Griffin Dunne has balanced acting, directing, and producing for over 40 years in this business. Chilly Scenes of Winter, An American Werewolf in London, After Hours, Practical Magic, This is Us, to name just a small handful of his credits. For his latest, Ex-Husbands, he delivers a performance revelatory in its ease, miraculously blending lightness and dread. It’s so much fun, and even inspirational, to simply watch him walk around as this character, carrying this load. Hopefully, this is the start of a new chapter: Dunne as the contemplative man of a certain age who has seen it all. On […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Feb 11, 2025In movies like Million Dollar Baby, August: Osage County, Blow The Man Down, and series like The Americans, Justified, and Sneaky Pete, “esteemed character actress Margo Martindale” loves to play people much different from herself. And she’s been so good at it for so long that she only started to get truly recognized for her work in her 60s. Three Emmys later, she’s able to pick and choose what she wants to do. Her latest, the Amazon series The Sticky, finds her number one on the call sheet and having a blast playing the bombastic maple syrup farmer Ruth Landry. […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Feb 4, 2025Brad Fleischer is an actor, teacher, coach, filmmaker, producer, and founding partner of GhostLight Media. He originated the role of Doug in Gruesome Playground Injuries alongside Selma Blair. On Broadway, he starred opposite Robin Williams in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, opposite Tony Schaloub in Golden Boy, and played the title character in the Olivier award winning Coram Boy. On the screen, Brad has worked with Robert De Niro in The Good Shepherd, Scott Frank and Liam Neeson in Walk Among the Tombstones, Greg Nicotero on The Walking Dead, among many others. For 17 years and counting, he continues […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Jan 20, 2025The U.S. premiere of Hard Truths at the New York Film Festival in October brings director Mike Leigh back to the podcast for the third time (Ep. 54 and Ep. 204). He talks about working again with Marianne Jean-Baptiste after nearly 30 years, how a lower budget didn’t change his process but made him “dig vertically,” why American actors are unofficially not allowed in his films. Plus he shares his hope for cinema after he’s gone, but explains why he refuses to officially pass down his process. And much more! Hard Truths opens in select U.S. theaters on Friday January […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Jan 7, 2025Tommy Dewey is best known for playing Alex Cole on the Hulu series Casual for five seasons. This year, two movies benefit from his talents—the Jason Reitman ensemble comedy Saturday Night, and Caroline Lindy’s romantic/horror/comedy Your Monster, where he brilliantly plays the titular character. On this episode, he talks about what went into deciding on the proper mixture of absurdity and tenderness for that special role. He explains why, if a comedy script connects with him, he “maybe reads it once and stay the hell away from it.” Plus how writing can help you as an actor, the increased pressure […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Dec 24, 2024Alessandro Nivola returns to the podcast (Ep. 37 and Ep.170) to discuss three performances he gives in three different films out at the same time this week—Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, The Brutalist, and Kraven The Hunter. He gifts us with a detailed peek into what it took to build each of these characters. He talks about the interesting way he received a “green light” from Almodóvar in terms of his approach to the role of an Upstate New York policeman, the challenge of balancing adherence to period authenticity with a modern accessibly as Attila in Brady Corbet’s epic, […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Dec 18, 2024Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson are the stars of Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross’ bold and brilliant adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel that tells the story, cinematically, almost entirely in a first-person POV-style. Herisse and Wilson talk about the challenge of acting to the camera, their saga of navigating auditions, the “freedom” and “openness” they both felt from Ross, how the trust they built with the crew played a big part in performing in this process, and much more. Nickel Boys opens in select theaters on December 14th. Back To One can be found wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Dec 10, 2024In this time of the year when traditions give us a sense of comfort and repetition that we need, especially in these volatile days, Back To One has a tradition of its own—the annual Kevin Corrigan episode! The patron saint of the indie film actor was the first guest on this podcast and he has returned every year since, telling hilarious stories from his adventures in the acting world, waxing about Brando, Walken, Scorsese, expounding on music, philosophizing about life in general. These episodes have become listener favorites. In this installment, Corrigan talks about shooting a scene recently where his […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Nov 26, 2024As 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, 2024Jaclyn 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