Back to One, Episode Seven: Blue Bloods and Candy Jar Star Sami Gayle on Getting to Know her Characters and Navigating an Early Career

Sami Gayle has played Nicky Reagan on the hit CBS drama Blue Bloods for eight seasons, performed on Broadway a few times, acted opposite Adrien Brody in her first film, and she’s only 22. She now stars in Candy Jar, a fun and smart new Netflix film set in the world of high school debate, which was written by her brother Chad. We talk about the unique way the work deepens when you have played a character over a period of time, and why “quality over quantity” is the approach she’s taking with her career. This episode can be listened…  Read more

Back to One, Episode Six: Lee Grant on Strasberg vs. Meisner, Being Directed by Mike Nichols and More

I finished Lee Grant’s incredible autobiography I Said Yes To Everything right before sitting down with her and that was a huge mistake, only because it was frustrating to have such a limited time with the legendary actress after reading her extraordinary story. Consider this episode a tiny drop in the ocean of this astounding life. She was nominated for an Oscar for her first screen role in William Wyler’s Detective Story and then was blacklisted by HUAC for 12 long, painful years. She rebuilt her career with roles in Peyton Place, In The Heat Of The Night, and Shampoo…  Read more

Back to One, Episode Five: Harry Lennix on Classic Foundations of Acting, His Own Production Company and More

At the moment, Harry Lennix is perhaps best known for his portrayal of FBI agent Harold Cooper on NBC’s The Blacklist. The breadth and depth of his work on the stage and screen go well beyond that hit show, however, with film roles spanning from Robert Townsend’s The Five Heartbeats and Julie Taymor’s Titus, to General Swanwick in both Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman, and on Broadway in August Wilson’s final play Radio Golf, and Cymbeline at The Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2014 Lennix created Exponent Media Group and began producing his own content, such as H4, a…  Read more

Back to One, Episode Four: Sheila Vand Talks Knowing a Character, Dark and Light Roles, and Operating in Tandem with One’s Spiritual Journey

In this hour, Sheila Vand gifts us with a glimpse into the inner life of an incredibly talented young actor who, role after role, is harnessing her art and reaching new heights. She first captured our attention in Ana Lily Amirpour’s noir vampire western A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and in the small but pivotal role of Sahar, the Iranian housekeeper, in Argo. Co-starring stints on NBC’s State of Affairs and FOX’s 24 Legacy followed, and by the end of this episode she’ll make you anxious to see two of her upcoming projects, Jeremiah Zagar’s festival hit We…  Read more

Back to One, Episode Three: Joshua Leonard Talks Acting in Improvised Films, Acting in iPhone Films and Too Many Bad Guys

Joshua Leonard first came onto the scene with the lo-fi sensation The Blair Witch Project, then went on to receive rave reviews for his performance in Lynn Shelton’s Independent Spirit Award-winning Humpday. His narrative feature debut as director, The Lie, premiered at Sundance in 2011 and he just wrapped production on his sophomore feature Behold My Heart which stars Marisa Tomei. Currently he co-stars in Steven Soderbergh’s thriller Unsane, which was famously shot on an iPhone. Leonard talks about how freeing that was and how he’s dismayed, now that he’s a dad, at all the bad guy parts he’s being…  Read more

Back to One, Episode Two: Emily Mortimer talks Her Breakout Film, Being Right and Wrong for the Part, and Aaron Sorkin

Emily Mortimer is perhaps best known for her role as MacKenzie McHale in Aaron Sorkin’s beloved HBO series The Newsroom. Some of her other memorable performances are in Woody Allen’s Match Point, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and Hugo and, as Phoebe, Jack Donaghy’s love interest, on the NBC series 30 Rock. In this hour she talks extensively about one particular, powerful scene in her breakout film, Nicole Holofcener’s Lovely & Amazing (which earned her an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress), and about what it was like to play a character named “Emily Mortimer” in her HBO series Doll…  Read more

Filmmaker‘s New Podcast, Episode One: Kevin Corrigan

Welcome to the debut episode of Filmmaker‘s new podcast about acting, Back To One. In each episode, host Peter Rinaldi invites one working actor to do a deep dive into their unique process, psychology, and approach to the craft. No small talk, no celebrity stories, no inane banter — just the work. Episode One: Kevin Corrigan We could not have a more perfect guest for the first episode of a podcast about “the work” of acting if we had somehow constructed one. The TV guest star extraordinaire, the go-to indie comedy player of our time, the actor’s actor, Kevin Corrigan…  Read more