Feeling Seen

When it comes to the many characters of sleeper Christmas favorite The Family Stone , writer and podcaster ( John Dutton Must Die: A Yellowstone Podcast , My Year With Dolly ) wishes he could identify as an Amy. But he sees himself instead as a Julie – as in Claire Danes character, the sister who rushes in to save the day and somehow manages to charm the insular Stone family. He tells Jordan about...

Comedy writer, singer, co-host of the Las Culturistas podcast, and now Prince of Christmas, Matt Rogers is filling a musical comedy niche previously occupied by...well, no one at all. Is it possible that he got here by following his inner Torrance Shipman, aka Kirsten Dunst's character from the 2000 film Bring It On ? Matt shares why the movie was important to him growing up, how he relates to it...

When the director of some of the juiciest modern horror films came to us with Ferris Bueller as his "feeling seen" pick, we were surprised and intrigued. John Hughes' fun-loving and beloved (except by the principal) truant, as played by Matthew Broderick, is the ultimate main character. And while William Brent Bell might not crave the spotlight, he has a surprising amount in common with young Ferr...

All-time great character actor Stephen Tobolowsky might be best known as Ned Ryerson from GROUNDHOG DAY, but his film and television credits number in the hundreds. His thoughtful character choices for today are appropriately iconic -- George Bailey from It's a Wonderful Life and the Monster from Bride of Frankenstein. But the real highlight of this episode are Stephen's riveting storytelling and...

This episode originally aired just over a year ago, on Nov 17, 2022. Since then, actor Rahul Kohli has joined yet another Mike Flanagan project, one we love here at Feeling Seen -- The Fall of the House of Usher. Happy Thanksgiving! In this episode, Rahul (who starts in NEXT EXIT, directed by Mali Elfman) tells us the many ways that he feels seen by Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) in the KARATE KID...

Welsh comedian Steffan Alun joins us to get really serious about a movie that rarely gets the philosophical treatment: 2004's coming-of-age romcom 13 Going on 30. He's seen the movie countless times, and relates not only to Jennifer Garner's Jenna Rink, but also her boss at Poise magazine, Richard, as played by Andy Serkis (!). Then, Jordan has one quick thing about a new indie crime thriller call...

Vulture TV Critic and former Whole Movie Podcast cohost Roxana Hadadi joins us at last, and the film she brought is one for the ages! PUMP UP THE VOLUME was released in 1990 and yes, it's a time capsule of teenaged Gen-X angst. But it's also weirdly timeless, relevant, and stirring. Roxana is a Millennial, but she's carried both sides of "Hard Harry"  -- unapologetically anti-establishment media f...

From Fear of a Black Hat to the Tales from the Hood series to Chapelle's Show , director Rusty Cundieff (whose latest is sci-fi thriller 57 Seconds) has always been comfortable swinging between genres -- especially horror and comedy. His Hollywood journey may have been inspired by the big ambitions of Preach from the 1975 classic Cooley High .  Then, one quick thing about the fact that this is the...

Malachi Moore is a writer, model, former Division 1 football player, and entertainment renaissance man. And when he saw Chris Washington (as played by Daniel Kaluuya in Jordan Peele's GET OUT), he not only related to Chris's plight in the film, but also to the depiction of a Black man who is also a sensitive, anxious artist.  All that, plus some contrasting spooky movie recommendations, on what we...

Comedian Glen Tickle says he owes much of his creative live to seeing Kevin Smith's CLERKS when he was in high school. A New Jersey native like Smith (and like the film's characters), Glen didn't just see himself on screen -- he also saw a style of creative expression that felt achievably close-to-home. Now a comedian and father of two, he also felt compelled to shout-out the goofy dad king of mod...

Actor and director Natasha Halevi was identified as a Wednesday type by others before she saw it in herself. Decades later, she's still channeling Wednesday's wisdom and willingness to speak truth to power, most recently as the driving force behind the abortion rights horror anthology Give Me an A. Then, Jordan has one quick thing about an Exorcist sequel she actually enjoyed. *** With Jordan Cruc...

Ashley Blaine Featherson-Jenkins (aka ABFJ) grew up relating to Breanna Barnes, the main character of UPN's sitcom One on One. But she wanted to be living the life of its star, Kyla Pratt. When reality (and Ashley's parents) pushed her acting dreams to post-college, Ashley went to Howard University...but not before bingeing A Different World in hopes of seeing what an HBCU might be like. Now an ac...

This episode originally aired on Nov 24, 2022  (Thanksgiving Day).   Sometimes our co-hosts really struggle to come up with a character to discuss for our show. But actor Raúl Castillo ( The Inspection , Cha Cha Real Smooth , Looking , and now Cassandro ) went with his gut, and what came to mind immediately was The Outsiders , and especially Matt Dillon's character of lead "greaser" Dallas "Dally"...

At 24, Megan Suri couldn't have been more than 10 years old when she first laid eyes on Parminder Nagra as Jess in BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. Here was a girl and a family that resembled her; and Jess was the talented, desired center of her own story. Now, Megan stars in IT LIVES INSIDE, which hits theaters this weekend (9/22/23). Then, Jordan will have one quick thing about how the Criterion Channel is...

In 2013's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty , Walter is a quiet outsider with an active fantasy life but not much of a real life beyond his job. But through the movie (and in service of his work) he embraces a great adventure and grows in the process. Comedian Myq Kaplan relates to both versions of Walter -- the awkward, quiet creative mind and the self-assured, evolved adventurer. And in today's ep...

Actor and comedian Cameron Esposito was in her 20s when BOUND first came to her attention, and to this day it remains not only stuck in her memory, but also extremely formative. Gina Gershon as Corky was undeniably gorgeous while also being unquestionably masc.  It's a pairing that's still relatively rare on screen, almost 30 years after the Wachowskis made BOUND. Jordan's one quick thing is about...

Sammi Cohen has gotten their directing career off to a rousing start with CRUSH and now YOU ARE SO NOT INVITED TO MY BAT MITZVAH. Both movies focus on middle or high schoolers learning more about themselves, so perhaps its no surprise that Sammi has brought us a trio of characters who, at various ages, are "coming of age" through life-changing experiences of gender, friendship, loss, success, and...

When Emma Seligman's debut film SHIVA BABY premiered in on a Brooklyn rooftop in 2021, Jordan was there to see the event first-hand. That was arguably the start of a whirlwind of movie deals and news that led straight to BOTTOMS, Seligman's new film, co-written by Rachel Sennott (who stars in both films). On this week's episode, Emma and Jordan talk through that trajectory as they compare notes on...

Stewart Thorndike made a splash with LYLE in 2014, establishing her as an exciting new voice in horror. Her latest film. BAD THINGS, further solidifies this, with its focus squarely on (queer) female characters who aren't afraid to be messy. In Mike Leigh's play ABIGAIL'S PARTY , filmed for television in 1977, Beverly Moss is the life of the party...whether the party wants her to be or not! Then,...

Director William J. Stribling saw THE BIRDCAGE as a 7 or 8 year old, and it instantly became his favorite, watched on repeat. At its center is director and drag club owner Armand Goldman (or is it Coleman?), played by the incomparable Robin Williams. Decades later, Will is a comedy director himself, whose latest film (full disclosure: it was written by this show's producer, Marissa) is THE MIRROR...

Carter Smith is a queer horror icon, even if all his films aren't highlighting explicitly queer relationships. A master of depicting complex male...friendships?, he continues that trend in his new film, THE PASSENGER. And perhaps that instinct got its start watching Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge . Much has been said -- and not all of it in alignment -- about the gay subtext of Freddy...

On her podcast, TV, I SAY WITH ASHLEY RAY , Ashley has no pretentions about good entertainment. But once upon a time, she was a young Bergman scholar (and even, briefly, a beat poet). This entire trajectory of self-examination and unapologetic devotion to her own interests might just have its roots in Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman's 2004 opus, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, and its fem...

Manuel Betancourt's new book is called THE MALE GAZED: ON HUNKS, HEARTTHROBS, AND WHAT POP CULTURE TAUGHT ME ABOUT (DESIRING) MEN , but he's feeling seen by two of the brightest stars of '90s and '00s Hollywood. He tells Jordan about what spoke to him in Natalie Portman's Alice from CLOSER (2006, d. Mike Nichols) and Julia Roberts's Jules in MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING  (1997, d. P.J. Hogan).  Then,...

Jessica St. Clair is a writer and actor who you've definitely seen or heard, be it on her own shows with Lennon Parham ( Best Friends Forever, Playing House ), countless TV and movie appearances, or on her podcast with June Diane Raphael, The Deep Dive . She and Jordan bond over the messy, weird details of deep best friendship across lots of movies and TV shows, but especially past Feeling Seen fa...

This episode originally aired in January 2022. We were delighted to have actor Isabelle Fuhrman as one of our earliest guests. She may be best known for playing the titular role in the Orphan franchise (and since this interview she's gone on to stun us with Orphan: First Kill ); Sheroes  is in theaters now; and she played Clove in the Hunger Games movies.  In this episode, she talks with Jordan ab...