“I Don’t Know How To Be a Product”: Saint Omer Star Guslagie Malanda (Back To One, Episode 236)

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 to prepare for the role, the nightmares that plagued her during that time, the breakthrough of learning to breathe, and much more. Back To One can be found wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts,…  Read more

“You Have to Be Willing to Make a Fool of Yourself”: Tallie Medel (Back To One, Episode 235)

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 communal environment on that production that benefited the performances, the importance of establishing true connection with her scene partners and using the present moment as a tool, how learning and teaching Clown has changed and shaped her work,…  Read more

“You Have a Character Goin’”: The Fifth Annual Kevin Corrigan Episode of Back To One

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 Crime, City on a Hill, and the upcoming indie film Bang Bang; tells a hilarious story illustrating the ways he practices acting when not on a…  Read more

“It’s Like an Invitation To Be Human”: Corsage Star Vicky Krieps (Back To One, Episode 233)

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-telling (or perhaps a “correcting?”) of a year in the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Krieps talks about treating the work as an invitation to play, how dealing with the coldness of the character had an effect on relationships outside of…  Read more

“The Only Goal Is To Be Lost”: Andrea Riseborough on To Leslie (Back To One Episode 232)

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 disaster, finding a touchstone with director Michael Morris in Barbara Loden’s Wanda, taking the objective “to just exist” from Mike Leigh, seeing constrains as freedoms, the importance of keeping your integrity, and…  Read more

“All These Mythologies, They Don’t Really Help Me”: Marc Maron (Back to One, Episode 231)

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 Riseborough. On this episode, he talks about his apprehension with accepting the role, his impatience with the process of acting in general, the importance of making himself emotionally available in his scenes,…  Read more

Back to One, Episode 22: Grace Van Patten

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 with the same effortlessness, mixed with a complexity and nuance that is compelling viewers who are begging for a second season. On this episode, she breaks down one important scene from…  Read more

“I Go There While I Go There, and Then I Try to Divorce My Spirit From It”: Black Bird Star Paul Walter Hauser (Back To One, Episode 228)

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+ limited series Black Bird. On this episode, he lifts the hood and lets us peek in on his acting process. He explains why his first step is all about self amusement, how mundane details help to…  Read more

“I Have to Tell Them the Truth, I Don’t Have a Choice”: Sarah Jones on Sell/Buy/Date (Back To One, Episode 227)

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 sides of various aspects of the complex topic of sex work in America. On this episode, she talks about overcoming the many obstacles and controversies to bring this important film to life, how trusting in collaborators like cinematographer Joshua…  Read more

Back To One Episode 226, Special Episode: Writing As Acting (A Scriptnotes Segment)

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 share it with Back To One listeners because I thought it was very enlightening, and maybe even healing, to hear creatives on the other side of the camera talk thoughtfully, and with sensitivity, about the process…  Read more