Awards Chatter

The Golden Globe-nominated breakout star reflects on his transformation from reserved kid into public performer; the challenges of playing icons Jesse Owens and John Lewis and anchoring 'If Beale Street Could Talk'; and holding his own opposite Julia Roberts on Amazon Prime's acclaimed podcast adaptation. Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded and produced by Matthew Whitehurst and Joshua Far...

Scott Feinberg, THR's awards columnist, is joined by THR's tech editor Carolyn Giardina, executive editor (features) Stephen Galloway, senior editor (film) Rebecca Keegan and film editor Gregg Kilday for a discussion about the show's controversies, contenders and consequences. Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded by Joshua Farnham and produced by Matthew Whitehurst. Learn more about your ad...

The trailblazing costume designer — the first black person ever nominated for the best costume design Oscar, she now has three such noms to her name (no black woman has more across all categories) — reflects on breaking into her profession when no other black women were getting work, her 14 collaborations with Spike Lee and what it was like costuming a 2018 movie unlike any before it. But first: M...

The veteran character actor, who was most famous for his debut film role in 1987's 'Withnail & I' prior to his Oscar-nominated turn in Marielle Heller's 2018 dramedy about a pair of Big Apple misfits, reflects on his bizarre childhood, the working-actor's grind and why he's savoring every second of his current moment in the spotlight. Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded by Dennis Schweitze...

One of the greatest songwriters of all time — a one-woman hit machine for 35 years who has worked with most major singers of that timespan and is synonymous with the 'power ballad' — reflects on how music helped her escape a troubled childhood, the origins of her biggest hits and the inspiration for the call-to-action songs that have led to the three most recent of her 10 Oscar noms. Credits: Host...

The YouTube star turned internationally-popular standup comedian turned acclaimed filmmaker reflects on his unusual career path, his debilitating battles with anxiety and how technology is changing our lives. Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded and produced by Matthew Whitehurst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most respected actresses of her generation, a five-time Oscar bridesmaid, reflects on how years in dinner theater gave way to a career in screen acting, how her career has been divided into noticeable phases and how she navigates dark parts like the two she played in 2018 (one in a film, the other in a limited TV series). Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded and produced by Matth...

The beloved character actor, who has been appearing on the big screen for 52 years, reflects on why the first film in which he was the star was also the last; how he feels about being typecast as the strong/silent type; and what sparked his late-career renaissance. Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded by Dennis Schweitzer and produced by Matthew Whitehurst. Learn more about your ad choices....

The Oscar winner, one of the key figures of New Mexican Cinema and one of the most accomplished and admired filmmakers in the world, opens up about being kicked out of film school, the evolution of 'The Three Amigos,' the widely-varying scales and genres of his films and why his latest — a black-and-white Spanish-language masterpiece on Netflix — is his most personal yet. Credits: Hosted by Scott...

The 22-year-old 'Manchester by the Sea' Oscar nominee talks about growing up in an artistic family, battling self-doubt, coming to terms with his sexuality and starring in three films — and making his Broadway debut — in 2018. Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded by Ryan Gabos and produced by Matthew Whitehurst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 18-year-old New Zealander reflects on her breakout year (after Debra Granik's latest premiered at Sundance, she shot four other films), frequent comparisons with J-Law (the star of Granik's last film, 'Winter's Bone') and her plans for the future. Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded and produced by Matthew Whitehurst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The beloved star of 'The Office' talks about his prior struggles to break into the biz, his subsequent transition into film acting and directing and his remarkable 2018 playing a superhero on TV and writing, directing and starring in the year's most successful elevated horror flick. Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded and produced by Matthew Whitehurst. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

20 years after first taking outlandish characters out into the world, a form of comedy that hadn’t been done before, the incomparable Brit, now up for a Golden Globe, reflects on pre-fame life, his characters’ origins and Donald Trump. Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded by Dennis Schweitzer and produced by Matthew Whitehurst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The biggest female movie star of the last 30 years, "America's Sweetheart" herself, reflects on pre-stardom life and loss, how she wound up in 'Pretty Woman' and becoming the queen of rom-coms and what it's like to now be playing a mom (she's getting some of the best notices of her career for her turn as a mother trying to help her drug-addicted son in Peter Hedges' latest film) and starring on se...

An actors’ actor who is just 33, but already has more than a decade of acclaimed stage and screen work under her belt, on breaking out of period pieces, overcoming fears and her latest role, in which she gives, in the view of the New York Times' film critic, "the best performance of any I’ve seen in film this year." But first: Roger Ross Williams, the first black director ever to win an Oscar, and...

One of the most multi-talented stars in showbiz history — an Australian man of Hollywood films and Broadway theater who is the living embodiment of "the triple threat" — reflects on his dark childhood, playing the same superhero in more films and over more years than anyone else in history and now portraying a real and still-living person for the first time. But first: Cristina Costantini and Darr...

The small, scrappy, tough-as-nails New York filmmaker behind classics such as 'She's Gotta Have It,' 'Do the Right Thing' and 'Malcolm X' reflects upon the challenges of making indie films over the last 32 years, the impact of and controversies surrounding his work and what he makes of Hollywood and America's fraught relationship with race in the past and present — the subject of his most recent p...

One of the most prolific and admired directors in TV history — the go-to guy for sitcom pilots — reflects on how Mary Tyler Moore helped him break into the biz, the 15 years he split between 'Taxi' and 'Cheers' (he co-created the latter) and being at the center of NBC's 'Must See TV' era with 'Frasier,' 'Friends' and 'Will & Grace.' But first: Natalie Jarvey, THR's digital media editor, joins Scot...

The ‘12 Years a Slave’ director and producer (the first black producer ever to win a best picture Oscar) opens up about how his work in art led to his career in film, his close collaborations with Michael Fassbender and why he followed his big Oscar night with an elevated heist flick he has been mulling for 35 years. But first: Matthew Heineman, a 35-year-old filmmaker best known for his Oscar-nom...

One of the greatest basketball players of all time reflects on his career on the hardwood, transitioning into retirement and using his profile to call attention to socially-significant films. But first: Gabe Polsky, the director of the new documentary ‘In Search of Greatness,’ joins Scott to discuss his quest to determine what separates the greatest athletes from the rest. Credits: Hosted by Scott...

One of the most popular singer/songwriters of all-time — a woman who The Guardian described as “the biggest star country music has ever produced,” and who has crossed back and forth, for more than 40 years, between country and pop, while also starring in movies and on TV — discusses her Appalachian roots and road to Nashville, the backstories of her greatest hits ("Jolene," "9 to 5," "I Will Alway...

One of today's few true movie stars — people buy tickets to see a movie because she's in it — opens up about the source of her early self-esteem and confidence; the crazy way she wound up performing standup and then improv; why she was planning to quit showbiz just before she landed 'Gilmore Girls'; how the blockbuster success of 'Bridesmaids' and an Emmy win for 'Mike & Molly' within just a few m...

One of Hollywood's most versatile actors opens up about his discovery of improv en route to 'The Daily Show,' how a small part in 'Anchorman' led to a star-making role in 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' which, in turn, saved the fledgling 'The Office,' and why he ventured into darker material with 'Foxcatcher,' for which he received an Oscar nom, and his newest film. But first: Sandra Lee, the Daytime Em...

A queen in the past in 'Hyde Park on Hudson,' in the future on 'The Crown' and in the present in Yorgos Lanthimos' latest dramedy reflects on her beginnings in comedy, how the British indie film 'Tyrannosaur' and TV series 'Broadchurch' exploded her profile and what it's like to now be the center of so much attention. But first: Elsie Fisher, the 15-year-old actress who starred in this summer's br...

One of Hollywood's most colorful characters — he has morphed from bit player to leading man to matinee idol to Oscar winner over the last 25 years — shares the backstories of "Alright, alright, alright," his big break, his rom-com/shirtless era and one of Hollywood's most remarkable career-reboots, 'the McConnaisance.' Credits: Hosted by Scott Feinberg, recorded and produced by Matthew Whitehurst....