and worked more, you gravitate toward the things that are more joyful and fun?

HAMM: Well, yeah, because there’s so many definitions of that. For “Fargo,” I’ll go play a bad guy who’s morally reprehensible, who has all of these terrible things about him, in the freezing cold, but I’m still having fun. To lean into the aspect of it that is joyful and fun, I think that resonates off the screen. And when I look at your career, every time I see you in something, I’ll say, “Oh, my God, you’re so good in this.”

WIIG: There’re some things you haven’t reached out about. We haven’t talked about “The Morning Show,” which I love. You had a lot of scenes with Billy [Crudup] — he’s so good.

HAMM: The first time I saw Billy Crudup was onstage in 1995. I was teaching school, and during spring break, teachers get spring break too. I was teaching acting and I wanted to be an actor, so I was like, “I’m going to go to New York City. I’m going to stay on my friend’s couch, and I’m going to see plays.” I saw Billy Crudup in “Arcadia” by Tom Stoppard, one of my favorite plays. And he was so good in it, I was like, “Maybe I could do this for a living.”

WIIG: He was my first on-screen kiss.

HAMM: Billy Crudup?

WIIG: Oh, my God, I’m forgetting the name of the movie. “Pretty Bird.” I was so nervous. I remember talking to the director, because I was like, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Is it, like, go in with tongue?” And he was like, “No, do not do that.”

HAMM: We kissed on-screen in “Bridesmaids.”

WIIG: That was the last day of shooting.

HAMM: Everybody knew each other, and I didn’t know anybody except for Paul [Feig] and you. So all of that stuff in the bed at the beginning of the movie? Everybody just wanted to leave. And we were goofing around.

WIIG: No, they were like, “Wow, Jon Hamm!” Are you kidding me? I disagree.

HAMM: I definitely felt the last-day energy. And we could not keep it together remotely. It was the dumbest.

WIIG: It was so fun because it was so loose: “What if we do this? What if we try this?”

HAMM: And Paul Feig yelling sex instructions. “Put her leg over your shoulder!” “OK!” We’re in naked bodysuits. Dumb and fun. And you and Annie [Mumolo] made one of the best comedies of all time. And you got nominated for an Oscar.

WIIG: And you’re in it. And you made it great. So thanks.

HAMM: You’re welcome.

Production Design: Keith Raywood

The post Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm on Fake ‘Fargo’ Nipples, Their ‘Bridesmaids’ Sex Scene and Wild ‘SNL’ Memories: ‘We’re Both Naked. You Just Have to Go With It’ appeared first on We Are Actors.

Anne Hathaway told Vanity Fair during a cover story interview that Christopher Nolan more or less saved her career when public opinion turned against her in the lead up to and the aftermath of her winning the Oscar for “Les Miserables.” Hathaway was widely mocked online at this time, and she once remembered googling herself after the Oscar win only to see one of the top search results was an article with the title: “Why does everyone hate Anne Hathaway?”

“A lot of people wouldn’t give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online,” Hathaway now told Vanity Fair. “I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles I’ve had in one of the best films that I’ve been a part of.”

Hathaway is referring to the role of NASA scientist Dr. Amelia Brand in Nolan’s 2014 space epic “Interstellar.” She had already worked with Nolan before as Selina Kyle in 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” which earned her acclaim several months before her Oscar campaign for “Les Miserables” in the back end of 2012 generated internet scorn.

“I don’t know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect,” Hathaway said about Nolan. “And my career did not lose momentum the way it could have if he hadn’t backed me.”

“Humiliation is such a rough thing to go through,” the Oscar winner added. “The key is to not let it close you down. You have to stay bold, and it can be hard because you’re like, ‘If I stay safe, if I hug the middle, if I don’t draw too much attention to myself, it won’t hurt.’ But if you want to do that, don’t be an actor. You’re a tightrope walker. You’re a daredevil. You’re asking people to invest their time and their money and their attention and their care into you. So you have to give them something worth all of those things. And if it’s not costing you anything, what are you really offering?”

Hathaway has long sung Nolan’s praises following their two films together. During a conversation with Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” star Emily Blunt last year for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, Hathaway said that “the part that blows my mind about Chris is that he is authoritative in the best sense of the word.”

“I remember one day we were doing a shot on ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’” she explained. “He came to me beforehand and said, ‘I just want you to know, this shot has lived in my head for many years. I’m going to be very specific about it. I’m going to make you do it a lot, but it’s not actually you. It’s just because I have it in my head a certain way.’ For him to say that in a way where, as an actor, you don’t start to question yourself!”

Vanity Fair noted in its cover story that Hathaway “doesn’t love to look back on the time when people mocked her.” Speaking to The Sun back in 2021, the actor took a glass-half-full approach when asked about this period in her life, noting how backlash against her forced her to build self-confidence that might not have been built otherwise.

“I really don’t want to dredge up the past but I did have my monster out there, I did have the internet turn on me and hate me and it was like a whole big thing,” Hathaway said at the time. “And it was a really good thing for me personally. You can be incredibly empowered because of those things. So I guess what I’d say is when the bad shit happens, don’t fear it — just go with it, flow with it.”

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2014, Hathaway said the backlash she faced after the Oscars made it feel like she “got punched in the gut.” The actress added she was left “shocked” and “embarrassed” by the hatred at the time, going so far as adding, “Even now I can feel the shame.”

Hathaway next stars in the romance “The Idea of You,” streaming May 2 on Amazon Prime Video. Head over to Vanity Fair’s website to read Hathaway’s cover story in its entirety.

The post Anne Hathaway Lost Roles After Oscar Win Because of ‘How Toxic My Identity Had Become Online,’ Says Christopher Nolan Backed Her: ‘I Had an Angel’ in Him appeared first on We Are Actors.

Larry Moss, whose career spans several decades, shares his journey from an aspiring actor to becoming a revered mentor to many of Hollywood’s elite. Moss discusses his initial foray into the world of acting and the pivotal moments that led him to transition into teaching. His passion for the craft and dedication to the development of his students shines through as he recounts the evolution of his teaching career.

The conversation delves deep into Moss’s approach to acting, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, emotional truth, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. Moss advocates for a holistic approach to character development, encouraging actors to draw upon their own experiences and emotions to bring depth and realism to their performances.

Listeners are treated to Moss’s insights on the challenges and rewards of acting. He stresses the significance of continuous learning, resilience, and the willingness to be vulnerable in front of an audience. Moss’s anecdotes and reflections offer invaluable lessons not only for actors but for anyone striving to master their craft.

The episode also explores Moss’s influence on the acting community, highlighting his contributions to the art form and his legacy as a teacher. His students, many of whom have achieved great success in film and theater, often attribute their achievements to Moss’s guidance and mentorship.

In addition to discussing his teaching philosophy, Moss shares advice for aspiring actors, emphasizing the importance of hard work, dedication, and the never-ending quest for personal and artistic growth. His words serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for listeners at all stages of their acting journey.

This episode of the “We Are Actors” podcast with Larry Moss is a must-listen for anyone interested in the art of acting, offering a rare opportunity to learn from one of the most respected and influential figures in the industry.

The post Larry Moss Interview appeared first on We Are Actors.

The episode kicks off with Szymkowicz recounting his early days and what drew him to playwriting. He emphasizes the power of storytelling and its impact on audiences, highlighting his desire to explore human emotions and societal issues through his works. Szymkowicz’s approach to writing is both methodical and inspired, relying on a deep understanding of character development and narrative structure to craft compelling stories.

A significant portion of the conversation is dedicated to Szymkowicz’s creative process. He shares his strategies for overcoming writer’s block, finding inspiration in everyday life, and the importance of discipline in writing. His appreciation for the collective effort required to produce theater underscores the communal spirit of the art form.

The podcast delves into the themes and subjects of Szymkowicz’s plays, revealing his penchant for tackling complex emotional landscapes and societal issues. He speaks candidly about the challenges of addressing sensitive topics, striving for authenticity while being mindful of the audience’s experience. Szymkowicz’s thoughtful approach to theme and content showcases his commitment to meaningful storytelling.

The episode concludes with Szymkowicz offering advice to aspiring playwrights and actors. He stresses the importance of persistence, the willingness to learn and grow, and the value of community within the theater world. His encouraging words serve as a reminder of the resilience and passion required to succeed in the arts.

This episode of the “We Are Actors” podcast with Adam Szymkowicz is a must-listen for anyone interested in playwriting, theater, and the creative process. It provides a rare and intimate look into the mind of one of the most intriguing playwrights of our time, offering inspiration and wisdom to creatives at all stages of their journey.

The post Adam Szymkowicz Interview appeared first on We Are Actors.

It was September 2022, and Mahsa Amini had just died in police custody, igniting the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran. Halfway around the world, Iranian-born filmmaker Niasari struggled to concentrate on completing her film, which she hoped would offer a portrait of female defiance very much in line with the burgeoning movement. She would finish the film that fall and dedicate it to “my mother and the brave women of Iran.”

Since its Sundance 2023 premiere (where it won an audience award and was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics), it has screened at roughly 50 festivals and earned a DGA Award nomination. Last year, Australia picked it as its Best International Feature Film submission.

Set in 1995 during the lead-up to the Persian New Year, “Shayda” marks Niasari’s feature debut. She previously directed a string of shorts films that, like “Shayda,” touched on mother/daughter dynamics (“Waterfall”), female subjectivity (“Tâm”), and the Iranian exile experience (“The Phoenix”). Niasari has called her debut feature an “emotionally autobiographical” work.

The film draws on her mother’s experiences after leaving her husband to reside in a women’s shelter when Niasari was just five years old. The film condenses this eight-month period in their lives into a tumultuous two weeks, during which time Shayda’s abusive husband tries to reenter their lives.

“Shayda” may sound bleak on paper, but Niasari and star Zar Amir Ebrahimi (“Holy Spider”) imbue the material with perpetual warmth and a spirit of resilience. “Shayda” emerges more as a celebration of strong Persian women and culture — dance, poetry, music, and Nowruz all get their turns in the spotlight — than a tale of misery.

“I always wanted the film to have that sense of hope and light,” Niasari told IndieWire during a recent video call from Los Angeles. “I never wanted it to be steeped in victimhood.”

Niasari consulted with her mother at length about the consequences of telling this story. The film makes public a singularly traumatic period in their lives which, in the film, includes allusions to rape and domestic violence. It also depicts Islam’s cultural influence in a negative light, though it remains reverential of secular Persian traditions.

To release such a film would make Niasari and her family potential targets for the Iranian regime. It would, in short, mean that her family could likely never visit Iran again without putting themselves in significant danger. “Early on, [my mother] asked me to make [the family] a different culture, like Syrian or Lebanese,” Niasari said. “There was one pass where I did that, a really early draft. She read it and said, ‘I didn’t make all of these sacrifices and risk so much and lose so much in order for you to censor yourself as an artist.’ So she generously gave me the permission to really commit to telling the story the way it needed to be told. It was a very conscious and challenging decision, and I’m so proud of my mom for finding that within herself and giving me that gift of a voice.”

The film bears some narrative resemblance to “Not Without My Daughter,” the fear-mongering Sally Field drama that terrified a generation of Iranians in the 1990s. Both films depict a controlling Iranian patriarch who abuses his wife and threatens to abduct their young daughter. In “Shayda,” the husband Hossein wants to coerce the family back to Iran; in “Not Without My Daughter,” the husband Moody wants to trap them in the country for good. The similarities, thankfully, end there.

Whereas “Not Without My Daughter” preys on Islamophobic fears, cast a white actor (Alfred Molina, embarrassingly) as a caricature of Muslim men, and centered the experiences of an American woman, “Shayda” offers a nuanced and loving portrait of Persian culture at large. Niasari also sought to complicate the abusive-husband stereotype by casting an actor known in Australia for stand-up and romantic comedy (Osamah Sami) in the role of Hossein.

“My mom watched [‘Not Without My Daughter’] and said, ‘No, we’re not going to watch this together,’” Niasari recalled of her childhood. “It was just so inauthentic and villainizing of Iranians, and that’s unfortunately been so much of the narrative since the [Islamic] Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War. After 9/11, it just got worse and worse.”

Niasari is part of a growing movement she dubbed “the Iranian Diaspora Wave.” She premiered “Shayda” at Sundance 2023 alongside two other female Iranian directors: Maryam Keshavarz with her coming-of-age dramedy “The Persian Version” and Sierra Urich with her documentary “Joonam.” All three films explore mother-daughter relations within an Iranian family in diaspora. Niasari says that it’s only by “being the authors of our own stories” that Iranian filmmakers can inspire forward-thinking work and bury the racist depictions of the past.

“I hope we can start to change some of those stereotypical depictions of us in film and TV,” she said. “That’s what I’m fighting for, and hopefully the next generation will be able to see that. I didn’t grow up with role models in terms of diaspora filmmakers. I feel really hopeful about our ability to tell a different kind of Iranian story in the diaspora, similar to the Italian-American filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.”

Though she views Iranian diaspora cinema as a positive force, Niasari bemoaned the “brain drain from Iran” as more Iranians leave the country. According to census data, the number of Iran-born individuals who now live in Australia, for example, doubled from 2011 to 2021. Australia even chose “Shayda” as its official selection for this year’s Best International Feature Oscar (it was executive produced by fellow Aussie Cate Blanchett).

Many diaspora filmmakers have opted to shoot their Iran-set stories abroad; it’s easier to “fake” Iran than to film in the country itself. Filmmakers who’ve done this in recent years include Ali Abassi (“Holy Spider,” shot in Jordan), Shirin Neshat (“Women Without Men,” shot in Morocco), Ana Lily Amirpour (“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” shot in California), and Babak Anvari (“Under the Shadow,” shot in Jordan).

As Niasari wondered on our call, “How many of our filmmakers are in exile and unable to tell the stories they want to tell in Iran?”

“Shayda” will likely never screen in Iran due to the film’s emancipatory subject matter. The country lacks any copyright law, however, so bootleg copies have allowed some Iranians to see the film. Niasari calls this the “silver lining to piracy”; she hopes Iranians can see the film, given the lack of platforms to discuss domestic violence in the country.

Funnily enough, Niasari’s own mother learned that some Iranians had seen “Shayda” when she found an event listing for a video call to discuss the film online. The video conference consisted of Niasari’s mother and about a dozen cinephiles in Iran. Her mother sat in on the call and listened without comment for about two hours, until one of the attendees asked her what she thought of the film.

“She said, ‘Yes, I have some affiliation with the film,’” Niasari recalled. “They asked her more questions, and at some point she couldn’t really hold back. So she told them, ‘I’m the real-life Shayda, I’m Noora’s mother.’ And they were shocked.”

She continued, “They all stood up and clapped for her. My mom had tears in her eyes when she explained this to me. She said that she never expected people in Iran to understand the story in the nuanced way that this group of people did. She just felt really seen; it was a very powerful moment for her.”

Sony Pictures Classics will release “Shayda” in limited release on Friday, March 1.

The post ‘Shayda’ Filmmaker Noora Niasari Will Never Be Able to Show Her Film in Iran, but It’s Already Found Its Fans appeared first on We Are Actors.

Will Arbery, hailing from a unique background that spans Texas, Wyoming, and the influence of seven sisters, brings a rich tapestry of experiences to his writing. His plays, often characterized by their exploration of complex themes such as identity, belief, and the American landscape, reflect a deep engagement with the world around him. Arbery’s articulate and thoughtful discussion on the podcast sheds light on how his upbringing and personal journey have shaped his approach to storytelling.

Arbery also delves into the challenges of being a playwright in the modern era, touching upon the evolving landscape of theater and television.

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to Arbery’s creative process, offering aspiring playwrights and creatives invaluable insights into developing their own works. Arbery’s approach is both disciplined and intuitive, allowing for a fluidity and openness in his writing that captures the complexity of human experience.

Listeners are also treated to Arbery’s reflections on the themes that permeate his plays, including politics, faith, and the search for meaning in a rapidly changing world.

This episode of the “We Are Actors” podcast with Will Arbery is a compelling and enriching experience for anyone interested in the art and craft of playwriting, offering a rare glimpse into the mind of one of the most important voices in contemporary theater.

Check out the full interview in the video above and other episodes of the We Are Actors podcast Here

The post Will Arbery Interview appeared first on We Are Actors.

Kathrine Narducci, a renowned actress known for her dynamic and compelling performances. The episode, rich in content and insight, delved into various aspects of Narducci’s career, her approach to acting, and her personal journey in the entertainment industry.

Kathrine Narducci, with her authentic charm and candid demeanor, shared her experiences and challenges in the acting world. She discussed her beginnings, highlighting how she entered the industry with little formal training but a wealth of natural talent and determination. Narducci’s story is one of resilience and perseverance, resonating with many aspiring actors who dream of making it in a highly competitive field.

The conversation shifted to her notable roles, including her portrayal in the critically acclaimed series “The Sopranos.” Narducci emphasized the importance of understanding a character’s backstory and motivations. Her approach to acting is deeply rooted in empathy and a profound understanding of human emotions, which she believes are crucial in bringing authenticity to any role.

The episode wasn’t just about the glitz and glamour of acting. Narducci candidly discussed the ups and downs of an actor’s life, including the uncertainties and rejections that are part and parcel of the profession. She emphasized the importance of mental resilience, a supportive network, and continuously honing one’s craft.

In conclusion, Kathrine Narducci’s appearance on the “We Are Actors” podcast was not only enlightening but also deeply inspiring. Her journey, insights, and wisdom provided a fascinating glimpse into the life of a talented actress who has made a significant mark in the entertainment industry.

Check out the full interview in the video above and other episodes of the We Are Actors podcast Here

The post Kathrine Narducci Interview appeared first on We Are Actors.

It’s not the first moment we meet the show-stealing Danielle Brooks as Sofia in Blitz Bazawule’s musical adaption of “The Color Purple,” but it might as well be, so clearly (so amusingly) does it capture her essence.

Picture this: We’re in Harpo’s (Corey Hawkins) newly built cabin (situated, somewhat strangely, smack in the middle of the bayou), a home he’s endeavored mightily to make his own, when who should appear? His own fiancée, Sofia, as ebullient and self-assured as any character we meet in the Alice Walker adaptation, who doesn’t just enter her future house, but literally kicks down the door to make her way inside.

It’s Sofia in a nutshell: buoyant, confident, funny, a little crazy, and impossible to ignore. So it’s only fitting that Brooks, who brings Sofia so wonderfully to life in the film, can be thanked for its creation.

“I have so much pride in that moment,” Brooks told IndieWire during a recent interview. “Blitz really gave me the freedom to bring my ideas into the room. Originally, he and our choreographer Fatima [Robinson] were just like, ‘We need you to come into the door and then we’ll work out the movement,’ and I said, ‘Well, Sofia would just never just come through a door.’ At Juilliard, they taught us, ‘Any time you enter and exit a room, you want the audience to want to go with you and leave with you,’ so that’s what stuck with me. Sofia is not just going to creep into a room and just walk through a door — she’s going to bust it wide open. That’s who she is. So Blitz got some of the crew to rig the door so that I could kick it, because I actually think originally the door was going in the opposite direction, and so we wouldn’t really knock the door off its hinges, and they rigged it so that I could do that.”

Brooks’ door-kicking bluster is already paying off: She’s been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award (CCA) in the supporting actress categories, in addition to best ensemble nods from the CCAs and the Black Reel Awards. An Oscar nod seems likely (and deserved), but Brooks isn’t too fussed about that. First? She just really wants to talk about everyone else around her who made this work possible.

“That’s just a testament [to] working with a director who trusts their actors,” the actress said of that door-kicking (and, it seems, more). “I’m grateful because there have been moments in my career, in characters I played where [I felt] hindered. You feel like, ‘Man, I thought you hired me because you thought I had some good ideas and knew this character.’ Sometimes that doesn’t always get to translate through the screen. With this [film], every choice that I made, I felt confident in it because Blitz gave me the permission to make Sofia of my own.”

She added with a smile, “And so did Miss Oprah, who was there on set a lot of the time.” (Miss Oprah is, of course, Oprah Winfrey, who produced Bazawule’s film and played Sofia in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film adaptation of Walker’s book.)

While much of “The Color Purple” traces the arc of Fantasia Barrino’s Miss Celie — a traditionally plotted story, one that steadily traces her growing self-respect and self-determination, all leading up to the show-stopping “I’m Here” and a final sequence that sees her enjoying her hard-won happiness — Sofia’s arc is different.

Brooks’ character is initially delivered to us as confident, outspoken, and secure in her desires as a woman. She kicks down doors. She leaves her husband when he tries to beat her. She finds a new love. She sings an entire song about keeping her self-worth in the face of anyone getting in her way (it’s called “Hell No,” and it’s glorious). She’s the sort of character we expect to see someone grow into, the kind of person we celebrate at the end of a long, hard journey.

Which makes her eventual arc that much more wrenching, as the second half of “The Color Purple” sees Sofia imprisoned, abused, and beaten down after a horrific run-in with a racist white woman (a skin-crawling Elizabeth Marvel) who simply can’t believe that a Black woman like Sofia wouldn’t want to come work as her maid. Snatched from her family, locked up in the local jail, taken completely out of the life she’s made for herself, even Sofia starts to crumble. That’s a different arc. That’s what Brooks loves.

“The thing that I love about Sofia is that it’s true to reality,” Brooks said. “For some people, life is going to be full of coming back into yourself and discovering yourself again, and figuring out how to go back and pick up pieces of yourself that were helpful for the journey and then let go of some things that aren’t. I had the joy of my life playing with this character, because the same way in which Sofia has her power, loses her power, [she] comes back into it, I feel like I’ve gone through a similar journey with myself. It’s been a really incredible trajectory of growth as an artist for myself.”

Brooks pointed back to her time at Juilliard (she graduated in 2011, two years before her breakout role in Netflix’s hit series “Orange Is the New Black”) to further illustrate her point. “You get into Juilliard, you’re studying, and you have this fearlessness, or I had this fearlessness about myself that you really couldn’t tell me nothing,” she said. “I just enjoyed acting so much and I would fall and not care and get back up again, it was OK to throw myself at whatever I was being taught or learning. And it wasn’t until I really entered into this industry and started to get some notoriety that I started to doubt that.”

Playing Sofia, first on Broadway and then in Bazawule’s film? That righted things for her. “It was through playing Sofia and singing ‘Hell No’ every night on Broadway for a year in 2015 that really helped me to come out of my slump of feeling like I wasn’t enough or feeling imposter syndrome, feeling like, ‘How did I get here?’” she said. “Then getting to play her in this movie, I feel like I’ve had my own moment at the dinner table of coming back into myself … of owning my power through this character, and owning my power in this industry, and knowing that there is a place for me in this industry in the way in which I can move is by being my authentic self.”

Alongside Barrino (who played Celie in the original Broadway production, picking up from LaChanze; Barrino also played the role on tour) Brooks is the only other Broadway holdover to make up the film’s cast. She previously played Sofia during the 2015 Broadway revival of the musical, earning Brooks her first Tony nomination.

She’s been open about her struggle to get cast in Bazawule’s theatrical version — to say she seemed like both the best and the most obvious choice is clear within the first 30 seconds she’s onscreen, but Hollywood sure can be strange — but even that process seemed to have further crystallized Brooks’ determination.

Brooks recalls shooting the first season of the Max/DC series “Peacemaker” in Canada in early 2021 while she was trying to lock up the “Color Purple” job. It wasn’t going so well. “I was still in my process of trying to get this job, and a lot of different names were being floated around [for Sofia], and that was intimidating me and making me feel like, ‘Man, this really might not swing in my direction,’” she recalled.

The actress turned to her director and series creator James Gunn about her fears, “and James took time during filming to talk to me. He was just telling me about keeping the faith, and if I really wanted it, to go for it. And don’t be afraid to write Blitz a letter. Because I was asking James, like, ‘Should I write Blitz a letter? Is that too aggressive or too much?’ And he was like, ‘No, I don’t think it is.’ He just took that time to help comfort me, [reminding me that] you’ll end up where you need to, but don’t be afraid to fight for what you want.” She fought. She won.

But the prize was a different Sofia than she had known on Broadway. Trimmed down from the stage show’s 155-minute running time, Bazawule’s film does not include over a dozen songs Brooks and company performed on Broadway. She misses some of them, like “Dear God — Sofia” and “Any Little Thing.” But she gets why these changes were made, like the alterations to “Hell No,” which is sped up and turned into “more like an anthem for women’s empowerment” in the film.

“It was about understanding the vision of our director and what he was going for,” Brooks said. “Me and Blitz had about an hour, hour and a half conversation when I was first going through my audition process, and I could tell, he was bringing a new light to it. He was giving it a facelift in a way to really match the needs of this generation. I’m like, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ … It’s very rare that an actor gets to play the same character in two different mediums. But now, I was coloring with an endless coloring box. That’s how I felt, endless crayons.”

There was endless new energy, too. “I have the elements now. I’m in Georgia. I have the sun beaming on my face,” Brooks recalled. “I have all of the things that I need to really bring Sofia to life in the best way that I knew how. The addition of having new actors, they bring new energy, they’re bringing new choices and digging deeper into the work as well. … Getting to play her [again], it just was like putting out a bull that you’re trying to stop. I was ready to cut up and just go for everything. To not leave any crumb on the floor when I got that opportunity.”

Other changes offered different results. Consider again the scene in which Sofia is arrested, which “really took a toll” on Brooks’ body, “because I ended up having to do that scene over the course of two days for multiple hours a day, and it pulled my back out,” she explained. “Swinging back and forth trying to get the mob off of me. Of course, we have an incredible stage combat leader [stunt coordinator Mark Hicks] and his crew were fabulous, but doing it over and over, that really took me out, where I had to do physical therapy and go to the chiropractor for a few weeks to recover while still having to work.”

On Broadway, that scene is “stripped down to just a bare stage with wood and wooden chairs,” Brooks said. “So when we did the mob scene on Broadway, you don’t even see it. You just see me come down center stage and fall to my knees, and then you’ll see I lift my head up and now I’ve transformed into a new version, a downtrodden, spirit-stolen Sofia, which I can sustain for a year. But it’s much different doing [it for real], and having 10 to 15 guys surrounding you and you wanting to put everything in it because you want it to make sense from every angle, to not feel like you phoned it in. … I pride myself on being a physical actor. That’s where I live. I love finding how I can use all of my body for the character. I just want to use everything that I can.”

Brooks credits her Juilliard training for her helping her emerge from the tough task of playing Sofia, particularly in scenes that require both physical and emotional acuity and passion. At the end of a day on set, Brooks has a routine.

“The first thing I have to do is get out of my wig, get out of my clothes, and I take a hot towel to my face and wipe off the character. That seems to help,” she said. “But when you talk about the internal, the spiritual part of giving of yourself, that takes time. To me, a lot of it has to go back to the ancestors. I call it blood work because you have to go down your bloodline and talk to them, or at least I did, and pull from Black women in my family and Black women just in history that have experienced things like this. I think about those women, and it’s hard to shake those stories. I wrote in my journal at the end of it, I was like, ‘After 70-plus days of playing Sofia, I’m completely depleted.’ I was so drained.”

Knowing she will come out of it helps. “I do credit Juilliard for teaching us how to come out of character, how to not always go to the darkest of places within ourselves, to know when you do go there, that there is a way to pull out that you don’t have to stay there,” she said. “Each actor, you find your own way. And again, mine is taking off that wig right away, putting that hot towel on my face, taking the clothes off, wearing my jumpsuit and my Dr. Martens, getting my swag back, getting my spirit back. That helps me.”

As for what’s next? Brooks is continuing her role on “Peacemaker” and is set for a role in the upcoming “Minecraft” big-screen feature. She’d like to work with filmmakers like “The Harder They Fall” and “The Book of Clarence” director Jeymes Samuel and Steven Spielberg (“Come on, let’s get it!”), the kind of creators who could be “the right kindred spirit to make magic together.”

And she wants more magic, lots more, not just for herself either. She hopes the success of “The Color Purple” will make it “easier to get what is needed to support these films. I think that’s what it’s really about.” She continued, “Blitz can probably speak way better to this than I can, but I know that he did have to fight for a lot of stuff to get the budget to where it needed to get, to get the answers that he wanted. … It is an industry, everybody is trying to pinch a coin in every direction, but I do look forward to a day where you can have more than one Blitz Bazawule, more than one Ava DuVernay, more than one Dee Rees. Can we get multiple movies going at a time so that we can continue to expand our storytelling? I think we are just ready to get to a place where we don’t have to fight as hard.”

A Warner Bros. film, “The Color Purple” is now in theaters.

The post ‘The Color Purple’ Star Danielle Brooks Will Kick Down Every Door She Has to appeared first on We Are Actors.