Marlee Matlin on Her New Film “CODA” & Its Refreshing Focus on a Deaf Family
Marlee Matlin is unquestionably the best-known and most successful deaf actor working in American film and television. She exploded on the scene with her Oscar-winning performance as Sarah in the 1986 movie Children of a Lesser God and has worked steadily ever since. From her Emmy-nominated performances in Law and Order, The Practice, Seinfield, and Picket Fences to the memorable ...
Emmy-Nominee Hannah Waddingham on the Joy of Making “Ted Lasso”
Before Ted Lasso became a phenomenon, setting a record for most Emmy nominations by a freshman comedy (20 total, including seven for its actors), its virtues were spread, among my friends, more like a whisper campaign. One buddy in particular kept needling me via text. What finally broke me was the realization that here was my ...
Veteran Voice Actor Jeff Bergman on Voicing the Looney Tunes Gang in “Space Jam: A New Legacy”
In Space Jam’s contemporary follow-up, Space Jam: A New Legacy, from director Malcolm D. Lee, the movie’s apex basketball game comes about thanks to star LeBron James’s youngest son, Dom (Cedric Joe), who doesn’t want to play the sport at all. Dom would rather design and program his own video games, an interest which inadvertently ...
Giancarlo Esposito on Breaking Good in “Godfather of Harlem”
Giancarlo Esposito has gravitas to spare. On the big screen, early on in his career, he appeared in a slew of Spike Lee’s seminal films, including a commanding performance as Dean Big Brother Almighty in School Daze (1988), which led to roles in Do The Right Thing (1989), Mo’ Better Blues (1990) and Malcolm X (1992). On TV, Esposito’s charisma made ...
“Army of the Dead” and “The Forever Purge” Star Ana de la Reguera’s Big Summer
Actress, writer, and producer Ana de la Reguera is having quite the start to her summer. She has a meaty role in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, which bowed on Netflix on May 21, and in which she plays Maria Cruz, a ferociously competent mercenary and the right-hand woman to Dave Bautista‘s Scott Ward. The role ...
Burkinabé Star Issaka Sawadogo on the Importance of Fighting Piracy
Telling stories has always been a way to connect with people around the world, through common narratives and shared feelings. Whether the story being told is set in Mali, Miami, or Malaysia, they reveal how much more alike we are—in our hopes and dreams, our fears and failures—than we are different. But stories are not ...
“Wildcat” Actor Luke Benward on Finding His Character’s Defining Trait
Luke Benward was cast in his first role when he was just five years old, as Mel Gibson’s son in We Were Soldiers. He has worked steadily ever since, from starring in How to Eat Fried Worms at age 11, to playing Danielle Macdonald’s love interest in director Anne Fletcher’s film Dumplin‘. Benward is especially ...
Oscar-Nominee Yuh-jung Youn on Creating Family in “Minari”
This interview with Yuh-jung Youn is part of our ongoing Oscar series. It was originally published on February 16, before she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Writer/director Lee Isaac Chung’s film Minari is about a Korean family chasing the American dream in 1980s Arkansas. Steven Yeun and Yeri Han ...
Oscar-Nominee Daniel Kaluuya on Honoring Fred Hampton’s Legacy in “Judas and the Black Messiah”
This interview with Daniel Kaluuya is part of our ongoing Oscar series. It was originally published on February 23, before Kaluuya was nominated, alongside co-star Lakeith Stanfield, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Daniel Kaluuya is such a comedian it’s hard to imagine he’s made a career out of acting in some of the ...
Tahar Rahim on Playing With Brutal Truths in “The Mauritanian”
The Mauritanian boasts performances from Jodie Foster, a legend who has earned the right to be picky about her roles, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Shailene Woodley. All are predictably excellent—Foster as the dogged defense attorney Nancy Hollander, Cumberbatch as the military prosecutor Stuart Couch, and Woodley as Hollander’s tenacious assistant Teri Duncan. Yet director Kevin Macdonald’s ...
Actress Taylour Paige Gets Into the “Boogie” Spirit in Eddie Huang’s Directorial Debut
Boogie, Eddie Huang’s directorial debut, proves to be a different kind of coming-of-age story. Best known for penning the autobiography that inspired the hit TV series Fresh Off the Boat, Huang draws upon two subjects near to his heart – his Chinese heritage and his love of basketball — to weave an offbeat tale of ...
International Women’s Day Profile: Director Tan Chui Mui
Pioneering Malaysian New Wave director Tan Chui Mui was on the final recce of her latest film, Barbarian Invasion, in a remote fishing village when the national lockdown news broke in mid-March last year following the World Health Organization’s declaration of the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Her shoot was about to start in early April, ...
Writer/Director Anna Kerrigan & Jillian Bell on Making the Modern-Day Western “Cowboys”
A stirring, “stay with you” drama about family, tolerance, and rescue, Cowboys centers on the disparate reactions from newly separated parents Sally and Troy (Jillian Bell and Steve Zahn) upon learning their child, Joe (newcomer Sasha Knight), is transgender. While Sally remains in denial, Troy is determined to allow Joe to live authentically and runs ...
Daniel Kaluuya on Honoring Fred Hampton’s Legacy in “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Daniel Kaluuya is such a comedian it’s hard to imagine he’s made a career out of acting in some of the most profound dramas of the past five years—a fact that he too, seems to frequently forget. “A lot of times it surprises me,” Kaluuya said. “I was driving around LA and I saw myself ...
Yuh-jung Youn on Creating Family in “Minari”
Writer/director Lee Isaac Chung’s film Minari is about a Korean family chasing the American dream in 1980s Arkansas. Steven Yeun and Yeri Han play parents Jacob and Monica, who have brought their two kids Ann and David to live and work on a farm, one Jacob hopes to make successful. Yuh-jung Youn plays foul-mouthed but loving ...
“One Night in Miami” Star Eli Goree on Channeling Muhammad Ali
The first time Eli Goree tried to be Muhammad Ali in the movies, he failed. But when Ang Lee picked another actor for his ill-fated biopic about the heavyweight champion of the world, Goree forged ahead. In between TV gigs like Riverdale and The 100, he trained in boxing gyms, hired a dialect coach to ...
Vanessa Kirby & Ellen Burstyn on Their Poignant New Film “Pieces of a Woman”
It is rare that a film as difficult to watch as Pieces of a Woman compels you to watch it multiple times. That’s the case with Netflix’s new aching drama, in which the acting and story are presented in such an authentic way that it offers new layers with each successive viewing. The first English language ...
Best of 2020: A Conversation With Laverne Cox
We put together our annual “Best Of” list with an eye towards the conversations that weren’t just about our particular area of interest—how films and TV shows are made and the people who make them—but delved into broader discussions that were unavoidable in this historic, often heartbreaking year. These conversations include our chat with Laverne ...
Best of 2020: Meet the Background Actors Who Populate HBO’s “Perry Mason” – Part I
We put together our annual “Best Of” list with an eye towards the conversations that weren’t just about our particular area of interest—how films and TV shows are made and the people who make them—but delved into broader discussions that were unavoidable in this historic, often heartbreaking year. These conversations include our chat with Laverne ...
David Oyelowo & Demián Bichir on George Clooney’s Timely Sci-Fi Film “Midnight Sky”
Based on Lily Brooks-Dalton’s acclaimed novel “Good Morning, Midnight”, the new Netflix release The Midnight Sky (streaming December 23), which is directed by George Clooney, follows scientist Augustine (played by Clooney) who navigates a post-apocalyptic world alone in the Arctic, while warning away Sully (Felicity Jones) and the other astronauts returning from deep space with her. ...
