Awards Chatter

In front of an audience of students at Chapman University, the 32-year-old veteran actress reflects on child stardom and what she learned from co-stars like Sean Penn, Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise; how she navigated growing up, on screen and off; and why she has done some of her best work yet in limited series, including 'The Alienist,' 'Ripley,' 'The Perfect Couple' and, most recently, Peacock's show about the kidnapping of a child. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience of students at Chapman University, the legendary Broadway star — who has been nominated for and won more acting Tonys than anyone else — and TV character actress reflects on the early struggles that led her to attempt suicide, finding her voice and confidence on stage, overcoming her fear of screen acting and, most recently, highlighting a little-known chapter of Black history on three seasons of Julian Fellowes' critically-acclaimed HBO drama series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience at the Napa Valley StreamFest, one of TV's most prolific creators reflects on being fired early in his career from 'Boy Meet World,' 'The Nanny' and 'Friends,' how he wound up co-creating and running 'Spin City' while in his 20s, the happy accidents that led to 'Scrubs' and 'Ted Lasso,' and why his Apple TV+ Emmy contender is being extended beyond its original three-season plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience at the Napa Valley StreamFest, the legendary TV actress and breakthrough film director reflects on following her late mom Jayne Mansfield into the business; playing sex crimes investigator Olivia Benson for 27 years and counting (making her the longest-running character in an American primetime live-action show); and exploring her complicated personal history in a 2025 HBO doc that is now eligible for an Emmy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience at the Boulder International Film Festival, the veteran star of screens big ('The Hunt for Red October' and 'The Cooler') and small ('30 Rock' and 'SNL') reflects on how he stumbled into acting, what forced his pivot from leading man to character parts, how we wound up impersonating Trump and what his life has been like since the tragic accident that claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of 'Rust' in 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The legendary star reflects on how clinical depression led him to acting, the unlikely ways he broke into the movies and was cast in 'Star Wars,' why he long yearned to escape "leading man" roles and to play "character parts" and why he so loves his current challenge of playing an acerbic psychotherapist battling Parkinson's disease on Apple TV's Emmy-nominated comedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Oscar-winning producer of films like 'Chariots of Fire,' 'Local Hero,' 'The Killing Fields' and 'The Mission,' who was once described by the New York Times as "the white knight of the British film industry," and who later became the first non-American to run a Hollywood studio, reflects on his path from school dropout to ad industry phenom to filmmaking; why he so often bet on first-time directors, non-star actors and character-driven dramas; and his brief and turbulent time running Columbia Pictures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience at Chapman University, the co-chairs/co-CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group reflect on their paths through the business as producers and execs over the last three decades; their crazy 2025, during which they went from almost losing their jobs to presiding over one of the most successful years any studio has ever had; and what it's like being behind both horses in a two-horse best picture Oscar race, 'Sinners' and 'One Battle After Another.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The legendary punk and rock singer/songwriter, who was a key part of the MTV-driven “Second British Invasion” back in the ’80s and has been a major figure on the global music scene ever since, reflects on coming to America, his greatest hits and the new documentary about his rollercoaster journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience at Chapman University, the celebrated Danish-Norwegian writer and director reflects on his family's history in film; what led to his celebrated "Oslo trilogy" of 'Reprise,' 'Oslo, August 31st' and 'The Worst Person in the World'; and why he decided "tenderness is the new punk" en route to his latest film, which is nominated for nine Oscars — more than all but three other non-English-language films in history — including best picture, international feature and, for him personally, director and original screenplay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Irishwoman who is widely regarded one of the finest actresses of her generation reflects on her path from 17-year-old BBC talent show contestant to RADA student to star of stage and screen; what she learned from early costars like Judi Dench and early jobs like 'Wild Rose,' 'The Lost Daughter' and 'Women Talking'; and how filming Maggie Gyllenhaal's upcoming 'The Bride!' right before Chloé Zhao's story of the Shakespeares helped to shape her Oscar-tipped turn as Agnes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience at Chapman University, the Korean-American singer/songwriter reflects on her pursuit of a career as a K-pop idol, her pivot to songwriting and how she came to be involved with the animated film that became the most -watched original title in Netflix history — and to create for it the song "Golden," for which she won the first Grammy ever awarded to K-pop and is now nominated for an Oscar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perhaps the greatest of all living film craftsmen — a production designer who has literally built the worlds at the center of many of the most admired films since the '70s — reflects on coming to Hollywood with David Lynch, his decades-long collaboration with Terrence Malick, how he researches and designs sets, and what it was like recreating '50s New York for the new Josh Safdie/Timothée Chalamet film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Chinese two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker reflects on her path to America and filmmaking, jumping from indie 'Nomadland' to Marvel's 'Eternals' and how her subsequent four-year "mid-life crisis" prepared her for her latest film, for which she is again double Oscar-nominated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the Australian actor/writer/director reflects on how he wound up in George Lucas' second 'Star Wars' trilogy, his memorable turns in art house standouts like 'Warrior' and Loving,' and the challenges and rewards of giving a largely dialogue-free performance in Clint Bentley's adaptation of Denis Johnson's 2011 novella about a laborer in the early 20th-century American West. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience at Chapman University, the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and Oscar-nominated actress returns to the podcast and candidly discusses how she found her pop sound, how she approaches music vs. acting, what she looks for in collaborators, why 'Wicked' means so much to her, how singing as herself and as Glinda are completely different, and what's next for her. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The massively influential filmmaker and blockbuster machine behind 'The Terminator,' 'Aliens,' 'Titanic' and three 'Avatar' films, among others, reflects on his unusual path to the business, why his films tend to blend science/sci-fi and love stories, what has enchanted him about Pandora and the Na'vi for more than 30 years, and which question he hopes never to be asked again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In front of an audience at Chapman University, the revered Oscar winner behind masterpieces like 'Cronos' and 'The Shape of Water' reflects on the roots of his infatuation with monsters, the importance of practical movie sets and effects, and finally realizing his 50-year dream of adaptating Mary Shelley's gothic horror novel about a Creator and his Creature into a movie of his own. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The South Korean master filmmaker reflects on the roots of his fascination with violence, the early struggles than prepared him for his Vengeance triogy highlighted by 'Oldboy,' and what inspired his latest film — his country's entry for the best international feature Oscar race, now among the final 15 — which reunites him with Lee Byung-hun 25 years after their joint breakthrough 'Joint Security Area.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world's most famous Brazilian actor reflects on why he once thought a screen career would be impossible for him, how the 'Elite Squad' films led to him playing Pablo Escobar on 'Narcos,' and how Brazil's Bolsonaro era impacted his career and inspired the film for which he was awarded Cannes' best actor prize and could land an Oscar nom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices