Feeling Seen

Barbara Muschietti (along with her brother Andy) has made her mark on Hollywood, especially in the horror realm (MAMA, IT, IT: CHAPTER TWO and now WELCOME TO DERRY ). But regardless of what genre you're working in, the business of Hollywood takes tenacity, luck, and no small amount of delusion. That's what we've got for you today, through WORKING GIRL (1988) and Robert Altman's THE PLAYER (1992)....

Directors John-Michael Powell ( VIOLENT ENDS , in theaters now) and David Gordon Green (whose movie ALL THE REAL GIRLS was an early entry in what's become an extremely varied and successful career) are both from Arkansas. Powell's new film, which stars Billy Magnussen, James Badge Dale, and Alexandra Schipp, is a bloody, grimy crime thriller -- a far cry from ALL THE REAL GIRLS' quiet romantic ang...

An androgenous figurehead of a found family that refuses to grow up -- if you've never thought of Peter Pan in those terms, director Tina Romero is here to set you straight (er, in a manner of speaking). Tina also shares the ins, outs, and inspirations behind her feature debut, Queens of the Dead , which continues and reinvents a family legacy of zombie cinema (Tina is the daughter of the legendar...

If you've never seen G.I. Jane , you might know it as a punchline, an epithet, or shorthand for a certain kind of movie -- or a certain kind of woman. But watching G.I. Jane in 2025, you see a portrait of fierce tenacity and genuine strength, all baked into a Ridley Scott action war drama. Actor Katy O'Brian -- who is absolutely on fire right now, and the list of things you'd know her from grows e...

Adult Swim veteran producer and head of Thin Edge films, Lisa M. Thomas has been working across genres in film and television for decades from her home in upstate New York. Her latest project is The Misadventures of Bucky and Beene , the story of queer radio hosts who get in some hot water with the locals. Similarly, her choice of young Ludovic from a French classic of '90s queer cinema, Ma Vie En...

As October kicks into gear, we've got Mercedes Bryce Morgan , director of the new horror movie BONE LAKE . And not only is her own film spooky, but so is her chosen "feeling seen" subject: teen girlhood...er, we mean Sissy Spacek's CARRIE from the horror classic CARRIE. She and Jordan get into the blurry line between exploitation and representation in horror and erotic thrillers, especially when i...

Writer/director MJ Bassett's latest film, Red Sonja continues her run as a writer/director of intense and action-packed projects -- she's also directed FUBAR , Reacher , Deathwatch , Rogue (2020) and more. But when it comes to seeing herself on screen, MJ's life has two distinct chapters: before and after coming out as a trans woman in her 40s. MJ shares the small ways she's felt seen (and not alw...

Carmen Emmi's directorial debut, PLAINCLOTHES , is in theaters now, after catching a lot of attention and fanfare out of this year's Sundance Film Festival. He tells Jordan about the experience of getting to break out with a personal contribution to the queer cinema canon, and about all the ways he was comforted, educated, and inspired by another Sundance hit -- 2006's LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE . Then,...

When Alice Wu directs a film, she really means it. Both SAVING FACE and THE HALF OF IT, released decades apart, made a big splash on the independent cinema scene. Now SAVING FACE has been added to the Criterion Collection. Alice tells Jordan about creating a patchwork of identity across various movie characters -- specifically the romantic searcher Frances from FRANCES HA and the too-smart-for-her...

This episode originally aired in October 2024. A second season of English Teacher premieres on Hulu on September 25, 2025. You may know Brian Jordan Alvarez from the killer horror film M3GAN or from his web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo. Most recently, Brian created and stars in the FX comedy series English Teacher , a refreshingly hilarious original that follows a high school te...

André Holland has wowed us in movies like MOONLIGHT and his new Sundance hit LOVE, BROOKLYN. But he says that he gets the most comments -- and perhaps even owes his career -- to his role as Dr. Algernon Edwards in the Steven Soderbergh-helmed Cinemax series THE KNICK. It was a role he could relate to, and of the kind he'd been searching high and low for -- one that fit. He and Jordan talk about th...

Director, writer, and actor Macon Blair has been making movies with friends since he was young -- including frequent collaborator Jeremy Saulnier. His new film is THE TOXIC AVENGER, starring Peter Dinklage and Kevin Bacon. It might not feel like an obvious follow-up to his work with Saulnier, nor to Blair's previous film, I DON'T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE; neither might seem like a direct...

Tricia Cooke is having her moment, and it's been a long time coming. Together with partner Ethan Coen, she's made last years DRIVE AWAY DOLLS and the new HONEY DON'T from scripts written long ago. And in some ways, the seed for these very gay, very fun movies was planted by a modern classic of fun gay cinema: Jamie Babbit's BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER. Tricia and Jordan talk about that film, the new one...

Madison Iseman is making her play for horror icon status, starring in the fun and freaky forthcoming "cursed object" horror film WITCHBOARD . At the same time, she's embracing her "district attorney era" with a lead role in the new USA series THE RAINMAKER . And on this show, we can't leave out her credits playing twin sisters Lennon and Allison on the I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER tv series (th...

From his childhood in public housing to his latest venture, Kino Film Collection , Richard Lorber has always had an affinity with movie dogs. But not just any dogs -- the wild ones, the brave ones, the determined ones. In this episode, Richard tells Jordan about how he related to a number of dogs and dog movies: Rin Tin Tin, Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth , Godard's Goodbye to Language , surprise Kino...

We can get one thing out of the way right up top: James DeMonaco is from Staten Island. Seeing Rocky Balboa on the big screen as a kid was mind-blowing; seeing Sylvester Stallone take a story of such a familiar kind of guy and make it into an Oscar-winning mega-franchise for the ages was life-altering. While DeMonaco is best known for his stealthily political horror films, his love of Rocky even m...

Danielle Deadwyler is an actor who wows and captivates with every performance, across moods and genres. You may have seen her as Mamie Till in TILL , as Berniece in THE PIANO LESSON , or in the new post-apocalyptic action thriller 40 ACRES (in theaters and now available to rent at home ). Danielle shares her deep ties to history, the whispers of the ancestors, and the power of stillness in this co...

In a conversation full of personal revelation and discovery, M3GAN & M3GAN 2.0 star Jen Van Epps and Jordan think hard about the taboos of motherhood and the uncomfortable neediness of the acting profession -- and have a shocking amount of fun doing so. Leda (Olivia Coleman/Jessie Buckley) in Maggie Gyllenhaal's writing and directing debut, THE LOST DAUGHTER is a character Jen wasn't thrilled to r...

The rare prolific voice actor whose face is also extremely recognizable, Alan Tudyk is one of those guys who's a household name if your household is awesome. He's been in everything from ROGUE ONE and FIREFLY to A KNIGHT'S TALE and TUCKER AND DALE VS EVIL. But he's really gotten his chance to shine in the series RESIDENT ALIEN (now in its fourth season!) in which he stars as Harry, an alien who ta...

This is a moment 179 episodes in the making: Jordan and Allison Williams (of GET OUT, GIRLS, M3GAN, and much more, including her new podcast LANDLINES ) reunite to talk about Allison's latest film, M3GAN 2.0 (on which she's also a producer). A little background here: up to this point, Jordan and Allison's professional lady-bromance had its apex in Jordan's WIRED profile of Allison , back when the...

His mainstream star might still be on the rise, but to die-hard action fans, Marko Zaror is already a legend. He stars alongside Scott Adkins in DIABLO, directed by his longtime friend and collaborator Ernesto Diaz Espinoza. An accomplished and disciplined martial artist, Zaror idolized Bruce Lee from a young age -- just like Jason, the main character of Cory Yuen's 1986 American debut, NO RETREAT...

Today, he's a notable writer, filmmaker, and artist ( Letterboxd called him "The Godfather of Queer" ). And as a young man trying to figure out his place as a person and as an artist, Bruce LaBruce was instantly fascinated by the films MAKING LOVE (1982) and LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR (1977). While the two films are very different in tone, execution, and commercial success, they both center around ch...

Long before Catalina Sandino Moreno found herself starring in action movies with names like John Woo and John Wick attached to them,  she was a young unknown in Colombia, unsure if her dream of becoming an actress would ever come to fruition. Then, her first role -- as Maria in Maria Full of Grace , directed by Joshua Marston – earned her an Oscar nomination. Catalina reflects on that role, what i...

Samantha Sloyan is a familar face from countless television shows, but that face will be particularly familiar to anyone who keeps up with the "Flanaverse" -- movies and shows from Mike Flanagan, like Midnight Mass , The Fall of the House of Usher , and The Haunting of Hill House . Sloyan's latest project is a departure for Flanagan, and perhaps for her as well -- it's the new movie The Life of Ch...

What do the little boy in HIT THE ROAD (2021). the dad in CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (2016) and the nearly-hopeless old driver in TASTE OF CHERRY (1997) have in common? Ask actor Bobby Naderi. He and Jordan find the common thread of a nomad lifestyle and a reckless spirit across these three films, as they track the path that led Bobby from Tehran all the way to his latest role in THE BETTER SISTER . Then,...