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He's been called the "sidekick to the stars," but a more apt, yet slightly less elegant description of Adrian Martinez is "scene-stealer from the stars." Some recent thefts occur in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," "Focus," and "Casa De Mi Padre." You can also see him in the hit ABC show "Stumptown." Now he wrote, produced, directed and stars in the brilliant, timely, and deeply impacting new fi...

On this special episode, I spend a few days with the cast of "A City Of Refuge" as they rehearse this powerful new play by Evan Cuyler-Louison for Primitive Grace Theater Ensemble in New York City. Having had no experience with theatrical rehearsal, I pose lots of questions to Louison (who also directed the production) and his incredible actors, Ylfa Edelstein, Wilton Guzman, Miah Kane, Hailey Mar...

The incomparable Chris Eigeman is probably best known for the three films he made with Whit Stillman—"Metropolitan" (which was his very first film), "Barcelona," and "The Last Days of Disco." The singular style of performance he delivered in those films led to great work with filmmakers and showrunners such as Noah Baumbach, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and John Frankenheimer. Lately he's been writing a...

Mary Kay Place's long career is filled with memorable supporting parts in films like "The Big Chill," "The Rainmaker," "Being John Malkovich," and television shows such as "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," for which she won an Emmy. "Diane" is her first starring role. Kent Jones wrote it with her in mind. In this episode, Place unpacks and let's us examine the DNA of that vulnerable and subtly devasta...

When I first took notice of Miles Robbins he was a stand-out among stand-outs in the surprisingly satisfying teen comedy "Blockers." Now he presents another level of his talent in the very thoughtful psychological horror film "Daniel Isn't Real." In this episode he talks about the intense, emotionally taxing experience he had creating that performance, how not being scared is a key ingredient in h...

To say Aaron Taylor-Johnson puts 100% into every role is actually a bit of an understatement. He starts to live as the character months before filming begins. Then, when it's over, it takes him months to "shed the layers" of the character before returning to himself. This might sound like a bunch of hooey, until you actually see the brilliance of the work and the fullness of transformation. He got...

Emily Beecham won the best actress award at this year's Cannes Film Festival for her brilliantly nuanced and tightly focused performance in Jessica Hausner's art house science fiction film "Little Joe." Recently she played The Widow in the AMC series "Into The Badlands," starred in "Daphne," and had a memorable supporting role in "Hail Caesar." In this episode she talks about the importance of con...

Stephanie Kurtzuba plays Irene, wife of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), in "The Irishman." It's her second film with Martin Scorsese. She played stockbroker Kimmie Belzer in "The Wolf of Wall Street." She talks about working with the legendary filmmaker and what sets him apart as an actor's director. She also explains her process of extracting preconceptions made in the audition, and she gushes ab...

Tracy Letts has parallel successful careers as an actor and a playwright. He won a Tony Award for his performance in the Steppenwolf revival of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf" and a Pulitzer Prize for his play "August: Osage County." His screen credits include "Lady Bird," "The Lovers," and the new movie :"Ford v Ferrari," in which he plays Henry Ford II. In this episode, he talks about "pretendin...

"The Warrior Queen of Jhansi" is the first Hollywood action film to have a female Indian lead. Devika Bhise not only stars in the film (opening Friday November 15th), she co-wrote it with her mother, Swati Bhise, who also directed it. In this episode, she talks about performing under stressful time restraints, how not having "the leisure to lose it" actually helped her play such a powerful leader,...

I've wanted to sit down with Dorian Missick for some time. The seasoned actor has six dozen credits in television shows like "Southland," "Luke Cage," "Tell Me A Story," and movies spanning from "Two Weeks Notice" to this year's "Brian Banks." In this hour, he passes on pearls of wisdom acquired from his many years in the business, like his new radical approach to auditions, why he aims for 100 re...

He's only 21, but going by the depth of his work and the eloquent way he talks about it, Alex Wolff feels like a seasoned veteran. " I've basically been on camera since the sonogram," he says, joking about his childhood in "The Naked Brothers Band" with his brother, Nat, on Nickelodeon. Since then he's knocked out a handful of impressive performances in films like "Patriots Day," "My Friend Dahmer...

Australian actor Jason Clarke is a rare breed—the character actor leading man. He gives a virtuoso performance as Grigory Potemkin, opposite Helen Mirren, in the new HBO mini-series "Catherine The Great." He also stars in "Pet Cemetery," "Dawn of the Planet of The Apes," "Terminator Genysis," "Zero Dark Thirty," and won accolades for his portrayal of Ted Kennedy in "Chappaquiddick." In this half h...

I didn't know if Tim Heidecker was going to show up for this interview, or if I was going to get his boorish, abusive, dim alter ego, Tim Heidecker. Luckily Tim Heidecker leaves Tim Heidecker in the "On Cinema" universe. That project he started with Gregg Turkington is comprised of an ongoing series called "On Cinema at the Cinema," various spin-off series including "The Trial of Tim Heidecker," s...

The wise and talented Cassidy Freeman plays Amber, wife of Danny McBride's character Jesse, on the hilarious new HBO comedy series "The Righteous Gemstones."  She talks about the wonderful troupe mentality on that show, what acting in 60+ episodes of "Smallville" did to build her craft early in her career, the importance of creativity for the actor, plus much more!

One could easily call Josh Pais a scene-stealer, but that's not accurate. He actually feeds the other actor in the scene and they both grow. Check out "Leaves of Grass" with Edward Norton, "Synecdoche New York" with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lynn Shelton's "Touchy Feely," and his recent work on "Ray Donovan," to name just a few of his dozens of credits. This fall he's in Norton's "Motherless Brookly...

Carroll Baker's work in Elia Kazan's "Baby Doll" and Jack Garfein's "Something Wild" is just as impressive and valuable as any performance delivered by her legendary Actors Studio contemporaries Marlon Brando and James Dean. So why isn't she talked about in the same way? After the simultaneous sensation and scandal of "Baby Doll" (it was condemned by the Legion of Decency), Baker became a star, bu...

Kaitlyn Dever's sophisticated comedic instincts were on full display throughout her teens in the sitcom "Last Man Standing." This year she took it to another level, starring with Beanie Feldstein in the hit comedy sensation "Booksmart." And now we get to marvel at another side of her incredible acting talent in the powerful new Netflix limited series "Unbelievable." In this episode, she talks abou...

Despite growing up in a Hollywood family, Wyatt Russell didn't seriously consider pursing acting until an injury ended his professional Hockey career. In a few years he's managed to cultivate a subtle and distinct style in comedies ("22 Jump Street"), dramas ("Overlord") and a unique and unclassifiable series that lies someone between (AMC's "Lodge 49"). In this episode, he talks about embodying t...

A Groundlings and Saturday Night Live alum who has evolved beyond her improvisational prowess, Michaela Watkins continues to surprise us. "The Unicorn," "Search Party," "Transparent" and "Casual" are some of her television highlights. And I loved her in movies like "Afternoon Delight," "Person to Person," and the important and inspirational "Brittany Runs A Marathon." We talk about the vital role...

Lee Pace has one of those dream acting careers where he gets to be painted blue or dons elf ears to play Ronan ("Guardians of the Galaxy") or Thranduil ("The Hobbit" films), sparking the imagination of countless fans around the world, and then he hits the Broadway stage and knocks 'em dead as Joe Pitt in "Angels in America." I ask him if he takes stock of that aspect of his career, and we talk abo...

I first took note of Jake Lacy's exquisite comedic delivery in "The Office" and "How to Be Single," and was pleased to see him shine while going deep and dark, like in this year's "Diane," and last year's "I'm Dying Up Here." He even stands out playing opposite heavyweights like Rooney Mara in "Carol," and Michelle Williams in "Fosse/Verdon." I gathered from past interviews that he spoke with an a...

He started out as a TV host in the 90s, but Greg Kinnear quickly made the transition to leading man thanks to legendary directors like Sydney Pollack and James L. Brooks investing in his acting talent. An Oscar nomination for "As Good As It Gets" followed, and he's been making movies ever since, "Little Miss Sunshine," "Auto Focus," "Little Men," to name just a few. This Summer he has three movies...

Actor/writer/director Ruben Santiago-Hudson is the kind of artist whose awe-inspiring dedication to the work can almost be overwhelming. He won a Tony Award for his performance in August Wilson's "Seven Guitars." His autobiographical play "Lackawanna Blues" was a sensation at the Public Theater and went on to be an award-winning HBO film. He started directing plays (particularly Wilson's) and is n...

It's rare for one actor to be cast as the same real-life character in two different productions almost simultaneously. When that real life character is Charles Manson, that makes some news. Australian actor Damon Herriman has taken on this challenging role in both Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood" and the second season of David Fincher's Netflix series "Mindhunter." Herriman is...