Back To One

Australian actor Essie Davis is best known for “The Babadook,” “Game of Thrones,” and “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.” This year, she stunned me with two incredible performances in two powerful films. In “Nitram,” directed by her husband Justin Kurzel, she plays the important and heartbreaking supporting role of Helen, opposite Caleb Landry Jones. In “The Justice of Bunny King” she broke my heart again, this time playing the house-less titular character who is desperately trying to get her kids out of foster care. It was made pre-pandemic and had a staggered release last year overseas. Look for it in select US cities and on VOD in late September. On this episode, she gives us a glimpse of what’s at the core of her process. She talks about why it takes her an abnormally long time to read a script, the helpful ways Kurzel assists actors in prep, the change that occurred when she stopped “trying” and started “being,” plus much more.

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Esteemed veteran actor John Christopher Jones returns to the podcast (his first time was episode 13) to talk about conquering the “real fear” he had of going back to work, in a guest starring role on the television series “New Amsterdam,” while dealing with the unpredictable and often debilitating effects of worsening Parkinson’s. Then he takes us on a brief tour of the various directors that worked well for him over the years, and others that, sometimes hilariously, fell a little short, like José Quintero and his maddening direction in the 1985 production of “The Iceman Cometh” with Jason Robards. He shares frustrating stories of being the understudy who’s thrown into Mike Nichols’ 1984 production of “Hurlyburly,” and having to survive the antics and proclivities of Ron Silver and others. He tells us about the least successful role he ever performed, the most successful, and how looking back on all of it makes him realize how lucky he is. Plus much more!

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Austin Pendleton might be best known for “My Cousin Vinny,” or “What’s Up Doc?” but the 82 year old actor, director, playwright, and teacher is a one-man theater institution. It almost seems like there isn’t a great play that he hasn’t performed or directed, somewhere, in his 60+ years in the business, and he’s not slowing down in the slightest. In this epic, 90 minute episode, what Meryl Streep said of Pendleton will ring true—“there’s no line between the man and his work.” He talks about his latest performance, in the celebrated new Tracy Letts play “The Minutes,” then takes us back half-a-century to the the first production of “Fiddler On The Roof,” and tells a few incredible stories of working with the great Jerome Robbins. I ask him how teaching feeds his acting work. He shares some important lessons he’s learned from his teachers (like Uta Hagen, Bobby Lewis, and Elia Kazan), legendary actors (like Jo Van Fleet and Kim Stanley), and disasters (like when a horrifically bad review kept him away from substantial roles for 7 years). He leaves us with a vow he made in 1958, which he still lives by, that just might be the secret to his longevity in this emotional roller-coaster of a profession. Plus much more! Sit back and let this great sage of the stage take you on a journey through the life of an actor in a deep, enduring love affair with the work.

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Adrian Pasdar has experienced a lot in his nearly 40 years as a working actor and in this episode he generously shares the wisdom he’s gleaned. Some of the highlights in his credits include “Top Gun,” Near Dark,” “Carlito’s Way,” “Heroes,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” and perhaps the most talked about single-season series of the 90s—“Profit.” Not to mention he’s the voice of Iron Man. He talks about how listening became his prime directive as an actor, his search for truth in performance (and the search for a better word than “truth”), “the method” as protective element, and why he believes “the tools we need as artists are right in front of us.” Plus he bestows upon us a few amazing stories featuring familiar names, such as getting bailed out of a Cannes jail by Woody Harrelson, getting forgiven by Frank Sinatra, taking Kathryn Bigelow to see the Russian masterpiece “Come And See,” eating TV dinners with Gregory Peck, and much more.

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Dutch actor Katja Herbers plays forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard on the hit series “Evil,” which just finished its third season at Paramount+. On this episode, she talks about how saying no to the audition actually secured her the role, and hitting it off with “the Kings” (show runners Robert and Michelle King) helped her feel ownership of it. We get into the beautiful weeds about the pitfalls of over-directing and how she often simply ignores direction or translates it into something she can use. She explains why laboring over an emotional through-line is unnecessary, how working with the girls that plays her kids fuels her work, why she was worried about getting fired from “Westworld,” and much more.

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Zoey Deutch returns to the podcast (Ep. 11, Ep. 97) to talk about her latest role in Quinn Shephard’s dark social satire “Not Okay.” She plays Danni Sanders, a lonely, semi-clueless photo editor who suddenly gets the attention she craves after lying about almost dying in a terrorist attack. Deutch talks about how she approached the challenge of making Danni relatable, the frustrations of shooting in New York City, why she didn’t play it as a comedy, spirit animals, “using” the paparazzi, the amazing Mia Issac, what she learned from Mark Rylance on “The Outfit,” and much more! Watch "Not Okay" on Hulu.

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Himesh Patel is nominated for an Emmy this year for his incredible performance as Jeevan in Patrick Somerville’s HBO Max mini-series “Station Eleven.” In this episode, he talks about how that role made him a better actor, which is saying a lot because he had already given us some phenomenal work in films like “Tenet,” “Don’t Look Up,” and his first feature film “Yesterday.” He talks about the attention and care given to him by the big-name directors of those films, and how that helped his work. I ask about his 10 years on the UK television institution “EastEnders,” and if that acting foundation keeps supporting him. He talks about the short film that changed his career, the role as a pigeon that changed his life, and much more!

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She’s only 21, but Australian actor Angourie Rice has earned respect in Hollywood for stacking up diverse roles in “The Nice Guys,” “The Beguiled,” “Jasper Jones,” “Mare of Easttown,” not to mention a few Spider-Man movies. Now she has her first starring role in “Honor Society” for Paramount+. She talks about how it helped her to be able to relate so much to her character in that film, and why talking directly to the camera was oddly easy. We chat about her podcast, The Community Library, which is a celebration of literature and storytelling of all kinds. This leads to a discussion of how actors view their place in a story. She talks about why her podcast has made her look more critically at the scripts she gets, how being a lover of words helps the work, and much more.

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Ethan Hawke returns to the podcast (first time was episode 41) to talk about “The Last Movie Stars,” his epic 6-part documentary that chronicles Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s iconic careers and decades-long partnership. Years ago, a friend of the couple interviewed Paul, Joanne, and many people close to them for a potential memoir, but Newman burned the tapes. Miraculously, the transcripts survive, so Hawke called on his acting friends to bring them to life. The result is both an intimate portrait of the lives and careers of this great duo and also a constant celebration of the endeavor of acting itself. Hawke talks about the apprehensions he had when Newman’s children approached him to do this series, and how they were assuaged. He lets us in on what led to the decision to go meta and include the “behind the scenes” zoom conversations, which, in my opinion, really makes the series special. He talks about discovering his own biases while editing and how that awareness enriched the cut, shares why he relates to one aspect of how Newman approached his own fame, and why it felt sometimes like working on this was going to break his brain. Plus much more! “The Last Movie Stars” is on HBO Max on July 21st.

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Fresh out of Juilliard, Jeanne Tripplehorn’s first screen role was “Basic Instinct.” That started a 30+ year run of films like “The Firm,” “Waterworld,” “Sliding Doors,” and series such as “Criminal Minds,” “Big Love,” and her latest, “The Terminal List” for Amazon. In this episode, she talks about her love for extensive research, the most important tools for an actor—confidence, relaxation, and focus; how the happenings off-screen affect what’s on the screen; and why, at this point in her career, she just wants to play. Plus we get the scoop on her preternatural ability to sing classic rock songs in the voice of Julie Andrews.

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