Authors — Peter Rinaldi
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Back to One, Episode 130: Matthew Del Negro
You know Matthew Del Negro from Scandal, Goliath, The West Wing, or as Cousin Brian on season four of The Sopranos, or maybe, like me, you were wowed by his comedic tour de force as Jason Allen Ross in Netflix’s Huge In France. He’s currently filming his second season as Detective Chris Caysen on Showtime’s City on a Hill. He also hosts a great podcast called “10,000 NOs” where he has deep conversations with people who’ve overcome rejection on the way to success in their field. He’s just written a book of the same name which draws on his own […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Oct 20, 2020 -
Back to One Episode 129: Dylan Gelula
Dylan Gelula brings a captivating authenticity to her characters that makes them seem like they go on living outside the frame. Look at her work in Flower, Support The Girls, and First Girl I Loved, to name a few. Her latest performance as Maggie in the SXSW winner Shithouse is a revelation. It snuck up on me and left me moved and in awe. On this episode she talks about her instinctual, untrained approach to this craft that she claims she hasn’t fully wrapped her arms around yet. I ask her about some specific moments from Shithouse and about working […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Oct 13, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 128: Cooper Raiff
Cooper Raiff is the writer, director, producer, editor and star of one of my favorite films of the year, Shithouse, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival this year. The 23-year-old has filmmaking instincts and a sophisticated perception of people, and himself, that belies his years. In this episode, he tells a miraculous story of getting Jay Duplass to watch his short film, and how he became instrumental in getting Shithouse made. He talks extensively about his time at the Dallas Young Actors Studio and how that foundational work instilled him with the tools he needs […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Oct 6, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 127: Harry Melling
Some actors steal scenes, Harry Melling’s scenes steal movies. The limb-less thespian in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the sinister Zuckerberg-like villain in The Old Guard, and now the “spider preacher” Roy Laferty in The Devil All The Time are just some of the characters he’s brought to life, who all feel like they continue to exist beyond their short time on screen. In this episode he talks about his early acting education performing in the Harry Potter films, the importance of “forgetting it all” in order to be in the moment, getting the “invitation” to “play,” and not getting […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Sep 22, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 126: Carrie Coon
Carrie Coon has quietly built a reputation as an acting powerhouse though a collection of phenomenal performances in television shows like The Leftovers, Fargo, and The Sinner, and movies such as Gone Girl, The Post, and her latest, The Nest. In this episode, she talks about the paramount importance of breath work, using “touchstones” for emotional connection, her first experience on the New York stage in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, the quarantine film education she’s getting with her husband, Tracy Letts, and much more! Back To One can be found wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Sep 15, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 125: Katherine Waterston
Katherine Waterston is one of our most brilliant and committed actors. She brings superstar power to indies like Queen of Earth and State Like Sleep, and a captivating authenticity to franchises like Fantastic Beasts and Alien. It was Inherent Vice that first brought her to my attention. In this episode, she talks about why she was “a pig in shit” making that film, why having lots and lots of time to live with a script is ideal for her, becoming comfortable being uncomfortable, the “best feeling I can experience without breaking the law,” and her exciting new multi-part project The […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Sep 8, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 124: Rosalind Chao
When one has the opportunity to listen to an actor with the amount of experience as Rosalind Chao has, one must seize it. From the legendary final episode of M.A.S.H to Black-ish, from The Joy Luck Club to Disney’s eagerly anticipated live action Mulan, Chao has seen it all! On this episode, the once “professional guest star” opens up about how she’s happier when working and happiest on a happy set. She talks about why it’s important to get to the fitting early in her process, adding years to her age to get her first job, learning from Peggy Feury, […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Sep 1, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 123: Ramy Youssef
Ramy Youssef won the Golden Globe for lead actor in a comedy series for his work in Ramy, the Hulu series he co-created. The second season came out in May, and the struggles of being a devout young Muslim man in America that fueled the first season, deepen, grow and expand out to peripheral characters in the second, highlighted by the addition of Mahershala Ali as Ramy’s wise and loving sheikh. Youssef directed more episodes this season (he’s nominated for an Emmy for directing as well as acting). We talk about that and the overall collaborative effort at work behind […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Aug 25, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 122: Niamh Algar
Irish actor Niamh Algar has been making her mark in the UK of late portraying women dealing with their intense pasts, like Dinah in Shane Meadows’ The Virtues and Ursula in Calm With Horses (which just opened in the States as The Shadow of Violence). The intensity continues with her latest project, Raised By Wolves, Ridley Scott’s sci-fi series for HBO MAX (which drops on September 3th). In this episode, she talks about following her gut, why she asks questions early, adapting to the director, the importance of not taking yourself too seriously, and much more. Back To One can […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Aug 18, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 121: Kevin Alejandro
Kevin Alejandro is finishing his fifth season playing Detective Dan Espinoza on Netflix’s Lucifer. He’s also graced your small screen in such series as The Returned, Southland, and True Blood. In 2017 he graduated from the Warner Brothers television director’s workshop and directed an episode of Lucifer. Since then he started his own production company and has turned into a multi-hyphenate, churning out award winning shorts, including the absolutely hilarious Adult Night. He’s back in the director’s chair on Lucifer’s fifth season (part 1), which drops August 21st on Netflix. On this episode, he talks about how the need to […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Aug 11, 2020
