Acting
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“Your Own Formula, In You, Is Discovered in the Petri Dish of Confidence and Belief”: Peter Vack, Back To One, Episode 318
As an actor, Peter Vack is known for his work in television series such as I Just Want My Pants Back (series lead), Mozart In The Jungle, and Love Life, and recent independent films like PVT Chat, Eugene Kotlyarenko’s The Code and his virtuoso turn as an evil version of “Peter Vack” in Actors (written, directed, and co-staring his sister Betsey Brown). As a filmmaker, he has gotten a reputation for demanding an “all in” approach from his performers. His first feature, Assholes (called “the most disgusting movie ever”), won a jury prize at SXSW, and his latest, www.RachelOrmont.com, described […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Nov 19, 2024 -
“The Things that Scare Me the Most Now are the Things I’m Most Interested in Doing”: Jaclyn Bethany, Back To One, Episode 316
Jaclyn Bethany is an Emmy-award-winning filmmaker, writer and actor based in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has been committed to creating art and telling stories exploring complex women, the intimacy of female friendship, sisterhood and queerness from the female perspective. Some upcoming film projects include Delusion, a short film in collaboration with Adult Film NYC; In Transit, written by Alex Sarrigeorgiou and featuring Jennifer Ehle and Francois Arnaud; and All Five Eyes, which she co-wrote with Greta Bellamacina, featuring Bellamacina and Honor Swinton-Byrne. In this episode she talks about her role as the co-artistic director of The Fire Weeds, a female […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Nov 5, 2024 -
“I’m Good at Being Told What To Do, and I Genuinely Think That is a Skill”: Daisy Ridley, Back To One, Episode 315
Daisy Ridley shot to global fame for her portrayal of Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Since then, she has been choosing diverse roles that showcase her talents in films with wide ranging budgets that prove her north star is the quality of the work and nothing else. She has three films that have come out in this year alone—Sometimes I think About Dying, Young Woman and The Sea, and her latest, Magpie. On this episode, she explains how coming up with the idea for Magpie and building her character from the ground up was an interesting exercise in […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Oct 29, 2024 -
“I’ve Learned Over the Years That If You Show Up with a Basketful of Ideas, It’s Almost Always Rewarded”: Cory Michael Smith, Back To One, Episode 313
“There are practical paths and intuitive paths with each character,” says Cory Michael Smith at the start of this episode, and it’s a recurring theme throughout. The talented actor was Riddler on the series Gotham, a standout in three Todd Haynes films, and now plays Chevy Chase in Saturday Night. On this episode he details the careful process of studying Chevy clips for months before diving into the script. He talks about the importance of “ridding myself of any hint of fraudulence,” why it’s so important for him to show up with lots of ideas, how being intentional with his […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Oct 15, 2024 -
“You Really Have To Let Go and Trust That Something Funny Will Happen”: Michael Urie, Back To One, Episode 312
Michael Urie is one of those mega-talented actors who seems to jump effortlessly from theater (like Torch Song, Spamalot, and, currently, the revival of Once Upon A Mattress) to television (like Ugly Betty, Younger, and, currently, Shrinking), with a genuine love for both. On this episode, he talks in-depth about his acting process with a humility and a humor that is infectious. He explains why he decided to always be off-book on day one, how he came to believe in himself as an actor after starting out wanting to be a director, tells an interesting story about the temptation to […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Oct 8, 2024 -
“You Just Have to Learn to Adapt”: Chase Stokes, Back To One, Episode 310
His breakout role in Netflix’s Outer Banks catapulted Chase Stokes to fame. In the series, he portrays the charismatic and determined John B, the leader of a group of young outcasts on a treasure hunt in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The show’s blend of adventure, mystery, and coming-of-age drama quickly gained a massive fanbase, establishing Stokes as a rising star. Since then he’s been in Tell Me Your Secrets, this year’s The Uglies, opposite Joey King, and next year’s Valiant One, not to mention Season 4 of Outer Banks, which is dropping in October. On this episode, he […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Sep 24, 2024 -
“The Process Was More Important Than the Result”: My First Film Star Odessa Young, Back To One, Episode 308
Odessa Young is only 26, but she already has a truly impressive body of work behind her. Assassination Nation, A Million Little Pieces, Shirley, Mothering Sunday, The Stand, The Staircase, Manodrome, in each of these projects, she seems to have an effortless command over her character, each unique, never forced, always true. Now she stars as Vita, the lead character based on Zia Anger in My First Film. On this episode, she talks about the need to “cultivate an obsession” as character preparation, recent musings on “how much an actor should act to the camera,” why she never worries about […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Sep 11, 2024 -
“Those Guidelines, Those Gates, Those Boundaries, Can Free You to Find the Infinite Within Them”: Shrinking’s Luke Tennie, Back To One, Episode 307
To be a standout on a show featuring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford is quite a feat, but that’s exactly what Luke Tennie did in his breakthrough role as Sean in the hit Apple TV+ series Shrinking. On this episode, the seemingly effortlessly-talented young actor takes us back to his early days and details how football played a pivotal part in helping him with the disciplines required for acting. He explains his belief that there can be no real “play” without massive preparation; talks about coming to a place of understanding that auditioning is simply a “demonstration of my capabilities;” […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Sep 4, 2024 -
“Eventually What I Realized I Was Doing Was Trying to Create an Empathy Machine”: Will Brill, Back To One, Episode 306
He was in The OA, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and played Roy Cohn in Fellow Travelers, but the stage is where Will Brill has found the most satisfaction and success recently, in A Case For The Existence of God, Uncle Vanya, and, just this year, as Reg in Stereophonic on Broadway, for which he received a Tony Award. On this episode he talks about building Reg by starting with his voice, why following playwright David Adjmi to a bar was a pivotal move, the importance of directorial affirmation, how his pre-show ritual has changed, and much more. Back To One […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Aug 27, 2024 -
“That’s What Lights Me Up the Most, This ‘Dance’ with the Writer”: Marianne Rendón, Back To One, Episode 304
Marianne Rendón’s performance in Summer Solstice, Noah Schamus’ “modern twist on the buddy comedy from a queer and trans perspective,” is special in such a rare way that makes shinning a light on it actually detrimental to its effect on the new viewer. Its revelations are small and imbedded in the nuances of the character. It’s how they seem rooted and not created, “lived” and not “played,” that make them extraordinary. On this episode, Rendón takes us back to her training, and how being fed great experimental theater before the classics resulted in a kind of “reverse engineering” of her […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Aug 13, 2024
