Back To One

You might know Todd Stashwick from "The Riches" or "12 Monkeys" (the Syfy series, where he played Deacon), but you definitely know him from his guest star work on countless shows, both dramas and comedies, spanning more than two decades. And now he plays Captain Liam Shaw in the new season of "Picard." On this episode, he talks about how the little boy "Star Trek" fan in him leapt for joy when he...

Jonathan Roumie—actor, director, producer, and speaker—is best known for his award-winning role as 'Jesus' in the groundbreaking series and global sensation, "The Chosen." His new movie, the Lionsgate period drama "Jesus Revolution," is based on the events of the last great spiritual revival in America. Roumie portrays the enigmatic, hippie street preacher, Lonnie Frisbee. On this episode, he give...

Elliott Crosset Hove is a true rising star in the Danish film world. The remarkable new film "Godland," his third collaboration with Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason, just landed him a European Film Award nomination for Best Actor. On this episode, he walks us through his extensive preparation "check list" which he uses to stimulate his unconscious mind and build a defense system to combat doubt...

Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas wrote and star in the wonderful new comedy "The Civil Dead," which Tatum also directed. On this episode, they discuss their long collaboration and friendship that goes back to Alabama at age 11, doing comedy events in Los Angeles with Power Violence , filming sketches, honing their craft, learning valuable lessons on the HBO/A24 production "The Golden One," the import...

British TV and film star Joanna Scanlan won the Best Actress BAFTA award last year for her incredible performance in "After Love." She plays Mary, a devout convert to Islam who, shortly after becoming a widow, discovers her late husband's secret family. In this episode, she takes us on a little tour of the meaningful aspects of her acting process— the investigative phase of initial script reading,...

To say Guslagie Malanda plays Laurence Coly in Alice Diop's "Saint Omer" feels incorrect; she becomes her. It's a performance that holds such subtle power and authenticity that it's easy to take it for granted. On this episode, Malanda explains why she turned down countless acting jobs after her first film, "My Friend Victoria." She talks about the year-long pre-production period that she needed t...

Tallie Medel is an award winning actor, educator, artist, and one third of the legendary Cocoon Central Dance Team. Her fiercely authentic and nuanced performances in films like Dan Sallitt's "Fourteen" have garnered attention from critics and audiences alike. This past year she gifted us with Becky in the acclaimed   "Everything Everywhere All At Once." In this episode, she talks about the commun...

If the Back To One podcast has one tradition, it is the yearly visit from its very first guest, the living patron saint of the working actor, Kevin Corrigan. This is his fifth time on the show ( Ep. 1 , Ep. 67 , Ep. 133 , Ep.185 ), and as you'll hear, he still has a healthy supply of great stories, laughs, and inspiration to dish out. He talks about his recent stints on "Law and Order: Organized C...

The last time Vicky Krieps ("Phantom Thread," "Bergman Island") was on this podcast ( episode 174 ), we learned about how she approaches the work through a kind of "emptying out" of herself, and a "deconstruction" of everything in her obit, even her preconceptions regarding the role. This time she's back to talk about her astounding work in Marie Kreutzer's film "Corsage," an imaginative re-tellin...

The first time Andrea Riseborough was on the podcast ( episode 100 ), we got a chance to hear how this incredible actor approaches her craft. On this episode, we get to focus on her astounding work in the new movie "To Leslie." She talks about the interesting ways shooting on film in the middle of the pandemic affected everything, why working on her character's alcoholism would have been a disaste...

Marc Maron is a stand-up comedy veteran and the host of the popular "WTF" podcast. As a screen actor, he cut his teeth playing a version of himself in the series "Maron." Lately the Netflix series "Glow" and Lynn Shelton's "Sword of Trust" put more of his range on display. And now he delivers the epitome of "supporting" performance in the incredible new film "To Leslie," opposite Andrea Riseboroug...

Ever since her incredible performance in "I've Heard The Mermaids Singing" 35 years ago, Sheila McCarthy has been one of Canada's most hardworking and reliable actors in theater, television, and film on both sides of the border. In her latest project, she joins a "murderers' row" lineup of actresses like Judith Ivey, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, and Rooney Mara in Sarah Polley's...

You may know Grace Van Patten from "Nine Perfect Strangers," "Under The Silver Lake," or "Tramps." I first took note of her in "The Meyerowitz Stories," where her youth belied a seemingly effortless command of her character among the likes of Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, and Dustin Hoffman. In her latest, the hit Hulu series "Tell Me Lies," she stars as Lucy Albright, and now she commands the screen...

Paul Walter Hauser is that rare character actor who has made a name for himself as a stellar talent in both comedy and drama equally. He established himself in films like "Blackkklansman" and "I, Tanya," but playing Richard Jewell in Clint Eastwood's film put him on the map. Now he's wowing audiences and critics alike with his incredible performance as serial killer Larry Hall in the Apple+ limite...

Renowned as "a one-woman global village," Sarah Jones is a Tony Award-winning solo performer, writer, comedian and activist. Her directorial debut, "Sell/Buy/Date," is a hybrid documentary/meta film which features Jones and four of her characters (all played by her) on a journey across the country to listen to real people telling personal stories about their experiences that land them on both side...

On a special episode of Back To One, I'm sharing a segment from a recent episode of the popular screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes called " Writing As Acting ." In it, screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin "analyze what lessons writers can learn from acting techniques (such as staying present) and working with actors (like staying open)." When I first heard this segment, I desperately wanted to...

Britt Rentschler is the star of "Pretty Problems," a smart and hilarious new indie adult comedy which she also produced and helped write with screenwriter and co-star Michael Tennant. In this episode, she talks about their lengthy commitment to making the story work, building their characters with depth, and the risky but triumphant decision to cast their talented friends in supporting roles rathe...

Dolly de Leon is a Filipina veteran actor of film and TV who is now, due to her outstanding performance in "Triangle of Sadness," being spoken about with words like "newcomer" and "breakthrough." That might have something to do with the "I'm the captain now" nature of the role she plays in the Palme d'Or winning film. It's like the character and the actor are both saying "I have arrived." In this...

If Isabelle Huppert is not your favorite actor, she's the favorite actor of someone you know. Guaranteed. There's something about her that is unlike any other actor that has ever been on film. But it's really hard to talk about what that "something" is. In each performance, in every film she's made, she has such a command of the character, the text, the frame, that we place her in equal authorship...

Xolo Maridueña has been playing Miguel Diaz on the hit series "Cobra Kai" for five seasons, starting when he was 16 years old. On this episode, he talks about how preparing for his dream role as "Blue Beetle" (the D.C. superhero movie coming out next year) sent him down a road that expanded his acting capabilities in new and exciting ways. Plus he talks about William Zabka's positive influence on...

Last year, Lashana Lynch made history as 007 in "No Time To Die," this year she uses history to energize her powerful performance in "The Woman King." In this episode, she talks about how filming that movie "barefoot, on that soil," surrounded by a truly supportive sisterhood, was so significant to her performance. She explains why she doesn't have (or even want) a go-to preparation process, what...

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...

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 wor...

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 s...

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 h...